Rona Edmonton Trail

Good ol’ Rona. It’s like being lost in a giant warehouse for days on end, except at the end of it all, you get to buy the parts to build something.
This particular Rona isn’t nearly as extensive as the other ones I’ve been to, but if you’re looking for something pretty common there’s a good chance that they’ll have it. Since it’s located in the middle of the city it’s a good stop for your every day household fixer upper needs without needing to make a trek out to the distant burbs.
Rona favours selection and price over service. Chances are it will be tough to track someone down to help you out, let alone someone interested in helping you more than just calling out an aisle number and disappearing before you can get back to tell them it’s not there. But on the other hand, they have free popcorn, so…

Several bad reviews for this place on Yellow Pages! If you search, they have the wrong hours listed for Saturdays! They close at 6, not 8! Good thing I tried to call for their hours! The only thing I buy there is cat litter! I wouldn’t buy anything else there as they got rid of Monsanto’s Round Up for a while and then brought it back!

@RonaInc Edmonton Trail in Calgary is a gem in the neighbourhood! This was the site of the old Totem store before they were bought out by Rona. The stores in Alberta were gradually converted in 2013.
Even though it had been awhile since I’ve visited this location everything about the old Totem store seemed to be intact. In fact, they still serve their free popcorn!
I really enjoy the fact that this store is a ¹⁄₁₀^th of the size of regular Rona stores and Home Depots. You can find help much easier in stores of this size. All the basic hardwarde, tools and do-​it-​yourself equipment is still there. In fact, they had a better selection of braids and tacks than Home Depot.
I was on the hunt for a really specific item and the hardware guy helped me out and really cared. He suggested a different solution that worked beautifully and was even less expensive!
Thanks Rona/​Totem for being a gem in the neighbourhood. Bring back the small hardware stores!

The Rona (Totem) on Edmonton Trail is THE BEST!
These guys are awesome. I’ve waited too long to write this review. Maybe I was keeping the secret of this gem to myself in hopes to keep the masses away, but I just can’t hold back any longer.
I was worried when Rona bought this place, I have to be honest, the big box name made me nervous. Good news though, THEY STILL HAVE POPCORN! Seriously though, from the customer perspective — nothing but the paint on the outside changed. They’re the best place in town to get home improvement products and advice. Hands down.
The people there are always so helpful and friendly. They’ll listen to your problem or project and give advise and tips and help you find the product or tool or whatever it is you need.
The last time I was in I needed to fix my kids bed — broken slats (gee I wonder what happed. Little Johnny did you jump on the bed? No mom, not me.) Any way, the guy there helped me find exactly the right size board and cut it right there right away for free! you made my day sir.
Today I went in with a nut that was stuck on a threaded piece of hose. I was looking for a wrench — sucks that the only ones they had were sold in a set for about 42 $, no single wrenches — but I ended up get an adjustable one for a reasonable price. But here’s the awesome part — the guy there wrestled with that damn nut and tried to get it off for me!
I have had similar awesome experiences at this store before they became Rona too, I tiled a bathroom and the tips that guy gave me saved me a ton of grief. I bought an electricity tester thing there once too but it didn’t work — I thought maybe I was just using it incorrectly and went there for some instructions, turns out it was a defective product. The guy let me return it without a receipt, pulled all of those little testers off the shelf, and found me a different type of tester that worked perfectly. He even tested in the store for me before I bought it.