Réno-Dépôt
Canadian home improvement store chain owned by Rona, Inc
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Réno-Dépôt (known as Reno-Depot outside of Quebec) was a Canadian chain of home supply stores owned by Rona, Inc. Primarily operating in Quebec, Réno-Dépôt was a warehouse-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 in 2004.
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Home improvement |
| Founded | March 31, 1993 (first store)[1] |
| Defunct | October 10, 2024 |
| Fate | Converted into RONA+ |
| Successor | RONA+ |
| Headquarters | 220 Ch. du Tremblay, Boucherville, QC J4B 8H7 |
Number of locations | 20 |
Key people | Robert Dutton (president and CEO) André H. Gagnon (chairman) |
| Products | Retail (Home improvement) |
| Owner | Rona, Inc. |
| Parent | Molson Companies (1993–1997) Castorama (1997–1998) Kingfisher plc (1998–2003) Rona, Inc. (2003–2016) Lowe's Canada (2016–2023) Sycamore Partners (2023–2024) |
| Website | www |
The chain was briefly relaunched in 2013 as a discount wholesale retailer, with the chain operating primarily in Quebec, as well as selected locations in Alberta and Ontario. The chain's remaining locations were closed and rebranded as Rona+ in 2024.
History
First years
In May 1992, Groupe Val Royal with its partner Aikenhead's, both owned by the Molson Companies (the former in part, the latter as a subsidiary), announced the creation of warehouse stores under the name of Réno-Dépôt inspired straight from the Home Depot chain in the United States.[2]
The first location opened in Brossard.[1] 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 City in 1995. That same year, the company itself changed its name to Réno-Dépôt. In 1996, a new location was established in Saint-Hubert.
Acquisition and expansion outside Quebec
In April 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.[3] In 1998, the British group Kingfisher plc 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 September 2003, Rona Inc. acquired Réno-Dépôt; following the merger, the Ontario-based Building Box stores were re-branded as Rona Home & Garden.[4] 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.[5]
Relaunch, closure
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.[6] In 2015, Rona announced that the brand would expand outside of Quebec with the re-opening of shuttered Rona locations in Calgary and Aurora, Ontario as Reno-Depot.[7] However, both locations were announced for closure in 2018 and 2019 respectively, leaving the chain once again restricted to Quebec.[8][9]
In 2024, Rona began to once again phase out the banner, this time in favour of its flagship Rona+ banner (which originally replaced Lowe's Canada after its acquisition by Sycamore Partners). This process began with the Hull store on March 2024,[10] and the Charlemagne and Sherbrooke locations in April.[11] In October 2024, all remaining Réno-Dépôt stores were replaced by Rona+.[12][13]