RONA, one of Canada’s leading home improvement retailers, has opened its first urban-style store in the Greater Vancouver Area in Walnut Grove in Langley, BC.
RONA, operating or servicing some 450 corporate and affiliated stores under different banners, is partnering with T & T Hardware Group owners Al Tsuchyia and Michael Trentalance in its affiliated dealer network.
Tsuchyia and Trentalance, two former RONA employees, have rebranded their previous Ace Hardware store into the first RONA urban-style store in the Greater Vancouver Area.
“We know really well the strength of the RONA brand and its efficient distribution network. RONA has a diverse retail offering, so it’s the perfect banner to bring our vision to life,” says Trentalance.
Tsuchyia said the store is being expanded from its current 5,500 square feet to about 7,000 square feet.
“We realized the community we’re in needed a lot more. So then we started expanding it and expanding it. We’ve been expanding our building supply stuff,” he said, of the store which originally began primarily as a hardware store about four years ago.
“When we first opened up with Ace, we were part of RONA/Lowe’s and we were getting most of our stuff, 95 per cent of our stuff we’d buy through the RONA/Lowe’s network. Then Lowe’s got rid of the Ace part and sold it to Peavey Mart. So we were getting our supplies through them but we were kind of struggling all along because Peavey Mart’s more of I guess farm supply. So they didn’t have much hardware. And for us for the building material, it was non-existent. So we would have to source all that stuff ourselves.”
The new affiliation with RONA was a natural progression.
For RONA, the new urban style format continues to grow for the brand with more growth planned in the future.
Jean-Sebastien Lamoureux, Senior Vice President of RONA affiliates, wholesale, and public affairs, said the company has a handful of these stores in the Montreal area.
He said the company has been looking to expand the concept in the West in urban centres.
“What we’ve been focusing on in the last couple of years is more on the rural side of things. We do have relationships with dealers on the island of Montreal which would be close to . . . the geography (of Walnut Grove) serving the types of customers they’re serving,” said Lamoureux. “We feel that for those types of dealers RONA offers a very unique toolbox for them to succeed and be able to grow in their market.
“Our ability from an online perspective to support our dealers with this is a major, major traction for dealers in more urban regions because people are able to order whatever they want online and pick up in store close to their neighbourhood. It’s unrealistic to have a big box close to all Canadians and that’s where we feel having those types of dealers, wearing the RONA banner, is a plus for us. So that’s why we’re very happy to say it was our first one in the Vancouver region but it’s a format that does exist in the island of Montreal and in some other major cities in the country. But something quite frankly we want to push way more in the future.
“We think we have the most compelling offer for those types of stores in the country and we want to be at the forefront of this in the future.”
Lamoureux said a big box store is typically about 100,000 square feet and more.
“We look at what’s going on in the country and we’re going to be very aggressive approaching some of those dealers just to share with them the compelling offer that RONA has for that type of store,” he said. “We envision that’s something that’s going to become more and more appealing in the future because you need that proximity store right next to that neighbourhood.
“And those stores, their markets can be counted by blocks, not by kilometres. That’s the place you want to go when something’s missing instead of driving a long way. That’s where we think there’s a great opportunity first and foremost for any dealers who would have a store like that but also for us is to have the most compelling offer . . . That’s where we think we can differentiate ourselves from the competition.”
Meanwhile, RONA recently annouced it is simplifying its organizational structure to strengthen its position on the market and be more efficient and that translates into the elimination of 500 positions.
“The organization firmly believes that its transition plan aimed at positioning RONA as the leader of the Canadian home improvement industry will support its viability and benefit stakeholders in the long run,” said the retailer.
“Decisions like these are never taken lightly as they impact the organization’s employees and their families. Employees affected by this change will be supported throughout this transition. The company’s head office will remain in Boucherville, on the South Shore of Montréal.”
It also announced the appointment of Andrew Iacobucci to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining RONA, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at US Foods, a leading US food distribution company.
Garry Senecal, who occupied the role of Interim CEO, has agreed to stay with RONA until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.
