Bunnings to take over Home Base

[PatB]

I just think the UK was lucky that the Bunnings venture didn't include their one time subsidiary WA Salvage, whose main purpose was to flog stuff that was too tacky, useless or broken for even Bunnies to sell with a straight face. Their never to be forgotten slogan was "We're not fancy but we're cheap", complete with borderline racist cartoon Italian. Oh dear but they were bad, to the extent that they went bust after everyone in WA had bought at least one item from them and resolved never to go back, thus depriving them of a customer base .

[rob D2]

Our Homebase is apparently becoming a clearance. For remaining stock.

 

Shame B&Q will have no completion now , except maybe wickes and screwfix which are a bit out the way for me

[sandwich station]

Payless DIY was my favourite.

[kevinlms]

I just think the UK was lucky that the Bunnings venture didn't include their one time subsidiary WA Salvage, whose main purpose was to flog stuff that was too tacky, useless or broken for even Bunnies to sell with a straight face. Their never to be forgotten slogan was "We're not fancy but we're cheap", complete with borderline racist cartoon Italian. Oh dear but they were bad, to the extent that they went bust after everyone in WA had bought at least one item from them and resolved never to go back, thus depriving them of a customer base .

Never heard of them in Vic. We had McEwans which was always pretty good.

 

But part of the problem is that many customers, are only prepared to pay the absolute minimum for an item. Hence the rise of $2 or £1 outlets. What quality do people realistically expect for that money?

 

Of course now, the internet, is many people's choice and much of it, is a complete lottery as to what turns up.

[Red Devil]

I've bought a couple of Ryobi power tools, and I'm pretty impressed so far - the battery drill seems much better built than my old B&D one. They're part of the same company as Milwaukee and Hoover...

 

Ryobi are the for want of a better description the DIY brand, yep same group as Milwaukee but quality and price are nowhere near the same, same story over with DeWalt they're part of Black and Decker/Stanley, you wouldn't expect a B&D to be as good as a DeWalt and Ryobi aren't as good as Milwaukee, I have a couple of Milwaukee Cordless drills and they aren't exactly cheap. I think some of it probably is brand snobbery but over in the world where you need your tools to work you won't see much in the way of Ryobi being used by trade.

[ejstubbs]

Shame B&Q will have no competition now , except maybe wickes and screwfix which are a bit out the way for me

 

Screwfix is owned by Kingfisher plc, same as B&Q.  So it's not really competition, just a different brand.  (Wickes is owned by Travis Perkins, BTW.)

[melmerby]

Screwfix is owned by Kingfisher plc, same as B&Q.  So it's not really competition, just a different brand.  (Wickes is owned by Travis Perkins, BTW.)

And Screwfix and B&Q can have different prices for the same products, sometimes higher, usually lower at Screwfix.

 

Before there was a B&Q (Block & Quayle) there were Kinsells (Big K) & Calypso which merged and later became WH Smith's Do it all mentioned earlier.

 

Keith

Edited September 21, 2018 by melmerby

[Guest]

...I think some of it probably is brand snobbery but over in the world where you need your tools to work you won't see much in the way of Ryobi being used by trade.

 

I had the dubious pleasure of working alongside the self-proclaimed "Grand Master Wizard of Wood" a while back. Truth was, he was a competent chippie, no more, no less. His name was Wayne, but everyone called him DeWayne because barely a week went by before he was showing off the latest addition to his DeWalt collection. He seemed to be trying to collect one of everything they made.

I replaced a lot of my gear with DeWalt a while back to standardise on the batteries, although I have corded Metabo and Makita tools as well. I agree there is an element of brand snobbery at the coffee machine in most builders merchants. "I've got the latest xxx, it's great". "Na mate, you want my xxx, it's way better"... etc etc.

I do agree if you use your tools for more than occasional DIY jobs, buy a recognised premium brand. I was in Homebase in Cromer a week or so ago and I happened to be browsing near a Ryobi One+ multi kit, several tools, a handful of batteries. "Good that", said a passing Homebase employee. "Better than Bosch".

Yeah, right mate, if you say so...

[melmerby]

And everyone has forgotten dear old "FOCUS", the predecessor of one or the other. However I used to wind up our local Homebase staff by asking where my sausage sizzle was? They did not even know they were working for an Australian conglomerate and say "Wesfarmers", you would have thought we came from another planet. But over the years Homebase always was more expensive than the rest and even now with all the "offers" and big yellow notices much of the poor quality items can be obtained cheaper even in "Being Screwed Every Time" down the road.

Not a real fan of either but forced in many ways to use them.

regards

Ian

Focus was the successor to Do It All.

 

Keith

[melmerby]

I do agree if you use your tools for more than occasional DIY jobs, buy a recognised premium brand. I was in Homebase in Cromer a week or so ago and I happened to be browsing near a Ryobi One+ multi kit, several tools, a handful of batteries. "Good that", said a passing Homebase employee. "Better than Bosch".

Yeah, right mate, if you say so...

Even Bosch differentiate their tools in to Professional and non-Professional grades, although it's difficult to tell sometimes from the descriptions.

 

Keith

[Guest]

Even Bosch differentiate their tools in to Professional and non-Professional grades, although it's difficult to tell sometimes from the descriptions.

 

"Green is good(ish)".

"Blue is better".

Simple.

[Red Devil]

Screwfix is owned by Kingfisher plc, same as B&Q.  So it's not really competition, just a different brand.  (Wickes is owned by Travis Perkins, BTW.)

