It already produced buds (back in the Fall or late Summer). They are just inside the stems so you cannot see them. However, in Zone 3/4, it may be too early to open any of the flower buds that may be alive. Give it more TLC (keep the soil evenly moist, not dry or wet + some morning sunlight... shade in the afternoons or evenings) ; you may need to have a little more patience. Watch out for late frosts (they can kill the flower buds, the stems, the leaves or injure any of them... but the roots will be fine).

It does look quite healthy from a foliage perspective. I wish we had x-ray vision to check the flower buds.

I've been growing potted macs for decades and storing them over in the garage. Dormant buds that contain developing flowers tend to be noticeably plumper, the new shoots on this plant have now grown out a substantial amount with no evidence of any possible flower production. I showed the specimen to a friend who works at Home Depot, he said it isn't performing at all like their stock of 'BloomStruck' and recommended I return the plant.

If by 'new shoots' you mean new stems that grow from the base/crown in Spring, those are not going to produce blooms in early Spring but closer to the summer months. Is that what you meant?

Froze I agree with your friend and would also return the plant. Find one with broccoli - that is what the immature flower buds look like and then you won't have to worry and will be happy with blooms this year.

You cannot determine a macrophylla cultivar ID from just leaf color!! There are too many variables that can alter pigmentation or color intensity and photos are seldom accurately representative of "true" color. The only way you can confirm ID is when it flowers.....and even that will not be a 100% guarantee.