Home Improvement (Lowe's, Rona, Home Depot)

[lordmandeep]

the lowes is at 410/brovaird...

 

[Dan416]

Bovaird

 

[interchange42]

I'm surprised Mississauga isn't getting a Lowe's (yet). Mississauga has 3 Home Depots plus one on the Oakville/Mississauga border and 4 RONAs. So compared to Mississauga, yeah, Brampton does seem quite oversaturated, since it has a lower population (although exploding). Though I wouldn't be surprised to see a Lowe's at Heartland.

Whenever I see the words 'Brampton' and 'exploding' in the same sentence I perk up a bit.

42

 

[samsonyuen]

From: http://www.retailingtoday.com/story.aspx?section=Hardlines&id=11665
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Lowe's to open first three stores in Canada this December

TORONTO (Sep. 19) Lowe's today announced that it plans to open its first three stores in Canada the week of Dec. 10, with a total of six stores to be opened during fiscal 2007. The stores are slated to open in Brantford, Hamilton and Brampton. The company also announced that a Toronto store is slated to open in late January and that it has 18 additional sites in the pipeline.

"Lowe's Toronto management team has been working hard for nearly two years to open the first of many stores we plan for Canada," said Don Stallings, president of Lowe's of Canada. "These first openings illustrate our steadfast focus on delivering an outstanding shopping experience, including the best prices, products and service to our new Canadian customers."

In 2005, Lowe's said that it planned to open up to 10 stores in the Toronto area in fiscal 2007, with as many as 100 stores in Canada over time. The company opened its Toronto office in 2006 and has more than 100 employees in the office. According to the company, each new store will create up to 175 local jobs and represents an average investment of more than $18.9 million CDN ($18.5 million USD).

 

[samsonyuen]

From: http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/400270.html
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Lowe's expands its borders
Home improvement chain opens 1st store in Canada
NICHOLE MONROE BELL
nbell@charlotteobserver.com

Lowe's Companies Inc. opened its first Canadian stores Monday, launching an international expansion at a time when domestic home improvement stores are dealing with declining profits.

The openings in the Ontario cities of Brantford, Hamilton and Brampton -- not far from Canada's biggest city, Toronto -- mark the first international expansion for the Mooresville-based home improvement retailer.

Atlanta-based competitor The Home Depot Inc. already has about 150 stores in Canada and is its second-largest home improvement retailer. Canada-based Rona Inc. is largest, with about 660 corporate stores and franchise locations, many of which are small stores entrenched in local neighborhoods.

Two years in the making, the opening of the Lowe's Canada stores has taken a little longer than the company expected. Ten stores are expected to open in Canada by Feb. 1, and the company hopes to eventually have 100 stores in the country.

In the U.S., a lot has changed in the two years Lowe's has worked on the Canadian stores. Home sales and remodel jobs, once filling home improvement stores with shoppers, have tumbled. Homeowners across the country have defaulted on their mortgages and gone into foreclosure because of rising interest rates.

Lowe's, dependent on remodel jobs and sales of new appliances, has gone from seeing record-breaking profits to watching sales drop.

Third-quarter sales at Lowe's stores open at least a year dropped 4.3 percent in the third quarter, and profits dropped 10 percent to $643 million. Same-store sales at Home Depot dropped 6 percent during that period, and profits dropped 27 percent to $1.1 billion.

Lowe's spokeswoman Chris Ahearn said the Canadian market doesn't have those housing troubles and has low unemployment.

"Judging by the crowds at stores today, this is a good time," Ahearn said.

Despite the initial crowds, some say Lowe's is entering a market that's already saturated with big-box home improvement stores. Analysts estimate the country can support about 240 such stores, and there are already about 230.

The entire country has a population of about 33 million, less than the state of California alone, which has more than 36 million residents. The company's Canada stores are similar to those in the U.S., but the offerings have a more contemporary styling that appeals to the Canadian consumer, Lowe's Canada president Don Stallings said.

For example, he said, the Canadian stores also have more of an emphasis on high-end light fixtures and organizational products.

Lowe's strongest home-grown competitor is Rona, which might actually benefit from the arrival of Lowe's, said Kathleen Wong, equities analyst for investment bank CIBC World Markets.

Rona owns corporate stores, but unlike Lowe's and Home Depot, it has expanded by forming partnerships with smaller independent stores, Wong said. Those stores can take advantage of Rona's buying power, and Rona benefits from spreading its name.

Rona also sells private label products in those stores, about 15 percent of the company's business, Wong said. Because of this strategy, Rona's stores vary in size -- while it has some big-box stores, many are smaller to accommodate smaller neighborhoods.

"Lowe's coming in the market will definitely take market share from everybody, and the independent dealers are going to be worried," Wong said. "Many of them may approach Rona and try to structure a deal with them."

 

[Secret Agent]

FYI - You can cash in your Canadian Tire money on any purchase at Home Hardware.

 

[ShonTron]

the lowes is at 410/brovaird...

I'm an old time Bramptonian, so it's Highway 7 Bypass to me, not this Bovaird thing.

It's going in at the new Heart Lake Road diversion intersection, across the new 410 from another Home Depot in Trinity Common. A Lowe's is going in on Caledonia and Castlefield, next to a Home Depot. Interesting store location strategy.

 

[Admiral Beez]

IMO, Rona's management is a little off. For starters, they've got two stores at near Warden & Eglinton that are within a 1-2 minute drive of each other. Then, their staff never seem to be available, or knowledgeable (almost as bad a Crappy Tire, IMO).

 

[samsonyuen]

The Golden Mile stores are a bit of an anomaly. The one on Eglinton used to be a Building Box store, whose parent company (Réno-Depot in Québec, whose parent company Castorama of France) was bought by Rona. They figured they'd keep both open to dominate that area, over Home Depot. There must be a really cheap lease too...

 

[samsonyuen]

From: http://www.chainstoreage.com/story.aspx?id=74323
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Lowe's to Open More Canadian Stores

Toronto (July 21, 2008) Lowe’s Cos. Canada, ULC announced Monday that it plans to open three additional stores in Canada by the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

Stores are expected to open in Belleville, Whitby and South Windsor, Ontario. Additional sites remain in the pipeline.

“Lowe's commitment to serving our customers throughout Canada continues with these additional locations in Ontario,†said Don T. Stallings, president, Lowe’s of Canada.

Lowe’s opened its first three Canadian locations in December 2007, and four additional locations in February 2008.

 

[Jarrek]

They need to open a location in South Mississauga/Etobicoke.

 

[ShonTron]

Lowes going in at Belleville? It's not that huge a market (yeah, I know it takes in Prince Edward County, Trenton, and some towns along the Trent River/Canal and Madoc). I really see a saturation going on. Windsor isn't exactly a growing market these days either with all the plant closures there. Maybe they're seeing something I'm not, but I'm wondering what's going on.

Maybe they're trying to strangle Rona.

 

[adma]

Lowes isn't Ikea, you know.

 

[cabbagetowner]

IMO, Rona's management is a little off. For starters, they've got two stores at near Warden & Eglinton that are within a 1-2 minute drive of each other. Then, their staff never seem to be available, or knowledgeable (almost as bad a Crappy Tire, IMO).

the other questionable management decision was building a smaller rona store right next to the home depot on st. clair and keele. i was floored when i spoke to a rona employee about how unfortunate it was that home depot opened up next door only to be corrected that rona came in afterwards.

 

[waterloowarrior]

there's a couple of Lowe's that have been showing up on site plans in future Ottawa power centres as well