The site of the Les 4 Glaces complex in Brossard, which closed its doors in 2019, will become a Patrick Morin renovation center this fall. The brand, which wants to position itself as the Quebec reference in renovation, is thus making a breakthrough on the South Shore in the Montreal region, the first stage of an expansion elsewhere in the province.
“We are looking at our next avenues to ensure our expansion, and the South Shore was one of these aspects,” said in an interview with the Homework Daniel Lampron, vice-president and chief operating officer of the hardware store, acquired last year by the Turcotte Group.
The Brossard project is valued at $20 million, including more than
7 million for the acquisition, last June, of the 4 Glaces complex, which for almost 40 years has welcomed amateur hockey players.
In October, the new store of 3440 m2 (37 000 pi2) will therefore open its doors on a plot of land with an area of 8640 m2 (93 000 pi2). Unlike the 21 existing stores, this time the lumber yard will be indoors, with access for vehicles. The demolition of the arena is underway. “We keep the exterior structure of the building. It’s the whole interior that we have to redo, because they were skating rinks, and they have to be removed. »
Does this breakthrough on the South Shore in the Montreal region foreshadow the possible opening of a Patrick Morin renovation center in the metropolis? For the moment, the company is considering an expansion outside the island.
We are looking at our next avenues to ensure our expansion, and the South Shore was one of these aspects.
In 2023, a store should open on the North Shore in the Montreal region, indicates Mr. Lampron, however refusing to specify in which municipality. “Since the pandemic, demand has been strong on the outskirts. Patrick Morin also plans to expand the Joliette warehouse. Because the pandemic has changed the situation in supply management, points out Daniel Lampron. Delivery delays have prompted many retailers to rethink the “just-in-time” approach, which refers to delivering products to stores at the exact moment of demand.
“In the industry, an expansion can represent an increase that goes from 75% to 100% of the existing surface area of a warehouse,” he says.
These changes come nearly a year after the takeover of Patrick Morin by the Turcotte Group, owner of seven Home Hardware, for an amount that has not been made public. In February 2021, when the transaction was announced, it was indicated that the family business was passing into the hands of a partnership made up of Groupe Turcotte and Home Hardware.
Asked about this partnership, Mr. Lampron wants to put into perspective the importance of the Ontario company in the major orientations of the Quebec hardware store. “It is a minority shareholder, almost passive in fact. »
“In the hardware sector, to have access to suppliers, you have to be a member of a purchasing group”. A handful of purchasing groups share the market in Canada, including Rona, Home Depot, Octo Purchasing Group and Home Hardware.
“We joined Home Hardware, which, in return, invested in us,” he says. But make no mistake, we are a Quebec group, which is managed here. Without falling into business nationalism, he admits that Patrick Morin wants to position himself as the Quebec brand in renovation, in the same way as Rona could be before its takeover by the American giant Lowe’s, in 2016.
To do this, the company says it is banking on Canadian and Quebec supplies. “Already, 85% of what is here is Canadian, and the wood, which represents a good part of the sales, comes mainly from Quebec,” he says.