RONA big box store to close in August

By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review - April 30, 2008

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RONA Home & Garden at 3000 Sexsmith Rd. told its 115 employees last week the store will close sometime in August.

Mark Patrick photo

Richmond’s newest big-box store will close its doors three years after it opened, The Richmond Review has learned.

RONA Home & Garden at 3000 Sexsmith Rd. in the redeveloping Bridgeport area told its 115 employees last week the store will close sometime in August.

“We tried everything we could to keep it open, but unfortunately it’s just a location that was not performing profitably, and we did some analysis (and) concluded it would not perform profitably in the future,” said Eva Boucher-Hartling, director of external communications for RONA.

The news comes in the wake of a crisis facing the city’s second RONA store, a privately-owned location at 7111 Elmbridge Way. Owner Mack Foster is facing a massive property tax hike due to skyrocketing real estate values in the oval-anchored neighbourhood, and may be forced to close.

According to Boucher-Hartling, Foster’s business proved formidible competition for the corporate-owned big box, which opened in 2005.

“It was tough to have two stores in the same location. They’re just a couple of minutes apart, fighting for the same customers,” she said.

RONA, Canada’s largest retailer of hardware, home-renovation and gardening products, will attempt to find positions for its outgoing employees at a nearby store. In the meantime, the store will begin liquidating its inventory today.

Bridgeport Road Equities laid the groundwork for the store in December 2003, when it announced it had purchased a 5.3-acre vacant lot at the southeast corner of No. 3 and Bridgeport roads for $7.6 million.

The site was previously occupied by one of Richmond’s first schools, Bridgeport School, which was demolished in 1984.

In 2004, the city received an application to build the RONA store on the land, which was already appropriately zoned. A year later, the store opened, boasting a garden centre and rooftop parkade.

It’s not clear what will happen to the property now. The developer, Bridgeport Road Equities, owns the land and building, while RONA leases the space.

“I can’t divulge the specifics for the lease or the number of years, but for sure because it’s a lease we’ll respect whatever commitment we have with him. There are a number of options that we’re looking at for after August,” said Boucher-Hartling.

The store is sandwiched between two major roads leading to the airport, Bridgeport Road and Sea Island Way, and is located near River Rock Casino Resort and steps away from a planned 12-tower community.

RONA’s departure could pave the way for Wal-Mart, another big-box retailer that has long sought a location in Richmond.

Two years ago Wal-Mart’s development company agreed to a “compact” big box store for its proposed location at the corner of Garden City Road and Alderbridge Way. But so far, there’s been no application to develop it.

Richmond’s RONA isn’t the only store going under. Last week, employees in Scarborough, Ont. were told their store would soon close.

In February, RONA warned of profit loss due to lower single-unit housing starts last year and bad weather in December. Its 2007 fourth-quarter profit was 20 per cent lower than a year earlier, dropping $30.5 million.

For all of 2007, profit dropped three per cent to $185.1 million. The slowdown caused the retailer to miss its sales target of $7 million for 2007, posting $6.2 billion in sales for the year.

Despite that, Boucher-Hartling said RONA is still active. Last year in B.C. the company acquired Dick’s Lumber and some dealer-owned stores

“The company is still developing, B.C. is still a very important market, but in this case a decision had to be made because this store was just not profitable,” said Boucher-Hartling, who wouldn’t disclose financial information for the store.

RONA is a major 2010 Olympics sponsor, contributing $68 million to the event.

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RONA big box store to close in August

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