BOUCHERVILLE, Que. ― Lowe’s will think carefully about even introducing the Lowe’s name into the Quebec, a market dominated by the RONA banner. When asked about that possibility, Lowe’s Canada President Sylvain Prud’homme said, “I don’t think so” but added, “We’re keeping the door open.” Prud’homme is keen to see more big boxes in that province, however. He says RONA is doing a lot of things right already with its big box stores, and cites the Reno-Depot banner as a winner. Even now, RONA is working on some new ideas for its big boxes, with a test store in Anjou being readied for a reboot.
Both Lowe’s and RONA have aggressive expansion plans: Lowe’s bought up 13 former Target stores, plus its distribution centre in Milton, Ont., in May 2015 and is working hard to convert those outlets to Lowe’s. In addition, it is continuing to develop greenfield sites of its own. At the same time, RONA has been spending the last four years getting its financial house in order. This included acquiring 17 big box stores in Quebec, all of which were owned by independent, or franchise, dealers.
