Where Bunnings builds, I buy.
- Thread starter Gordon Gekko
- Start date
Nope... they've already got a rental agreement and was front page news..
Ellenbrook is amazing. It's like Joondalup but you'd never know unless you drove out there. Every time I'm there I'm amazed at the progress and amount of new shops and services. It will make a huge difference when the train line eventually gets there.
Hardware war ratchets up as Bunnings puts $600m into expansion
THE battle for market share in the $30 billion hardware sector is heating up, with the Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings investing $600 million.
Spearheading the move for 18 new stores will be a $70m development of the country's biggest home improvement store at a former glass factory at Alexandria, in Sydney's inner-south.
Bunnings managing director John Gillam denied the investment was prompted by Woolworths' impending entry into the big-box hardware sector via its joint venture with US home improvement giant Lowe's.
The Woolies-Lowe's JV last year paid $87m for hardware distributor Danks, the wholesaler behind the Home Timber & Hardware and Thrifty-Link chains, and has since secured a land bank of 70 sites on which to open warehouse-style home improvement stores.
With its first big-box hardware outlet scheduled to begin trading late next year, Woolworths has declined to specify any targets for the number of stores it will open, but has committed to securing 150 development sites by the end of 2015.
At the same time, grocery wholesaler Metcash in March bought a 50.1 per cent stake in hardware distributor Mitre 10, with an option to buy out the rest of the business over the next three years. Mitre 10 supplies about 450 independently owned hardware stores operating under the Mitre 10 and True Value banners, as well as about 540 non-aligned stores.
Meanwhile Crane Group, owner of the Tradelink plumbing supplies chain, yesterday announced the $31.5m purchase of Hudson Building Supplies, a 15-store network of timber and hardware stores catering to the building trade in NSW and south-east Queensland. Crane described Hudson, which has annual sales of $107m, as "a highly complementary and attractive bolt-on acquisition" that would position the company as a market leader in the trade supply sector.
Consolidation of existing players and the entrance of a major new chain are both viewed as increasing competitive pressure on Bunnings, but Mr Gillam said the expansion plans announced yesterday were merely aimed at improving Bunnings' market position in NSW, which had previously lagged behind its strongest states of WA, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
"This commitment has been part of our business strategy to always push the envelope," he said. The Alexandria site, which Bunnings bought for $30m from CSR, will be converted to a 20,000sq m store that will sell kitchen appliances, fencing and landscaping supplies alongside the more traditional building supplies.
Bunnings has expanded into a number of new product segments including kitchen appliances since Woolies unveiled its hardware plans and declared it would service market segments that were being ignored by existing players.
In addition to the Alexandria store, scheduled to open in mid-2012, Bunnings said it had secured 11 new sites across NSW, including Balgowlah, Batemans Bay, Castle Hill, West Gosford, Greenacre, Rouse Hill and Tamworth and Marsden Park.
In addition, three Bunnings warehouses are under construction in Seven Hills, Port Stephens and Chatswood and are scheduled to open in coming months.
THE battle for market share in the $30 billion hardware sector is heating up, with the Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings investing $600 million.
Spearheading the move for 18 new stores will be a $70m development of the country's biggest home improvement store at a former glass factory at Alexandria, in Sydney's inner-south.
Bunnings managing director John Gillam denied the investment was prompted by Woolworths' impending entry into the big-box hardware sector via its joint venture with US home improvement giant Lowe's.
The Woolies-Lowe's JV last year paid $87m for hardware distributor Danks, the wholesaler behind the Home Timber & Hardware and Thrifty-Link chains, and has since secured a land bank of 70 sites on which to open warehouse-style home improvement stores.
With its first big-box hardware outlet scheduled to begin trading late next year, Woolworths has declined to specify any targets for the number of stores it will open, but has committed to securing 150 development sites by the end of 2015.
At the same time, grocery wholesaler Metcash in March bought a 50.1 per cent stake in hardware distributor Mitre 10, with an option to buy out the rest of the business over the next three years. Mitre 10 supplies about 450 independently owned hardware stores operating under the Mitre 10 and True Value banners, as well as about 540 non-aligned stores.
Meanwhile Crane Group, owner of the Tradelink plumbing supplies chain, yesterday announced the $31.5m purchase of Hudson Building Supplies, a 15-store network of timber and hardware stores catering to the building trade in NSW and south-east Queensland. Crane described Hudson, which has annual sales of $107m, as "a highly complementary and attractive bolt-on acquisition" that would position the company as a market leader in the trade supply sector.
Consolidation of existing players and the entrance of a major new chain are both viewed as increasing competitive pressure on Bunnings, but Mr Gillam said the expansion plans announced yesterday were merely aimed at improving Bunnings' market position in NSW, which had previously lagged behind its strongest states of WA, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
"This commitment has been part of our business strategy to always push the envelope," he said. The Alexandria site, which Bunnings bought for $30m from CSR, will be converted to a 20,000sq m store that will sell kitchen appliances, fencing and landscaping supplies alongside the more traditional building supplies.
Bunnings has expanded into a number of new product segments including kitchen appliances since Woolies unveiled its hardware plans and declared it would service market segments that were being ignored by existing players.
In addition to the Alexandria store, scheduled to open in mid-2012, Bunnings said it had secured 11 new sites across NSW, including Balgowlah, Batemans Bay, Castle Hill, West Gosford, Greenacre, Rouse Hill and Tamworth and Marsden Park.
In addition, three Bunnings warehouses are under construction in Seven Hills, Port Stephens and Chatswood and are scheduled to open in coming months.
