Lowe’s goes: 31 Canadian and 20 U.S. store locations set to close

Pretty soon, 31 Canadian Lowe’s locations will be shut down due to underperformance.

Twenty-seven of those Rona or Lowe’s stores are in B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Twenty more locations will be closed in the United States.

The home improvement chain, based in North Carolina, said the closures were necessitated out of its “ongoing strategic [business] reassessment.”

Only two out of the 31 Canadian closures, only two are Lowe’s locations; both closing Lowe’s stores are in Ontario. The Calgary closure comes in the form of a Reno-Depot while the rest are all Ronas, a Quebec chain owned by Lowe’s as of 2016.

Lowe’s presently has 2,390 stores in North America with 630 in Canada.

“The decision to close stores is never one that we make lightly. However, following a detailed business review, we believe that this is the right path for the organization’s future,” said Lowe’s Canada’s president Sylvain Prud’homme.

“Everything will be done to ensure a smooth transition until the stores are closed, and Lowe’s Canada will support impacted employees, including by transferring eligible employees to other locations within our network whenever possible.”

British Columbia will only see one closure, in New Westminster. Alberta has two closures in Calgary. Ontario sees nine closures, all across the province including two in both Toronto and Mississauga.

Quebec also sees nine closures while Newfoundland and Labrador is dealing with six.

Regional support centres are set to be closed as well, in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. By the end of February 2019, all specified shops are expected to close down for good.

In 2016, Lowe’s bought out Rona in a $3.2-billion purchase in an attempt to streamline competition. Some Rona stores became Lowe’s during the consolidation process.