- Best Large Surface Retailer – Lowe’s Barrie (ON)
- Best Building Supply/Home Centre (< 15,000 s.f.) – Ace Matériaux Armand Dumaresq (QC)
- Contractor Specialist – RONA Penticton (BC)
Boucherville, Québec, 2017-Nov-17 — /EPR Retail News/ — Lowe’s Canada is proud to celebrate the achievement of three of its stores at the Hardlines Outstanding Retailer Awards which took place on Tuesday, November 14 in Niagara Falls. Three of Lowe’s Canada’s banners, namely Lowe’s, Ace and RONA, have taken home awards in the following categories: Best Large Surface Retailer – Lowe’s Barrie (ON); Best Building Supply/Home Centre (< 15,000 s.f.) – Ace Matériaux Armand Dumaresq (QC) and Contractor Specialist – RONA Penticton (BC).
“Thanks to its multi-banner, multi-format network of stores, Lowe’s Canada is ideally positioned to meet the needs of today’s various consumers segments, from DIYers to pros and contractors, no matter their type of home improvement project, and no matter where they live,” mentioned Sylvain Prud’homme, President and CEO of Lowe’s Canada. “These awards attest once again of the diversity of our vast network and of the strength of our business model. I wish to extend our most sincere congratulations to the awardees and their entire teams who work hard, day after day, to offer the best shopping experience to our customers.”
Best Large Surface Retailer – Lowe’s Barrie (ON)
The Lowe’s in Barrie opened its doors nine years ago with the purpose that sets the Lowe’s banner apart: “To help people love where they live.” With a team of 155 employees, customer focus has translated into an increase in customer count exceeding 8% in 2017 (year to date), and sales growth trending consistently above 10% for the last four years. The team’s engagement in showing the value it offers, from merchandise presentation standards to process and procedure, is key in explaining this success. If marketing brings customers in, the in-store experience (service, in stock, cleanliness, knowledge, etc.) turns them into loyal customers. The Lowe’s Barrie store is also very active in the community. Recent initiatives include collaborations with the Women’s Shelter in Barrie and Habitat for Humanity in Huronia, food drives for the Barrie Food Bank, and various toy drives.
Best Building Supply/Home Centre (< 15,000 s.f.) – Ace Matériaux Armand Dumaresq (QC)
Guy Samson purchased Ace Matériaux Armand Dumaresq in Rivière-au-Renard in July 2014. Previously family-owned, the business started up as a saw mill and eventually included a hardware store that was founded about 25 years ago. When he bought the company in 2014, Mr. Samson was facing several challenges: saturated market shares, a competitive environment that included three other hardware stores in his territory, decreasing demographic rate and high unemployment rate. To gain market shares, he chose to rely on a very strong customer service approach. Many SKUs were added to the inventory, the warehouse was expanded by 4,500 sq. ft. and the store by 1,200 sq. ft. This new approach was a huge success: the store increased it sales by more than 400% in just 27 months of operation.
Contractor Specialist – RONA Penticton (BC)
In 2005, the Mielke family created a joint venture with RONA to open RONA Penticton in the heart of the Okanagan Valley. The store customer base is a 50-50 retail-contractor split. In 2016, the store expanded its EWP yard and garden centre, moved the door and countertop shop into a new facility, expanded the Penticton Contractor Desk and opened a new satellite Contractor First location in Osoyoos. This 2,000 sq. ft satellite store with two acres and a staff of 11 allowed RONA Penticton to expand in the South Okanagan and have the Penticton store focus on sales closer to home. As a result, both locations are thriving and in ratio to the size of its operation, Osoyoos is one of the highest performer nationwide within RONA.
About the Outstanding Retailer Awards
Launched in 1992, the Outstanding Retailer Awards are the industry’s only national awards program dedicated to celebrating the achievements of hardware and building supply dealers in Canada. In its 25-year history, the program has honoured more than 150 retailers. The 2017 awards were presented at a special ORA Gala Dinner organized as part of the Hardlines Annual Conference, held November 14, at the Sheraton on the Falls in Niagara Falls.
About Lowe’s Canada
Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving more than 17 million customers a week in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With fiscal year 2016 sales of $65.0 billion, Lowe’s and its related businesses operate or service more than 2,370 home improvement and hardware stores and employ over 290,000 people. Based in Boucherville, Quebec, Lowe’s Canadian business, together with its wholly owned subsidiary, RONA inc., operates or services more than 600 corporate and independent affiliate dealer stores in a number of complementary formats under different banners. These include Lowe’s, RONA, Réno-Dépôt, Marcil, Dick’s Lumber and Ace. In Canada, the companies have more than 25,000 employees, in addition to nearly 5,000 employees in the stores of RONA’s independent affiliate dealers. For more information, visit Lowes.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Valérie Gonzalo
Media Relations
Lowe’s Canada – RONA
Tel 514.626.6976
media@rona.ca
Source: Lowe’s Companies, Inc.