Corbeil Appliances has opened its brand-new store concept, located at 582 Boulevard de Touraine in Boucherville.
This opening marks the third new-concept store on Montreal’s South Shore, following the successful launches in Brossard and Saint-Hubert.
The arrival of Corbeil Appliances new concept store in Boucherville once again demonstrates the company’s ongoing commitment to leading the home appliance sector on Montreal’s South Shore and across Quebec. Designed to provide an immersive customer experience, the store features an inspiring layout, personalized support from specialists, and a carefully curated selection of the industry’s most reputable brands, explained the company.
“We are thrilled to continue reinventing the world of home appliances by offering Boucherville customers a completely renewed experience,” said Walter Lamothe, President and Chief Operating Officer.
“This opening more than ever reflects our commitment to providing Quebec consumers with the best shopping experience, backed by exceptional service and passionate specialists,” added Anthony Amiel, Chief Executive Officer.
The Boucherville store is 10,000 square feet.
Founded in 1949, Corbeil Appliances is a Quebec-owned company, part of Groupe Amiel since 2017, and is today the largest specialized home appliance network in Quebec, with 33 stores across the province and Ontario. Groupe Amiel is a holding company founded by Anthony Amiel in 2017. It was created to bring together Distinctive and Corbeil Appliances under one entity.
Lamothe said Corbeil has three stores in Ottawa and 31 in Quebec. About nine stores have been renovated into new concept stores.
“The new-concept stores started being renovated around 2020. Our first-generation new-concept store was in St-Leonard. But as all things go, it evolves with time. The three stores we mentioned on the South Shore—Brossard, St-Hubert, St-Bruno—and Boucherville, are three beautiful updated stores to serve that population,” said Lamothe.
“The founder, Anthony Amiel, purchased it from Sears in 2017. This is a kind of “dusty” industry, where changes don’t happen very fast. A lot of industries are like that. So when you’re offering the biggest purchase next to your house and your car—your appliances and furniture—he decided, back then, to stay with appliances only. Whether you’re spending $2,000 on a kitchen upgrade or $40,000, how do you create an environment where customers feel comfortable, well served, and inspired?
“When you walk into that store you’re in, it’s “knock your socks off.” It’s so clear. You shop kitchen by kitchen, and it’s truly inspiring. Well-lit is a big thing, and the environment—the people. We train our people a lot. The number of hours our employees go through every year to stay up to date on the newest things. The customer walks in, is inspired by the look, finds it easy to shop, has lots of space to move around, meets salespeople who know what they’re doing, and gets after-service that’s second to none in the industry. So the big change for us is really to keep upgrading what is fashionable in the appliance world and to surpass it.”
He said some of the key brands—Miele, Samsung, Bosch—you go to their showrooms and they’re beautiful, very up to date, showing the full brand experience.
“We took that, but if we showed each brand’s individuality the same way, the store would look wonky. So we package their individuality in a way that feels homogenous as you go through the store. You feel like you’re in one environment with many choices, rather than trying to figure out what part of the store you’re in at any given moment,” noted Lamothe.
“These showrooms from the brands are phenomenal, but in most stores in this industry you get a dowdy or confusing environment. Whoever can show the biggest setup for one brand or another often wins, but the consumer doesn’t see choices—they get stuck along the way.
“It was a fine balance. Anthony was probably told it couldn’t be done back then, and I think he achieved it. The new team brought in for retail is helping ask: how do we commercialize this even more? Boucherville is the latest rendition of modernizing this, and that’s a big thing for us with our pretty ambitious next three to five years of rollouts.”
Lamothe said the challenges south of the border created opportunities—crazy as it sounds—at the beginning of the year, because people were trying to get ahead of additional charges and whatever else.
“Since then it’s calmed down, but we’ll finish the year pretty well, not a huge increase, not a huge decrease—just in the middle. Our latest trends are showing very positive results. Nothing to write home about as far as comps, but we’re holding our own nicely. The industry—depending on the brand—American-fed brands are starting to see some comeback, but it was pretty tough.”
Lamothe said the retailer is constantly searching for the next place. Quebec—within a natural shipping radius—is pretty well maximized.
“We have a couple of ideas around the Montreal area. We have a couple of ideas for Ottawa. And within a five-year window, we’ll start opening flagships in cities across the country. Right now we’re focused on our home market—getting the formula right. Ottawa is already part of that; it’s an extension of what we do,” he said.
“We also still have about 10 stores to bring up to speed over time. So more renovations—next year there are about eight projects. Some are minor, but some are as significant as Boucherville.”
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