Monday, February 4, 2013

RONA / Proudly Canadian / A Selection of Garden Sheds

RONA / Proudly Canadian / A Selection of Garden Sheds
design house ceiling fans
Image by bill barber
Seen in my set entitled "Mississauga"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600987373042/
I've often mentioned that I work at RONA, which is a Canadian competitor to Home Depot and Lowes.

When I was growing up, our family business (Pleasant View Farms) was engaged in the wholesale and retail sales of farm and landscaping/nursery supplies: hardware, fencing, pesticides, plants, hay/straw for bedding, containers, firewood, seed, clothing, paint and on and on.

In 2002, after many years in various endeavours (museums, teaching English, marketing, I was accepted in the seasonal department at RONA, where I employed the skills and knowledge that I had garnered so many years before at Pleasant View Farms.

If you visit while I'm at RONA, you'll likely find me in the greenhouse and/or garden centre. I also spend a good deal of time on the seasonal hardware floor.

It's just part-time... a day or two a week, but it suits nicely.

About RONA
wrightreports.ecnext.com/coms2/reportdesc_COMPANY_C1248L300
Rona Inc. The Group's principal activity is to retail and distribute hardware, home improvement and gardening products in Canada. The Group operates in two segments namely Corporate and Franchised Stores and Distribution. The Corporate and Franchised stores segment relates to the retail operations of corporate stores and the Group's share of the retail operations of the franchised stores in which the Group has an interest. The Distribution segment relates to the supply activities to affiliated, franchised and corporate stores. As of 19-Feb-2008, the Group had 77 Big-Box stores, 327 Proximity stores and 235 Specialized stores and 40 specialized ICI.

RONA.ca Information
www.rona.ca/content/investor-relations

General Links:
www.mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm

RONA History
1982 - Ro-Na purchased the assets of Botanix.

1984 - Ro-Na created a purchasing alliance with Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores Ltd. through Alliance RONA Home Inc.

1988 - Ro-Na merged with Dismat, another building materials company, to create Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc.

1990 - Ro-Na formed an alliance with Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1997 - ITM Entreprises S.A., a France-based group, invests million in the Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. ITM becomes a shareholder and forms a purchasing alliance with Ro-Na.

1998 - Ro-Na eliminates the Le Quincailleur and Dismat names and introduces RONA L'express, RONA L'express Matériaux and RONA Le Rénovateur Régional. It also changes its name from Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. to RONA Inc.

1999 - RONA opens a new warehouse adjacent to its headquarters, measuring 654,000 square feet (61,000 m²), doubling its warehousing capacity and achieving considerable cost savings.

2000 - RONA acquires Cashway Building Centres, with 66 stores. It permanently opens its online store on the rona.ca website.

2001 - RONA acquires 51 Revy, Revelstoke and Lansing stores and thus owning many more stores in the Greater Toronto Area.

2002 - RONA closes a public offering consisting of a total offering of 0.1 million of Common Shares. RONA's Common Shares are then traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "RON".

2003 - RONA acquires Réno-Dépôt Inc. from British Kingfisher plc, including The Building Box stores. RONA also opens its third large distribution center in Calgary, Alberta.

2004 - RONA acquires Totem Building Supplies Ltd., an Alberta company. RONA Dream Home airs on Global. RONA also joins the AIR MILES Reward Program.

2005 - RONA Dream Home 2 airs on Global.

2006 - RONA acquires a majority (51%) stake in Matériaux Coupal Inc..

2006 - RONA acquires Curtis Lumber Building Supplies

2007 - RONA acquires Burnaby, BC based Dick's Lumber

2007 - RONA acquires Nova Scotia based Castle Cash & Carry

Post Processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, equalize, posterization, rough pastels.
Topaz: vibrance (HDR)





RONA / Proudly Canadian
design house ceiling fans
Image by bill barber
Seen in my set entitled "Mississauga"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600987373042/
I've often mentioned that I work at RONA, which is a Canadian competitor to Home Depot and Lowes.

When I was growing up, our family business (Pleasant View Farms) was engaged in the wholesale and retail sales of farm and landscaping/nursery supplies: hardware, fencing, pesticides, plants, hay/straw for bedding, containers, firewood, seed, clothing, paint and on and on.

In 2002, after many years in various endeavours (museums, teaching English, marketing, I was accepted in the seasonal department at RONA, where I employed the skills and knowledge that I had garnered so many years before at Pleasant View Farms.

If you visit while I'm at RONA, you'll likely find me in the greenhouse and/or garden centre. I also spend a good deal of time on the seasonal hardware floor.

It's just part-time... a day or two a week, but it suits nicely.

About RONA
wrightreports.ecnext.com/coms2/reportdesc_COMPANY_C1248L300
Rona Inc. The Group's principal activity is to retail and distribute hardware, home improvement and gardening products in Canada. The Group operates in two segments namely Corporate and Franchised Stores and Distribution. The Corporate and Franchised stores segment relates to the retail operations of corporate stores and the Group's share of the retail operations of the franchised stores in which the Group has an interest. The Distribution segment relates to the supply activities to affiliated, franchised and corporate stores. As of 19-Feb-2008, the Group had 77 Big-Box stores, 327 Proximity stores and 235 Specialized stores and 40 specialized ICI.

