After several years of being a runner-up, Ottawa’s Lee Valley Tools has finally landed at the top of the heap for its in-store customer service.

And much of that is due to the 46-year-old company’s ongoing use of technology, which is not only pleasing customers, but setting the retailer apart in the industry.

Lee Valley recently took first place in the Leger 2024 WOW In-Store Ontario report, an annual report that ranks in-store customer experience. The award for the Ontario market surveyed 12,000 Ontarians and evaluated 162 retailers on factors including products, price, customization and service. 

For the past few years, Lee Valley has been a finalist, but this year’s first-place finish is a “significant level of validation,” president and COO Jason Tasse told OBJ.

“Our retail store is the big stage and retail is under a lot of challenge right now. But we’re absolutely laser-focused on our (customer) experience,” explained Tasse. “Leadership is heavily involved, and we put extra focus on the in-store.

“This award shows us that (customers) notice, that it’s a job well done, and that the time and energy pays off,” he continued. “And as much as we stage products well, have brand consistency and all of that … it’s our people that sets us apart.”

The use of technology was partly borne out of the pandemic, when Lee Valley not only invested in online retail but also redeveloped software, replatformed the website and invested in ongoing automation projects that will be implemented at the end of this year, Tasse said. Now, the company has an entirely re-developed and re-imagined online experience that informs the in-store retail.

The stores, including the company’s Ottawa location at 900 Morrison Dr. off of Greenbank Road, are staged as “experiential” showrooms that encourage shoppers to explore and engage with products hands-on.

At least one pandemic adjustment is now a permanent fixture in the stores: an online shopping system. Because the stores are set up as showrooms, the products are stocked in the back-of-house instead of on the shelf — more similar to IKEA than to Home Depot — and are retrieved for customers by staff.

The system of staff members “picking out a fresh one” from the back, as Tasse describes it, isn’t new, but the online system behind it is.

“Customers come in and pull out their phone and can go to our online store — it’s not an app — and the system identifies that you’re in our store. They confirm the Ottawa location and then can shop and fill a cart from their phone,” explained Tasse. “Then we pick a fresh one from the back and get it all together for them.”

Customers can use computer-like kiosks to access the system, or even just pencils and paper. The idea, Tasse said, started as a way to keep customers and staff safe during the pandemic and avoid unnecessary handling of products. Now the system has evolved into a way for the company to provide shoppers with as many options as possible.

“They can shop online, they can come in-store, they can do both at the same time,” said Tasse. “We don’t have a preference. We just want to serve them however they want to do it.”

To complement the experiential approach, the company offers seminars and workshops in a workroom attached to the store, teaching participants a variety of skills and projects. When the pandemic limited in-person gatherings, Lee Valley created “make-it-yourself” project boxes.

The kits include all the tools, materials and instructions to complete a project, from wooden plant stands to cutting boards, and customers keep all tools and their finished product. They can also either read instructions or scan a QR code to watch a video, Tasse said, another example of “meeting customers where they’re at.”

Another key aspect of the in-store shopping experience is informed and engaged staff, Tasse said, with 86 per cent of retail staff members identified as experts with the appropriate technical competence.

Every store features a back-of-house workshop where employees can experience tools themselves. Quality assurance workers can test tools, Tasse said, and employees have even worked together to build retail fixtures.

As well, employees are empowered to make decisions and offer advice to satisfy customers, Tasse said, encouraging the company’s “trust over transaction” psychology.

“We have this approach, including ‘people over profit.’ Our staff doesn’t work on commission and we’d rather someone come into the store, chat with staff and leave without buying something, than feel pressured into buying something they don’t want or need,” Tasse said. “It’s all about having the validation of what you’re spending your money on.”

Staff well-being is also important. During one of the pandemic lockdowns, Lee Valley was permitted to remain open with limited operations. But Robin Lee, current CEO and son of founders Leonard and Lorraine, chose to close the store completely to protect employees, said Tasse.

In fact, the “people-first” approach is one thing that has not changed since the family-owned company was started in Ottawa in 1978 by Leonard and Lorraine Lee. 

Nowadays, the Lee family still runs the show, and jokes that Tasse is “adopted,” since he is the first member of the leadership team that is not related to the family, he laughed. 

The goals and vision of the Lee family include ethical standards and procedures and socially-conscious initiatives. 

For example, during the pandemic, Tasse said the team noticed how many cardboard boxes from online shopping were ending up in landfills.

“We’d see all these Amazon boxes on the curb for garbage day, and we thought, ‘There has to be a better way,’” he said. “So we started telling customers that if they brought us their boxes and then we could reuse them, we’d give them a quarter.”

The company only carries products that it can “ethically and confidently stand behind,” Tasse added.

Products are also curated for quality, sustainability, craftsmanship and innovation. Power tools, for example, that are offered at Lee Valley have been identified as leading products, either in affordability, quality or safety, Tasse said. 

Lee Valley also remains committed to Ottawa, Tasse said. The company is currently funding a construction crew that is bringing more hydro power to the facility, allowing Lee Valley to build the infrastructure needed to expand its Ottawa operations.

“We’re proud to be in Ottawa and we want to stay here,” said Tasse. “So we’re funding whatever it takes to make that happen.”

Future investments are based around in-store retail and automation, Tasse said, with plans for expansion into Quebec and strengthening existing operations. 

“We have the brand recognition and reputation. We have 18 stores between Victoria and Halifax, with 500 people employed here in Ottawa,” he said. “And we are long-term committed to Ottawa, to our products and to our people, and we’re just getting started.”