TORONTO — With Lowe’s posting results this week that lagged behind its competitor Home Depot, HARDLINES’ intrepid editor Michael McLarney spoke to BNN about the state of the big boxes in Canada. Lowe’s has been taking the long view in diversifying its holdings, he said, even though that has meant that some swings and misses, such as the ill-fated Masters joint venture with Woolworths in Australia. Speaking to the takeover of RONA, Michael said that the focus for now is on integrating the systems at the back end, with incorporation of RONA stores into the Lowe’s banner to come later.
In the meantime, properties acquired from Target after its Canadian adventure have been rebranded as Lowe’s stores. Meanwhile, co-ops like Home Hardware and buying groups like Castle and TIMBER MART continue to provide a vehicle to strengthen the ever-important independent dealer-owner on the Canadian scene—and retailers across the industry are shifting to a focus on establishing themselves as service centres as online sales gain increasing market share.
(Click here now to watch the entire five-minute BNN interview.)
