Rona targets younger customers with smaller stores

TORONTO, March 4 (Reuters) - Rona Inc (RON.TO), Canada's biggest hardware retailer, plans to open more smaller stores, many of them outside its stronghold in the Toronto area, as it increasingly targets younger customers.

"The new generation, they don't want necessarily to walk through a 100,000-square-foot store -- they want service," Claude Guevin, Rona's chief financial officer, said on Wednesday. "This is where we see our niche."

At a retail conference held by CIBC World Markets in Toronto, Guevin said Rona would open more stores that are smaller than its typical "big box" outlets, aiming to appeal to the children of its older customers, many of whom now are becoming first-time homeowners.

"They don't want to spend 30-45 minutes like their parents spend in stores. For that reason, we want to make sure we reduce the assortment -- we show them exactly the best brand in the market and we give them the best service. We think the future is there," he said.

Over the next two years, Rona will also shift its expansion sights outside of Toronto, Canada's biggest city. Rona currently has about 680 stores across the country.

"We have to recognize in Ontario ... there's still a lot of room for expansion," Guevin said.

"After each recession, consumer behavior changes a lot and we have to prepare ourselves," said Guevin, adding that big box stores don't always work because of population density and different customer needs.

"We need to adjust ourselves. ... We believe the proximity store is the right solution for the future." (Reporting by Natalie Armstrong)