Sudbury's Lowe's home improvement store became a Rona Plus store on Thursday. It's part of a corporate partnership of Lowe's Companies, Inc. and Sycamore Partners, a Canadian company based in Quebec.
The new venture which took place nearly a year ago saw the U.S.-based Lowe's selling many of its Canadian retail properties to Sycamore with the rebranding of Lowe's to Rona+.
At the Sudbury location at 1199 Marcus Drive, the event was celebrated with a "board cutting event" inside the store.
Rona marketing vice-president Catherine Laporte said the company has a history of 85 years in Canada and is well known in Northern Ontario.
"So we're very excited to launch our first Rona Plus within the Sudbury community. It's our second Rona store. And I think for those of you who've been in the community for a long time, we're happy to be back home," said Laporte.
"We're very proud to be Canadian and Canadian-operated once again," she added.
Store manager Carlo Persampieri said he was pleased to be part of the new venture.
"This store has been serving Sudbury since 2009. And we're thrilled to make the switch to Rona Plus. We can offer even more to customers. As you can see our prices have been lowered; over 6,000 lower prices," he said.
Persampieri invited the wider community to visit the newly revamped location, especially for the coming weekend as there will be several special features and sales.
Persampieri added that Rona+ is partnering with Monarch Recovery Services in Sudbury, as part of the company's Home Sweet Home campaign, an employee-driven in-store fundraising effort.
Angie Gaudette, a program supervisor at Monarch, said the Sudbury-based addiction recovery and treatment service, is pleased with the partnership with Rona+.
She said Monarch provides nine different programs at six separate sites and welcomes the help that the Rona+ fundraiser will provide, specifically to the men's recovery home.
She said the building is older and in dire need of upgrades and renovations.
"So thank you to everyone that's been a part of this fundraiser, and that will continue to be a part of the fundraiser for the rest of the month.
Community leaders also brought greetings to the event. Councillor and deputy mayor Al Sizer brought congratulations on behalf of the City of Greater Sudbury.
Sizer thanked the company and the workers for their contribution to the city's well being and betterment of the local economy.
Sudbury MPP Jamie West presented a congratulatory scroll and also extended best wishes on behalf of his constituents. West thanked the company for its commitment to the community and also for recognizing the importance of fundraising for addiction recovery.
Len Gillis covers health care stories and also the mining industry for Sudbury.com .
