Lowe’s will close 34 “underperforming” stores across six provinces as part of a restructuring of its Canadian business, raising hackles in Quebec over the fate of local hardware mainstay Rona.
The stores include 26 Ronas, six Lowe’s and two Reno-Depots spread from Prince George, B.C., to Dartmouth, N.S.
“We think these restructuring actions that we announced today are going to really put us in a position for long-term growth,” said chief executive Marvin Ellison.
The home improvement retailer did not say how many retail staff would be affected by the latest round of closures, which will see stores windup in January and February. The company says eligible employees will be offered jobs at nearby stores, according to the need for workers throughout its network.
More than one-third of the closures will be in Quebec, with Rona stores comprising 11 of the 12 shutdowns there.
Premier Francois Legault suggested the province will not be able to intervene in the hope of saving jobs.
“It’s a private enterprise. What we can do is limited,” Legault told reporters.
Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said the U.S. giant seemed to respect an agreement signed with Ottawa after Lowe’s acquired Rona for $3.2 billion in 2016. He told reporters he could not divulge details of the deal, but aimed to call his federal counterpart after the new Trudeau cabinet was announced Wednesday afternoon.
Lowe’s made a half-dozen commitments in 2016 that involved jobs and the establishment of a Canadian head office for Lowe’s in Boucherville, across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal and home of Rona — a now-80-year-old Quebec hardware institution.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet on Wednesday denounced the closures and called on the federal government to disclose details of the 2016 pledges.
The closures add to the shuttering of 31 Canadian Lowe’s and Rona locations, including 27 stores and four other facilities, announced in November last year. At the time the company also announced the closure of 20 stores in the U.S.