A lumberyard in the central neighborhoods of Montreal is not common. It will be even less since the end of the activities of the BMR in the Rosemont district on October 30, after 67 years of loyal service.
“I would like to extend a big thank you to our customers for their tremendous loyalty,” said Gilles Bélanger, former manager of the hardware store at 2345 rue Saint-Zotique Est, on the phone. The center had been affiliated with the BMR brand for almost 50 years.
The closure of the institution was highlighted in the newsletter of the Association québécoise de la quincaillerie et des Matériaux de Construction (AQMAT) on November 8.
The business has had to manage the vicinity of a cycle path for a good ten years. Cyclists often complained about the encroachment of their reserved lane by vehicles from building contractors, local customers.
The closure, however, stems from a discord between shareholders. “It was not in our plans to sell in these circumstances”, mentions Mr. Bélanger in passing.
“In Rosemont,” he continues, “there was the Laurentides hardware store which had a lumber yard like us, but it closed three or four years ago. We were alone in our niche which is the rough of the renovation. There is no decoration, no seasonal product, no tools. We used to say to customers: once you put up walls and put your drywall in, you don’t come here anymore. For the rest, you go elsewhere. ”
The property consists of the store, a type house shoebox and a 4plex. The seller Devauban Des Écores, by Simon Gareau and Franco Nori, also acquired the warehouse at 6716, rue Des Écores, behind the IGA. They would like to build housing there in both locations, according to Mr. Pelletier.