15.1°C Not observed 
MONTREAL - Laura Secord's new owners have no plans to run away from the chocolate retailer's reputation as grandma's brand as they try to make it hip.
"The last thing we will do at Laura Secord is to be ashamed our age," Jean Leclerc, the company's new president, said in an interview from Quebec City.
Leclerc and his brother Jacques, who own Quebec chocolatiers Nutriart Inc., purchased the 97-year-old Canadian chain reportedly for about $20 million on Friday from a U.S. private equity group.
The Canadian chain had been under foreign ownership since 1983.
The latest owners were Gordon Brothers Group LLC and EG Capital Group which paid $27.6 million in 2004 for what was then a chain of 160 stores.
Nutriart was part of the Leclerc family's 105-year-old cookie business, Biscuits Leclerc Ltd., until last summer. Biscuits Leclerc is not involved in the deal.
Leclerc said Secord is a store with a special relationship with customers connected to family memories celebrating holidays and birthdays.
"It's an undeniable advantage and one that we're proud of," said Jean Leclerc, a former Quebec cabinet minister.
Like all retailers, however, Laura Secord is looking for the right formula to attract younger customers, which studies have shown to be less loyal than their parents and grandparents.
Nutriart plans to develop a new prototype store that will be rolled out across the country over the next three years ahead of the company's centenary. It will be the basis of future renovations.
It will also introduce new products, including those with a higher percentage of antioxidant-rich cocoa and containing fruit such as cranberries and blueberries.
"There will be changes but they will be gradual," added Leclerc, who liked that the chain is popular in Quebec and English Canada.
The addition of Laura Secord's more than $60 million annual sales will boost Nutriart's revenues to about $100 million.
It will substantially increase its chocolate production at its Quebec City plant by replacing a Pennsylvania company as Laura Secord's sole supplier of base chocolate used in all products.
Nutriart will also supply some finished products, but will continue to use existing suppliers for products beyond its technical capabilities.
Among them are those that make products with nuts since Nutriart's 18,000 square metre plant is nut-free.
Founded in 1913 and named after a heroine of the War of 1812, Laura Secord has more than 1,000 employees at 128 retail stores in seven provinces. It is also sold in 2,500 grocery, drug and department stores.
While it has no plans to open stores in the United States, Nutriart hopes to sell Laura Secord products in American stores within the next couple of years.
Unlike the previous owners which didn't produce its own chocolate, Laura Secord will be helped by Nutriart's modern facilities, logistics, distribution and warehousing, Leclerc said.
About 25 jobs in logistics and production will be created in the coming weeks at Nutriart's plant in the provincial capital. Nutriart currently has 35 workers at its automated chocolate-making factory.
