Réno-Dépôt (known as Reno-Depot outside of Quebec) was a Canadian chain of home supply stores owned by Rona, Inc. Primarily operating in Quebec, Réno-Dépôt was a warehouse-styled format with a focus on discounted renovation and household hardware products. The chain briefly expanded into Ontario under the name The Building Box; following Rona's acquisition of Réno-Dépôt, these stores were re-branded as Rona Home & Garden locations in 2004.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Home improvement |
| Founded | March 31, 1993 (first store)[1] |
| Defunct | October 10, 2024 |
| Fate | Converted into RONA+ |
| Successor | RONA+ |
| Headquarters | 220 Ch. du Tremblay, Boucherville, QC J4B 8H7 |
Number of locations | 20 |
Key people | Robert Dutton - President and CEO André H. Gagnon - Chairman |
| Products | Retail (Home improvement) |
| Owner | Rona, Inc. |
| Parent | Molson Companies (1993–1997) Castorama (1997–1998) Kingfisher plc (1998–2003) Rona, Inc. (2003–2016) Lowe's Canada (2016–2023) Sycamore Partners (2023–2024) |
| Website | renodepot.com |
History
edit
First years
editIn May 1992, Groupe Val Royal with its partner Aikenhead's, both owned by the Molson Companies (the former in part, the latter as a subsidiary), announced the creation of warehouse stores under the name of Réno-Dépôt inspired straight from the Home Depot chain in the United States.[2]
The first location opened in Brossard.[1] After the Brossard store, Montréal welcomed its first branch location in August 1993, in Anjou. In 1994, two other stores opened their doors: Laval and Pointe-Claire, followed by Marché Central (Montréal) and Québec City in 1995. That same year, the company itself changed its name to Réno-Dépôt. In 1996, a new location was established in Saint-Hubert.
Acquisition and expansion outside Quebec
editIn April 1997, the two majority shareholders of Réno-Dépôt Inc., the Michaud family and Molson Companies Limited, sold their interest in the company to the French group Castorama.[3] In 1998, the British group Kingfisher plc acquired a large block of shares from Castorama to become the majority shareholder. In 1999, Réno-Dépôt opened a location in LaSalle and, the following year, entered the Ontario market under the English-language banner The Building Box.
In September 2003, Rona Inc. acquired Réno-Dépôt; following the merger, the Ontario-based Building Box stores were re-branded as Rona Home & Garden.[4] The purchase was part of a plan to establish more "big box" stores to accompany its smaller specialty outlets and compete with the U.S.-based chain The Home Depot.[5]
In 2013, in the wake of cuts across the company, the Réno-Dépôt chain was re-positioned as a discount wholesale-focused banner with a reduced product selection.[6] In 2015, Rona announced that the brand would expand outside of Quebec with the re-opening of shuttered Rona locations in Calgary and Aurora, Ontario as Reno-Depot.[7] However, both locations were announced for closure in 2018 and 2019 respectively, leaving the chain once again restricted to Quebec.[8][9]
RONA+
editOn March 21, 2024, Réno-Dépôt Hull was converted to RONA+ Hull.[10]
On April 25, 2024, Réno-Dépôt Charlemagne & Réno-Dépôt Sherbrooke were converted to RONA+ Charlemagne & RONA+ Sherbrooke.[11]
On September 26, 2024, Rona indicated its intentions to rebrand all remaining Réno-Dépôt stores to RONA+ as of October 10, 2024. The renodepot.com website would close and redirect customers to rona.ca.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b "Reno-Depot advertisement page". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. March 31, 1993. p. C3.
- ^ "Three Montreal-based companies demonstrate recession can be beaten". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. May 28, 1992. p. F1.
- ^ "Reno-Depot sale closes". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. April 10, 1997. p. D3.
- ^ Mills, Don (May 2004). "RONA re-brands its building box stores". Hardware & Home Centre Magazine. Toronto: Southam Inc. p. 20.
- ^ "Rona focuses on three store sizes to take on Home Depot". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "Rona closing 11 stores in Ontario, B.C., cutting more jobs". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "Rona to expand in 2015 by opening Reno-Depot stores in Alberta, Ontario". Canadian Press. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ rjoseph1 (November 5, 2018). "MAP: These are the Rona and Lowe's stores closing by February". Global News. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Zangouei, Aileen (November 21, 2019). "VIDEO: Reno-Depot in Aurora 1 of 34 'underperforming' stores Lowe's Canada closing". Aurora Banner. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ "RONA switches a Réno-Dépôt to RONA+ banner".
- ^ https://www.renodepot.com/en/rona-conversion [bare URL]
- ^ "Switch from Reno-Depot to RONA+".