# Lowes in Canada



## GCC (Nov 2, 2007)

This week should be a little less busy in a few HD stores as Lowes is opening three stores in Ontario for the first time.. in close proximity to HD stores.
Looking forward to see if this will bring any pricing down.
Any of you guys have any Opinions of lowes we should now about up here in the land ice & snow.


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## Chris Johnson (Apr 19, 2007)

Did Lowes open new stores or did they do a corporate take over like HD did with the old Aikenheads? I heard rumour years ago they wanted Cashway.


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## Chris G (May 17, 2006)

All new stores from what I know. 

I forgot about the Aikenhead thing! 

I think Rona, (another big box store here) is about to go under. I have never seen such a huge place be so completely empty, with employees straight out of the lobotomy ward. I always have to ask someone if they are really open just to make sure I am not trespassing. HD employees are geniuses in comparison btw.


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## buildenterprise (Dec 4, 2007)

"HD employees are geniuses in comparison btw."

Now THAT'S a scary thought.....


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

Chris G said:


> I think Rona, (another big box store here) is about to go under.


I used to love going to Rona when I lived in Milton. Now I'm in Burlington and there doesn't seem to be any Ronas past Appleby Line. There's an HD 2 minutes away that gets several bucks from me a week.

When Rona took over Building Box, they just seemed to stop expanding.

I'm really surprised that Lowes thought there was going to be enough of a market with the HD and Rona wars that have been going on for the last couple of years.


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## GCC (Nov 2, 2007)

Yes its kind of embarrassing to say Rona is a Canadian Company..I think they my be in for some tough times down the road.


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## A W Smith (Oct 14, 2007)

let me guess. Now that Lowe's in in Canada their bi-lingual signage will be English/French instead of English/Spanish?


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

A W Smith said:


> let me guess. Now that Lowe's in in Canada their bi-lingual signage will be English/French instead of English/Spanish?


Those English/ spanish signs piss me off every time I'm in there 
:furious:


Dave


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## A W Smith (Oct 14, 2007)

dkillianjr said:


> Those English/ spanish signs piss me off every time I'm in there
> :furious:
> 
> 
> Dave


Oh you don't want to go out the Loathes lumber exit cash register then. You will snap when you find they are giving out these. Gratis!
El Nuevo Constructor magazine


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

A W Smith said:


> Oh you don't want to go out the Loathes lumber exit cash register then. You will snap when you find they are giving out these. Gratis!
> El Nuevo Constructor magazine


I saw that magazine adverised in the back of JLC magazine. 
Jease oh man :no:
I got the exclusive "PRO" flyer in the mail from lowes the other day I can't find it right now but it said in it something like " log on to blowes.com now for tips on breaking the language barrior to make the job go better" It was someting of that nature.


Dave


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## ODDBALLS (Jul 27, 2007)

In NM, the Lowe's employees are better than the HD employees. HD though, 9 times out of 10 has the lower price. I to hate the English/Spanish labels on everything. As a side note/question to the Canadians......Is the construction industry strong up there. The family and I are contemplating moving to the Vancouver Island area. Are people receptive to USers moving in. Just thinking aboot it for know. Thanks.


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## knothead (Sep 30, 2007)

Rona is expanding as well they bought out Dicks lumber a small but busy outfit here in BC.

HD is a bit cheaper for most things especially the tool rentals. I tried to rent a jack hammer from Rona in the end it would have been easier to rent a car for a week from Hertz then get a tool from them.

But the Ronas out here seem to have more inventory than Home depo


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## Bob Kovacs (May 4, 2005)

A W Smith said:


> Oh you don't want to go out the Loathes lumber exit cash register then. You will snap when you find they are giving out these. Gratis!
> El Nuevo Constructor magazine


The thing that ticks me off about that magazine is that they don't produce an English version- some of the articles in there are pretty good. The do translate some of the articles, but it's usually only one or two per issue, and it's never the topics I'd like to read about, so I end up doing a half-assed translation to get the info I want.


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

A W Smith said:


> let me guess. Now that Lowe's in in Canada their bi-lingual signage will be English/French instead of English/Spanish?


If they are looking to target a non-English speaking market, Mandarin, Punjabi or Hindi.

There was a big deal made on the news last week how 20% of the population has a first language other than English/French.

The only place they will probably have predominant French signage is in the PQ where it is mandatory.


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## SPCarpentry (Feb 12, 2007)

I refuse to use Lowe's because of the mentioned signs etc. I even mention this practice to others when they ask me why I refuse to do business with Lowe's. I never renewed my subscription to JLC because they seem content to offer everything in english and spanish. Why don't they try publishing a magazine that helps to teach ENGLISH? I use to use a small mom & pop lumber yard. Then they started to promote the spanish JLC with fliers all over the store and piles of free copies! When if ever did JLC give away free english copies?

Oh ya, were talking about Lowe's. When they started this sign change here give or take 18 months ago, I mentioned to the contractor's cashier how I felt. They said get in line, that all the contractors were bull, but corporate didn't care. Maybe they should just move the company to Mexico 

P.S. I use to think how nice and clean the Lowe's store was. Maybe it's because they don't get the foot traffic :thumbsup:


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

SPCarpentry said:


> Why don't they try publishing a magazine that helps to teach ENGLISH?


Yup my thoughts exactly why don't they? :furious:


Dave


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## SPCarpentry (Feb 12, 2007)

Dave 

You know why they don't? BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TOO :furious: maybe if others start to stop renewing their subscriptions they will figure it out :w00t: and Lowe's know's that joe homeowner will still shop there as long as Jimmie Johnson drives in bashcar, so you know they don't give a rats arse about us contractors.


