Where Quebec home renovators prefer colorful cabinetry, their Ontario counterparts are happier with natural wood. And, while Quebeckers are happy to pay the asking price, Ontario shoppers are willing to wait for a deal.

These are just two of the differences to which Boucherville, Que.-based home improvement chain Rona is paying close attention now that it’s starting to make serious inroads into the huge Ontario market.

While the company has had 39 small stores dotted across the country for about 10 years, it decided early this year to step up its efforts in the country’s most populous province, according to Sylvain Morissette, spokesperson at Rona.

Morissette says that the company – which this year divided its stores into six banners to differentiate each store’s product offering – plans to go head to head with Home Depot by seeking out new markets for its warehouse concept.

Last February, Rona opened its first out-of-Quebec big-box store near Ottawa, in Nepean, Ont. Called Rona Warehouse, the store measures 150,000 square feet and features an indoor lumberyard and greenhouse, along with the usual assortment of products for the home and garden enthusiast.

While Rona Warehouse (Rona L’entrepot in Quebec) is a similar concept to Atlanta-based Home Depot, which boasts 36 warehouse stores across Canada, Morissette says there are differences between the two chains. The main one – and one the company plans to promote in the Ontario marketplace, at least – is the fact that Rona is a Canadian company, says Morissette.