Ten months after paying a whopping $3.2 billion for the Canadian hardware chain Rona, Lowe’s Canada says it will begin rebranding most of the Rona stores, even tn those in Quebec, It has been a long journey from the 2012 rejection of Lowes as a suitor for Rona because of Quebec nationalist feeling to the decision to change the name of the stores. The Quebec change will occur in 2019 once Lowes adopts a new French-language information technology system that will then be rolled out to existing Lowe’s stores. Lowes promises to keep the Rona name on many of its products. Rona says the change is being made to eliminate shopper confusion about what is sold at its various store formats. Lowes also owns the Ace Hardware brand in the U.S.
