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No to Nation-Wrecking! Lowe's Companies Inc. Shutters 34 Stores Across CanadaIn a surprise announcement on November 20, Lowe's Companies Inc. from the U.S. said it was closing 34 stores in Canada, most of which it seized only recently with its takeover of RONA in 2016. The U.S. retail giant said it will close 26 RONAs, six Lowe's, and two Réno-Dépôts this coming January and February. Almost a third of the closures are in Quebec, where 12 stores are affected. Nine stores will be closed in Ontario, six in Alberta, three in Nova Scotia, three in BC and one in Saskatchewan.[1]
RONA was founded in 1939 in Quebec and soon became a large retail marketer for hardware goods and building supplies. As such, it developed a relationship with both the forestry industry in Quebec and building contractors. The rise of RONA as a chain of big box stores corresponds with the general decline of the small family business in the retail sector throughout the imperialist system of states and the trend towards concentration of the socialized economy, social wealth and political power into fewer and fewer private hands. This trend, left unchecked, has resulted in a growing dominance over Canada by the U.S. financial oligarchy.[2] As continental integration into the U.S. Empire proceeded unabated, the result has been a Fortress North America and the loss of any semblance of local, Quebec or Canadian control of the economy. As can be seen from the list of store locations to be closed, they are mostly in smaller communities where the oligarchs in control of Lowe's do not consider the scale of operations to be sufficiently lucrative. The trend of imperialism militates against rational nation-building in favour of the pursuit of maximum profit without regard for the lives and well-being of the people or local economies and Mother Earth. Working people, especially the youth, have been forced to seek work in ever larger metropolises such as Montreal, Toronto or the BC lower mainland. In the regions of Quebec and elsewhere, such as in Prince George in BC, the Lowe's-forced closures appear in part to be connected with attacks on the local economies, such as the forestry sector and other industries. A lack of investments to diversify local economies has made them vulnerable to crises. The working people of Bécancour, which will lose its RONA store, recently had to endure an 18-month Alcoa/Rio Tinto lockout of 1,000 ABI smelter workers, aided and abetted by the Quebec government and Hydro-Quebec. RONA stores in Bécancour, Nicolet, and
Trois-Rivières, as well
as the Réno-Dépôt in
Trois-Rivières and a Lowe's in Prince George,
among others in smaller centres, are earmarked for closure. These
attacks on the regions are forms of nation-wrecking to serve the
profit-mad international financial oligarchy whose considerations
are based on sucking out tribute from around the world to satisfy
their private interests. Notes1. List of store closures announced by Lowe's on November 20:
2. Other recent U.S. imperialist attacks on the retail sector in Canada: Target and Zellers Closures: Disastrous Years for Workers, Suppliers and Others (Excerpt) By 2014, Target had renovated and opened 133 stores across Canada, most of them former Zellers leaseholds, hiring 17,600 workers and selling pharmacy franchises for most stores. Suddenly on January 15, 2015. Target filed for bankruptcy protection for its Canadian operations under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and announced the closure of all its operations within two months. All its workers were told they were fired and pharmacy franchise operations and coffee shops were discontinued. Once again, retail workers became collateral damage in an economic system that is destructive, to say the least, and over which they have no control or say. (TML Weekly, February 14, 2015.)
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
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The 34 closures
bring to 61 the number of Canadian stores
Lowe's has shuttered during the last two years. It closed 27
Canadian locations in 2018 -- 24 of them recently bought RONAs --
along with regional support centres in Mississauga, Ontario and
St. John's, Newfoundland, a truss plant in St. John's,
Newfoundland and a block plant in Kamloops, BC. Just last month
Lowe's terminated 60 workers at its Canadian headquarters in
Boucherville, Quebec. Lowe's did not say how many workers' lives
will be turned upside down this time with the loss of their work
and livelihoods.