RONA.ca Information
www.rona.ca/content/investor-relations

General Links:
www.mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm

RONA History
1982 - Ro-Na purchased the assets of Botanix.

1984 - Ro-Na created a purchasing alliance with Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores Ltd. through Alliance RONA Home Inc.

1988 - Ro-Na merged with Dismat, another building materials company, to create Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc.

1990 - Ro-Na formed an alliance with Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1997 - ITM Entreprises S.A., a France-based group, invests million in the Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. ITM becomes a shareholder and forms a purchasing alliance with Ro-Na.

1998 - Ro-Na eliminates the Le Quincailleur and Dismat names and introduces RONA L'express, RONA L'express Matériaux and RONA Le Rénovateur Régional. It also changes its name from Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. to RONA Inc.

1999 - RONA opens a new warehouse adjacent to its headquarters, measuring 654,000 square feet (61,000 m²), doubling its warehousing capacity and achieving considerable cost savings.

2000 - RONA acquires Cashway Building Centres, with 66 stores. It permanently opens its online store on the rona.ca website.

2001 - RONA acquires 51 Revy, Revelstoke and Lansing stores and thus owning many more stores in the Greater Toronto Area.

2002 - RONA closes a public offering consisting of a total offering of 0.1 million of Common Shares. RONA's Common Shares are then traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "RON".

2003 - RONA acquires Réno-Dépôt Inc. from British Kingfisher plc, including The Building Box stores. RONA also opens its third large distribution center in Calgary, Alberta.

2004 - RONA acquires Totem Building Supplies Ltd., an Alberta company. RONA Dream Home airs on Global. RONA also joins the AIR MILES Reward Program.

2005 - RONA Dream Home 2 airs on Global.

2006 - RONA acquires a majority (51%) stake in Matériaux Coupal Inc..

2006 - RONA acquires Curtis Lumber Building Supplies

2007 - RONA acquires Burnaby, BC based Dick's Lumber

2007 - RONA acquires Nova Scotia based Castle Cash & Carry

Post Processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, balance, posterization, rough pastels, sandstone






Guest House (22)
design house ceiling fans
Image by super.heavy


Luk Yu Tea House
design house ceiling fans
Image by Thirsty in LA
Luk Yu, first opened in 1933, is one of the oldest and most famous tea houses remaining in Hong Kong. Art Deco design with ceiling fans, individual wooden booths for couples, marble tabletops, wood paneling, and stained-glass windows. Excellent dim sum.


Ceiling of Dixie Terminal Lobby
design house ceiling fans
Image by elycefeliz
The Dixie Terminal buildings in Cincinnati, Ohio were completed in 1921 and served as streetcar terminal, stock exchange and office building in downtown Cincinnati. They were designed by Cincinnati architect Frederick W. Garber's Garber & Woodward firm. The main building includes an "Adamesque barrel-vaulted concourse" and "Rookwood Architectural Faience entry arch". The Rookwood tiles were manufactured by the local Rookwood Pottery Company.

A long and elaborate arcade runs through from main entrance through the building; shops were located alongside. The building included marble floors, Bottincino marble wainscot, metal trimmings, and "costly brightly decorated ceilings, with fanciful medallions showing little children riding on the backs of various animals". Joseph Francis Beller is believed responsible for the original gold-leafing and the "frolicking" cherubs in the building.

Located at Fourth and Walnut Streets, the Terminal was constructed of reinforced concrete and finished in gray brick, Bedford limestone, and granite. It includes two structures: the 4-story south building extending to Third Street, where streetcars entered and left, and the "handsome" 10-story north building, housing railroad ticket agencies, the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, administrative offices of the Cincinnati Street Railway Company, commercial offices and shops.

The terminal was used for bus service after streetcar service ceased in the 1950s. Buses arriving from northern Kentucky crossed the Roebling Suspension Bridge and took ramps from the bridge into the terminal. The ramps were removed and the bus service ceased using the terminal in 1998 .


Rain Man Filming Location
Fan Blog
Dixie Terminal was the Cincinnati Trust where Charlie goes to find out the whereabouts of the million trust fund that he felt he was entitled to. The building is absolutely beautiful and looks very much like the way it was depicted in the movie. In the movie it served as a bank with clerks and desks, while in reality it was at one time a streetcar terminal and is now an office space but it hasn’t lost its grandeur. It was very exciting walking the same path that Charlie does as he approached the desk clerk. My excitement was short lived, though, when I saw the view (or lack thereof) from the window at the end of the corridor. In the movie this window offers a spectacular view of the Ohio River and the Roebling Suspension Bridge, which was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge. That view is now totally blocked by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. I’ve been to the Freedom Center before and they now possess this wonderful view. Sadly the Dixie Terminal now overlooks the concrete facade of the museum. I was so disappointed because that view, as seen in the movie, was really wonderful and could have been seen all the way from the main entrance. As I was walking around the main corridor watching the people who worked there go about their business I wondered if any of them realized that they were working in a building that was not only beautiful but a location for such an important cinematic event.

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