Réno-Dépôt (known as Reno-Depot outside of Quebec) is a Canadian chain of home supply stores owned by

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

. Primarily operating in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Réno-Dépôt is a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of citie ...

-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.

History

In 1987,

Groupe Val Royal A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

entered into a strategic agreement with the Molson Companies and acquired the Castor Bricoleur stores, located in Québec. These stores became Brico Centres. In 1992, Groupe Val Royal, with its partner Aikenhead's, a division of the Molson Companies, announced the creation of Réno-Dépôt warehouse stores. The first location opened in

Brossard Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil ...

. 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 in 1995. That same year, the company changed its name to Réno-Dépôt. In 1996, a new location was established in Saint-Hubert. In 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 Castorama () is a French retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies, headquartered in Templemars, France, and is part of the British group Kingfisher plc, which has 101 stores in France and 90 in Poland. The company became a subsidia ...

. In 1998, the British group

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher is listed on the London ...

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 2003, Rona Inc. acquired Réno-Dépôt; following the merger, the Ontario-based Building Box stores were re-branded as Rona Home & Garden. 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 The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

. 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. In 2015, Rona announced that the brand would expand outside of Quebec with the re-opening of shuttered Rona locations in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

and

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridg ...

as Reno-Depot.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reno-Depot Lowe's Hardware stores of Canada Canadian brands Retail companies established in 1993 Companies based in Boucherville 1993 establishments in Quebec