A 100% Quebec-based family business that its fourth generation has taken over, it is known to be in full swing with a new $16 million head office in Anjou on the island of Montreal.
To buy such a home, you need to have the wind in your sails, and that’s exactly the case for Legault Group, which owns Mondou, Quebec’s largest pet store chain.
“It is the most beautiful head office in Quebec in terms of its location and design,” confirms Marie-France Legault, 28, an accountant by training and a member of the team, which designed and oversaw the project from the ground up.
Pierre Paul Paulin’s photo
Two generations of Legault: Marie-France, Jules, Philippe, Marie-Josée and Marc-Antoine.
The 40,000-square-foot building, on the edge of a natural lake, is located throughout. You almost feel like you are in the countryside.
The ceilings are high – 24 feet – and the floors are heated. There is a gym, yoga room, changing rooms and showers. The seemingly endless meeting rooms all bear the name of a street where Mondo’s is located.
The fourth generation of Legault has come to an end. They hired local companies to support them, such as Artopex, a local family business that designed personalized furniture. Others, such as Lauréat Pépin, Folio Design and Emblm, were also involved in creating the head office.
“We wanted an environment that would make you want to come into the office. It’s prettier than us,” laughs Nicholas Legault, 37, deal maker of the new generation.
It was he who found the land in 2018, to buy it in May 2019. Located next to the Mundo distribution center, there was … an old bowling alley.
Legault will celebrate 102 years in business in November. Mondo owners since 1983, they have increased the number of stores from 1 to 74 in Quebec.
They just bought Ren’s Pets and their 35 stores in Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Their new $50 million plant in Drummondville will be ready next January. Created in partnership with Groupe Inovo, another Quebec family business, it will produce all of their dry food for dogs and cats, which is currently carried out in Ontario.
Mondo’s three home brands, including Vetdiet, are already available at 500 points of sale in the US, but Legault Group’s ambitions are much greater.
However, it must grow through hiring. “With our new home, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to find the best talent available,” believes Mr. Legault.
The group’s CEO, Martin Deschen, thinks the same thing.
“These offices are a statment. We tell our gang: We want you to be okay, and we want to keep growing.
