Lowe’s switches Rona big box stores to its own brand

Six months after its acquisition of Canadian market leader Rona, the American home improvement chain Lowe's has announced its intention to switch 40 Rona big box stores to the Lowe's brand. This is being reported by Canadian media sources, including the Hardlines trade journal, following a press briefing by CEO Sylvain Proud'Homme. From spring 2017, 23 stores outside the French-speaking province of Québec will be switched. The 17 stores in Québec should then follow suit in 2019, because the new French-language information technology system will only be rolled out to the stores in 2018.
In future the Canadian subsidiary of Lowe's will operate four store types: Lowe's big box stores, large Réno-Dépôt stores mainly in Québec, mid-sized stores under the Rona banner and smaller neighbourhood Ace hardware stores. The company has also announced several pilot stores for a new Rona concept for next year.