As Zellers' workers protest today outside the Toronto headquarters of the U-S retailer about to take them over, another group of independant operators is fighting a possible American takeover.

 Dozens of independent merchants who operate 164 Rona stores across Canada have written to the head of Lowe's Companies saying they are opposed to a takeover of Quebec-based Rona Inc.

The letter, made public today, says the independents prefer
Rona's approach of combining a network of independents with more
than 200 corporate stores.

    Lowe's has approached Rona with an informal offer of $14.50 per
share but faces opposition from both the Montreal-area company and
the Quebec provincial government