A downtown Fort Frances fixture is opening back up under a new name and ownership, but with the same commitment to quality and service.
What was once Howarth’s Home Centre, and then Leon’s is now Hometown Furniture and Appliance, a brand-new venture from two local businessmen who are looking to provide value, service and quality to the people of Fort Frances and the wider Rainy River District. The store is now under the ownership of Travis Green and Alex McQuarrie, business partners who have added it to another store in Dryden, as well as Green’s BrandSource, to provide the highest quality in furniture and appliances to shoppers.
While the name of the business may be changing, Green said much of what’s going on under the hood is continuing on the legacy of Howarth’s Home Centre, with the store now re-opened to the public ahead of a grand opening sometime in the fall.
“We’ve purchased the business from Mark (Howarth),” Green explained.
“We purchased the business, all of the inventory, everything like that. All the staff has come over along with them. We’re coming off being closed for three weeks to do the bulk of the demolition and renovations, and we’re now in the phase of putting it back together.”
The store will be continuing to see renovation work over the next few months, the owners said, with business as usual going on around it, as best as possible. Shoppers might see some bare floors or in-progress renovation, but they will also still be able to shop the store’s wide range of products and receive top-quality service.
“People may ask why we would buy the same type of store in the same town, selling the same or similar items as before, but what we’ll be able to offer is more selection to Fort Frances,” Green said.
“When you have two directly competing stores that are fighting in that same space, you end up with a lot of duplicate product. That was one of the things that surprised me, when we met Mark for the first time and walked the floor, how much stuff we had that was actually duplicates at the store, so we’ll be eliminating that as much as possible with the new operations. Basically, we’ll be doubling the selection that’s available to Fort Frances and the surrounding area.”
Green explained that the competing stores would carry a specific brand, and that brand would try to sell its most popular items, meaning the same appliance would make its way to the floor at both stores. Owning both stores now means that there is more room for manufacturer’s other models and appliances, thus widening the selection. The new store is expected to carry “a vast offering” from Whirlpool, one of the largest manufacturers of appliances in the world, which will help to expand the offerings in the district.
While Howarth’s might be gone from the store’s identity, McQuarrie said the sale was really the right opportunity at the right time for them as business partners, and that as local entrepreneurs, they could continue to focus on the same local values that the previous store did.
“We’re local guys who grew up in the community, we’re buying a local business, keeping people employed,” McQuarrie said.
“It was the right opportunity at the right time for us, as we were looking to grow the business as a whole and kind of capture that northwestern Ontario market as a whole, to continue to provide that good service that Mark and his family have always, always provided, and we’ve always provided at Green’s and making sure that the local business stays local more than anything.”
“That’s the big thing, that we are locally-based,” Green added.
“Green’s is over 100 years old, Howarth’s was 75 years in business as well. Many things are getting bought out by larger entities that are not locally based and our goal is that you’re not going to see a drop off in service level from us taking over. Our main goal is to provide the best customer service for the district we possibly can. That’s the goal at the end of the day for us, and I think in talking to Mark and his family, that was their concern as well. I think he was happy that it was being transitioned over to another local company, as opposed to someone from out of town buying it and transitioning it into a big company.”
Even as renovations continue, Green and McQuarrie stressed that the store is once more open for business, and as they continue to get rid of previous inventory in anticipation of new items to arrive, there are plenty of sales and clearance deals available to those in the district looking to update their kitchens, livings rooms, bedrooms and beyond.
“We’re definitely under renovation, so please watch your step,” Green said with a laugh.
“Obviously, we’ve tried to make sure that everything’s safe out there and everything like that, but it’s not styled and designed and place. We’ve got clearance items up there with big yellow tags on them, and we’ve got sales on products that are that are not clearance., too. So we’ve got a full offering. We’re going to be in renovation mode for the next couple of months, and it’ll be a little bit of a mess, but it’ll slowly get more and more looking like a fine-tuned store. And when it’s done, we hope to have one of the nicest showrooms in northwestern Ontario at this location.”
After a few weeks of renovation-related closed doors, the phones are being answered, knowledgeable staff are on hand to help, and product is ready to go, so there’s no time like now to check out Hometown Furniture and Appliance in downtown Fort Frances.
