Strutz Strutz:
Well, as long as they are still CANADIAN owned they will get my business before I'll go to Home Depot (who also carry goods manufactured in China). I have home renos to do in the very near future.
Shitty enough that we are losing, and have already lost companies to US overtakings (The Bay, now Zellers).
IMO just good to see a Canadian-based company trying to hang on.
I don't give a shit where the company is owned, retailers like Rona have to start to compete and treat customers & contractors properly and not just rely on the "Canadian Company" mentality to get them through. Treat customers properly!
Rona, Lowes and Home Depot all carry the same products so while Rona may drop in a few Canadian made items, the majority of their items are the same ones at other retailers.
We've seen it with Zellers and now Rona. BTW, the Bay and Zellers are owned by the same American company and have been for the last 6 years.
Speaking from the commercial side, my father who owns a construction business has all but stopped using Rona because they're so poorly run they often don't have the basic construction materials. Plaster, 2x4's, screws, drywall, corner bead...etc.
Last year, one of the VP's from Rona's head office called my father to ask why his account was so low in terms of spend and he offered to meet my father at a store in Toronto so he could show him what was wrong with the store. This is because they're losing an account of 250k-400k per year.
They walked around, my father pointed out to the man the basic necessities of contractors were typically out of stock and that's why he and others in the business have started going elsewhere.
Despite all that, the situation never improved.
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