RONA Inc. officially announced today the start of construction of a new 68,000-square-foot store on Torbay Road, just north of Stavanger Drive in St. John's.
According to a news release, the new RONA will be centrally located to serve the growing needs of St. John's and surrounding areas.
The new store will have a total of 75 positions, 35 of which will be new jobs.
The release states the Torbay Road store is the fourth major RONA project recently undertaken in Atlantic Canada. Aside from the June acquisition of the Pierceys chain of stores in Nova Scotia, the company also invested $2.8 million in the O'Leary Avenue store in St. John's, while a second location in Bay Roberts was completely renovated in 2009, representing an investment of $1.9 million. The renovated Bay Roberts RONA replaced two stores that no longer satisfied company standards for adequately meeting customer expectations.
"The people of St. John's have shown tremendous support for RONA," said executive vice president of store operations, Pierre Dandoy.
"They come to RONA because of the excellent service our store teams provide and the expertise they know they can count on. Our new Torbay Road store will belong to the new generation of RONA stores and demonstrates our commitment to continually improving the way we serve our customers. "
The new RONA store will be built following the LEED criteria (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for new buildings and is expected to receive LEED certification for construction.
"By lowering the environmental footprint of our new stores, we make sure we minimize the environmental impact RONA has on the community," Dandoy said. "The Torbay Road store will give people in St. John's a hardware destination that respects the environment as much as they do."
The evaluation criteria includes measures to protect air quality, such as using low-emissions materials (like paint, adhesives and waterproofing materials) in the building construction, and measures for reducing energy consumption, including a white energy efficient roofing system; additional insulation in the building envelope; T5 fluorescent lighting; a high-end control system for store lighting (movement detectors); timers to regulate lighting, air-conditioning, and heating throughout the day; and low-flow sanitation equipment.
Wood from certified forests and locally manufactured materials will be used for the construction. Bike racks, changing rooms and showers will be installed to encourage employees to cycle or walk to work.
RONA entered the Newfoundland and Labrador market in 2006. In addition to its own truss plant, RONA has nine stores in the province today: stores in Bay Roberts, Fortune, Gander, Goulds, Kelligrews and Wabush, and three store locations in St. John's.
RONA to invest $20 million in new St. John's store
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Published on
July 14, 2010
- Published on July 20, 2010
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Staff ~ The Telegram
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