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

Rona just opened a huge new store here in Whitby. It's closer to me than the closest HD and MUCH easier to get in and out of.

Not sure when a Lowes will be close enough for me to use. None of the 3 are even close to me.


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## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

SPCarpentry said:


> Dave
> 
> You know why they don't? BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TOO :furious: maybe if others start to stop renewing their subscriptions they will figure it out :w00t: and Lowe's know's that joe homeowner will still shop there as long as Jimmie Johnson drives in bashcar, so you know they don't give a rats arse about us contractors.


Ain't that the truth! I beleive us contractors are entitled to better service, better prices then Joe homeowner, but we will never see it from these sh*t boxes


Dave


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

Well, I just got the Lowes Canada flyer today.

It looks pretty much the same as a Home Depot or Rona flyer. Just replace Rigid and Rona tool brands with Kobalt.

And I notice they are selling Genie door openers.. Ugh.

It will be interesting over the next year with Rona, Home Depot, Canadian Tire and now Lowes battling it out.


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## BrianHay (Jun 17, 2007)

ODDBALLS said:


> As a side note/question to the Canadians......Is the construction industry strong up there. The family and I are contemplating moving to the Vancouver Island area. Are people receptive to USers moving in. Just thinking aboot it for know. Thanks.


I'm out on the Island right now and there is construction happening everywere, it's beafitul, the people are freindy and there is opportunity around every corner. I'm sure you would be welcomed and your family would like it here.


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## firemike (Dec 11, 2005)

BrianHay said:


> I'm out on the Island right now and there is construction happening everywere, it's beafitul, the people are freindy and there is opportunity around every corner. I'm sure you would be welcomed and your family would like it here.


Hey Brian, get your machine yet?


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## BrianHay (Jun 17, 2007)

no :sad: It was shipped almost three weeks ago now and the eta was the 17th but it got caught up in a strike in the shipping lines and was delayed. Now the eta is the 27th....provided everything goes well with customs.


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## ron schenker (Dec 11, 2005)

Lowes is sure taking advantage of advertising power. My tv has been bombarded with their commercials for a month now.


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## cropper (Dec 23, 2007)

I just


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## cropper (Dec 23, 2007)

I just visited the Lowes in Brampton Ontario and it reminded me of Rona, a Home Depot for women (no offence ladies) :laughing:


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## Heritage (Mar 20, 2007)

ODDBALLS said:


> In NM, the Lowe's employees are better than the HD employees. HD though, 9 times out of 10 has the lower price. I to hate the English/Spanish labels on everything. As a side note/question to the Canadians......Is the construction industry strong up there. The family and I are contemplating moving to the Vancouver Island area. Are people receptive to USers moving in. Just thinking aboot it for know. Thanks.


Well I'm in Toronto but I have a sister in Vancouver, she loves it there. From what I've heard there are quite a few Americans living in/have winter homes in Vancouver.

I'm an American who lives in Canada also...I'm well received here. Canadians are very hospitable...by comparison. I went back to the states a few years ago and as soon as Americans heard I came from Canada I got the:

"Eh Canada eh? No kiddin' eh?! You drink beer? Watch hockey? Ice fish? Man your English is good, how long you been here? etc. etc."

The industry is pretty strong here I would say. Alberta is apparently kicking A**, and that's not far from Vancouver. I heard tradesmen there are making twice, sometimes three times the national average.

I've thought about moving to Alberta myself but in all honesty I'm doing well enough in Toronto. I don't think Vancouver is AS strong as Toronto though but that's because they are smaller, Toronto is huge. The market is enormous here. Real Estate prices are soaring in the city, which means $$ in the bag for us.

I would give you more info on Vancouver but...ya know, I'm in T.O. Hope that helps.


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## BuiltByMAC (Mar 11, 2006)

dkillianjr said:


> ...I beleive us contractors are entitled to better service, better prices then Joe homeowner, but we will never see it from these sh*t boxes


I've found all of that at a couple of local lumberyards here. I know the inside sales folks and the yard guys, they know me. I would never expect such service from a national chain box store. Some of you are hostages to geography (the only place to buy near you is a box store) - I feel for ya. Everyone else really owes it to themselves to foster a relationship with their local lumberyard.

Side note regarding Vancouver Island, my wife and I took a vacation up there a couple of months ago (to Victoria, BC), and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. People were nice, scenery was attractive, couldn't really find a "bad" part of town...and I had to really look around for a while before I saw any gigantic people(and they were probably tourists!). That's something that seems to be uniquely American, embarrassingly.

Side note regarding signs/magazines in Spanish - it's just corporations looking at the bottom line. Oh, there are now X million Spanish speaking people in the trades? ... we need to market to them too - their money's green enough for us. Just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, though...

Mac


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## A W Smith (Oct 14, 2007)

cropper said:


> I just visited the Lowes in Brampton Ontario and it reminded me of Rona, *a Home Depot for women* (no offence ladies) :laughing:


 
sounds Like Bed Bath and Beyond. which is like a lowes for women. I noticed almost every site that has a lowes has a BB&B


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## eagleandbaby (Oct 13, 2007)

GCC said:


> This week should be a little less busy in a few HD stores as Lowes is opening three stores in Ontario for the first time.. in close proximity to HD stores.
> Looking forward to see if this will bring any pricing down.
> Any of you guys have any Opinions of lowes we should now about up here in the land ice & snow.


Maybe someone already said this. But several Lowes have opened right next to HD stores here in So Cal for several years. When I go into one of the Lowes it is a ghost town and HD is still busy.


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## door man (Jan 2, 2008)

lowes rules here hd is empty do to lack of customer service:thumbsup:


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