The large blue Lowe's sign on Quinn Drive in Sarnia has been replaced with a yellow banner, now that the store has officially been rebranded as Rona+.
To mark the 'grand opening' corporate officials and local dignitaries gathered for a board-cutting event on Thursday, instead of a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu, and MPP Bob Bailey were on hand for Thursday's event.
Gladu and Bailey both spoke about the current need for housing and highlighted the work of the Canadian-operated company in providing tools needed for remodeling and construction.
RONA Inc. Vice President of Marketing Catherine Laporte said 10 rebranded branches opened on Thursday, and the Sarnia location was first.
Laporte also said another 15 locations across Ontario will open on September 21.
Lowe's was officially sold to Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, earlier this year.
Sarnia's Store Manager Mathew Hoyle said part of the agreement involved Lowe's locations flipping to the Rona banner.
"A big change that we're making is in our pricing strategy. So we've simplified our pricing strategy for our customers so it's easy to identify [and] to understand," he said. "We've lowered our prices on a lot of our key performance indicators to keep us in line with the competition and to undercut."
Hoyle said staff worked hard over the past several weeks but they were excited to be the first location to launch the RONA banner.
"Just in the last few days since we changed our sign, we've gotten a lot of feedback from our customers, a lot of excitement, and some increased traffic to see what's new and what's different here," Hoyle said. "We're a bit off the beaten path here in Sarnia so to be selected first, it's a big honour for us."
To celebrate the changeover, family-friendly activities will be held at the store's parking lot from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., both Saturday and Sunday.
"On Saturday, we have Pit Boss coming in to do a BBQ for our customers and associates, we have a birdhouse painting station set up for any kids who want to come in and work on their DIY skills, which we're really excited about as well," said Hoyle.
Sunday will feature similar activities but instead of a BBQ, an ice cream truck will be stationed in the parking lot.
The Sarnia location currently employs approximately 117 people.