Réno-Dépôt

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.

Réno-Dépôt

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Home improvement
Founded	March 31, 1993 (first store)[1]
Defunct	October 10, 2024; 9 months ago (2024-10-10)
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.renodepot.com

History

Réno-Dépôt in Sainte-Foy, Quebec

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]

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]

RONA+

On March 21, 2024, Réno-Dépôt Hull was converted to RONA+ Hull.^[10]

On April 25, 2024, Réno-Dépôt Charlemagne & Réno-Dépôt Sherbrooke were converted to RONA+ Charlemagne & RONA+ Sherbrooke.^[11]

On September 26, 2024, Rona indicated its intentions to rebrand all remaining Réno-Dépôt stores to RONA+ as of October 10, 2024. The renodepot.com website would close and redirect customers to rona.ca.^[12]