MONTREAL — Quebec’s hardware dealers are seeing an uptick in demand for certain items during the ongoing pandemic, but overall sales for the important spring season may still fall short of past years, La Presse reports. “We’ve never sold so much paint,” said Sylvie Robert, who manages a RONA store in Montreal’s Villeray district. Patrick Dussault, assistant manager of a Patrick Morin store in the city’s east end, has observed the same trend, along with push for garden supplies. “People want to something to do, so they come in the store,” he said.
Richard Darveau, president of the Quebec industry group AQMAT, has cautioned consumers to avoid that temptation, calling on them to “put off their projects, if they are non-essential, until we are on the other side of the curve.” Retailers are instead pushing online shopping as an alternative to store visits. The RONA, Reno-Depot and Home Depot sites all feature messaging encouraging digital purchases. Canadian Tire is asking consumers for patience as high demand has precipitated crashes on its e-retail site. Canac’s transactional website will be operational within a week.
