Réno-Dépôt will soon be a thing of the past in Quebec. More than fifteen hardware stores that operated under this brand will become RONA+ starting in the fall. With this transformation, the name Réno-Dépôt will be wiped off the map.
Posted at 7:47 a.m.
Updated at 2:57 p.m.
This “pure marketing” decision will change nothing for suppliers and consumers looking for tools, paint or other items for the bathroom, maintains the president of the Quebec Hardware and Construction Materials Association (AQMAT), Richard Darveau.
“These conversions represent a significant investment in our network and will make RONA our unique emblem among our retail customers from one end of Canada to the other,” Andrew Iacobucci, president and CEO of RONA, said Friday in a statement. This is another important step toward realizing our vision for RONA’s future. It will help us become the best home renovation retailer in Canada.”
The stores in Anjou, Boucherville, Beauport are part of the list of those which will change their identity.
At the beginning of the year, the company announced, as part of a pilot project, the conversion of three Réno-Dépôt stores in Quebec: in Gatineau, Charlemagne and Sherbrooke. RONA had not hidden its intention to continue the movement. “When the announced conversions are completed, starting this fall, we will have 20 RONA+ stores in the province of Quebec, and 58 in the rest of Canada. No more Réno-Dépôt stores will then exist in Quebec,” indicates an official statement from the company sent by email to The Press.
In November 2022, the Lowe’s renovation chain announced the sale of all its Canadian activities, including the RONA and Réno-Dépôt brands, to the New York private equity firm Sycamore Partners, for a cash sum of US$400 million and a deferred consideration calculated on future return. Since then, RONA has begun converting its fifty Lowe’s stores located outside Quebec into RONA+.
At AQMAT, we believe that these changes are only “cosmetic”.
It’s marketing. We don’t think it’s going to be a revolution. We do not think that consumers and suppliers will be penalized. It remains the same individuals who make supply decisions for their entire network of corporate and affiliated stores.
Richard Darveau, president of AQMAT
Permanent closure of a Réno-Dépôt
Mr. Darveau also emphasizes that the announcement about the brand changes comes at a very strange time. The press release published Friday does not mention the company’s decision to permanently close a branch of Réno-Dépôt de Québec at the end of August, reported The Quebec Journal, THURSDAY. RONA finally reacted once the news was published. “In order to improve our impact on the market, we carried out an in-depth analysis of our network in Quebec and re-evaluated the distribution of our stores where some locations are very close to each other. Consequently, we have made this difficult decision to close the Réno-Dépôt de Québec on August 22. We will consolidate retail and professional operations to nearby stores where teams will continue to serve homeowners and professionals with renewed passion and dedication. Decisions like this are never easy to make, but we are confident that they will allow us to be more competitive, and, ultimately, to better serve our customers. »
End of the lockout at RONA The Galeries d’Anjou warehouse
The 120 employees of the RONA L’entreprises hardware store in Anjou, locked out for three weeks, will be able to return to work. At the general meeting on Thursday, they voted 76% in favor of the recommendation submitted by the conciliator in the file. “Union members obtain increases of 4% in the first year, including a 2.5% increase retroactive to 1er February, including for employees not at the salary peak. Over the four years of the collective agreement, salary increases will total 11.5%. At the end of the year, the salary peak will reach $24.10 per hour,” we read in the press release published by the CSN.
RONA in brief
- Company founded 85 years ago
- Owner: Sycamore Partners, an American company
- Brands: RONA, RONA+, Réno-Dépôt (until the fall) and Dick’s Lumber
- Total number of stores: 425 (corporate and affiliated)
- Number of employees: 21,000
- Head office: Boucherville