 

Add in Toolstation, pretty much Screwfix by TP, near me they are often within walking distance, Screwfix recently increased the price of their general purpose 230mm diamond blades from £10.49 to £17.99, same thing, same box, different day.....bye bye Screwfix hello Toolstation…..£12.49. 

[raymw]

from the wiki - fwiw there's a bit more 'detail' than mentioned here wrt the start of toolstation, afaik

History
Toolstation was formed in February 2003 by Mark Goddard-Watts, nearly four years after the Goddard-Watts family had sold Screwfix in July 1999 to the Kingfisher plc group.
On 7 April 2008, it was announced that Travis Perkins plc had bought a 30% share in Toolstation. Travis Perkins invested in Toolstation and supported an accelerated roll out of new branches. The Toolstation property portfolio grew from 12 to 123 stores by the end of 2012.
On 3 January 2012, Mark Goddard-Watts and his family sold their remaining 70% stake in the business to Travis Perkins plc, making Toolstation a wholly owned subsidiary of Travis Perkins plc.

They used to sell Ryobi, but Ryobi got a lot returned because trade folk tended to smash 'em up, and Ryobi were not set up for large scale repairs. But funny enough, as well as the trade rated gear,  toolstation sell the Silverline rubbish, and other cheap ranges which I guess the tradesmen avoid, or they treat them as disposable, and are not worth returning.

[melmerby]

"Green is good(ish)".

"Blue is better".

Simple.

Except I have a green "pro" drill! (and a blue one)

 

Keith

[Nick C]

Ryobi are the for want of a better description the DIY brand, yep same group as Milwaukee but quality and price are nowhere near the same, same story over with DeWalt they're part of Black and Decker/Stanley, you wouldn't expect a B&D to be as good as a DeWalt and Ryobi aren't as good as Milwaukee, I have a couple of Milwaukee Cordless drills and they aren't exactly cheap. I think some of it probably is brand snobbery but over in the world where you need your tools to work you won't see much in the way of Ryobi being used by trade.

 

But then I'm a DIY user - I can't afford to go out any buy top of the range Milwaukee or Makita kit to use a handful of times a year! I see Ryobi stuff being used a lot on YouTube - certainly a lot more than the other consumer-level brands. Given that this thread is about DIY shops I'd have thought suitablility for DIY use would be key - a tradesperson isn't likely to be buying all their tools from Homebase...

 

from the wiki - fwiw there's a bit more 'detail' than mentioned here wrt the start of toolstation, afaik

They used to sell Ryobi, but Ryobi got a lot returned because trade folk tended to smash 'em up, and Ryobi were not set up for large scale repairs. But funny enough, as well as the trade rated gear,  toolstation sell the Silverline rubbish, and other cheap ranges which I guess the tradesmen avoid, or they treat them as disposable, and are not worth returning.

 

Now Silverline really is awful - I made the mistake of buying one of their circular saws, and it's terrible...

[Red Devil]

But then I'm a DIY user - I can't afford to go out any buy top of the range Milwaukee or Makita kit to use a handful of times a year! I see Ryobi stuff being used a lot on YouTube - certainly a lot more than the other consumer-level brands. Given that this thread is about DIY shops I'd have thought suitablility for DIY use would be key - a tradesperson isn't likely to be buying all their tools from Homebase...

 

 

Now Silverline really is awful - I made the mistake of buying one of their circular saws, and it's terrible...

 

You can pick up a DeWalt from most DIY stores, and quite often the prices in the sheds are as competitive as anywhere else. It's not that much more to buy DeWalt over Ryobi in a lot of cases and I know which I'd buy.

[gismorail]

Remember when Homebase was 'WHSmith DO IT ALL '

[kevinlms]

"Green is good(ish)".

"Blue is better".

Simple.

It makes little difference on the colour tools, when it ends up like this!

 

[melmerby]

Remember when Homebase was 'WHSmith DO IT ALL '

You have a different memory than the records then!

 

Do It All's were renamed Focus after being taken over in 1998 Focus also took over Great Mills.

Focus took over Wickes in 2000 but sold it to TP 2004 for a tidy profit

From 2007 Focus slowly imploded and closed completely in 2011.

 

Keith

[jbg]

You have a different memory than the records then!

 

Do It All's were renamed Focus after being taken over in 1998 Focus also took over Great Mills.

Focus took over Wickes in 2000 but sold it to TP 2004 for a tidy profit

From 2007 Focus slowly imploded and closed completely in 2011.

 

Keith

And Homebase, Wickes and B&Q all bought ex-Focus/Great Mills stores from the administrators.  It was also an ideal opportunity for the likes of The Range, B&M and Home Bargains to get their foot on the property ladder....

[37114]

And Homebase, Wickes and B&Q all bought ex-Focus/Great Mills stores from the administrators. It was also an ideal opportunity for the likes of The Range, B&M and Home Bargains to get their foot on the property ladder....

Homebase in Chippenham reopens tomorrow as a B&M which is curious as B&M already have (for now) a branch 3 miles away on the edge of town

[raymw]

I  heard, some years ago that Focus failed, partly to getting in financial advisors who suggested they sold their stores, and rented them back, to release capital. But, there was a hook up between the advisors and the company who rented back the stores, who increased the rentals. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/may/29/focus-diy-collapse-sparks-anger-private-equity-firms.

A lot of movement locally. The original Great Mills store became a Focus store, and then the site was occupied by a discount seller, Hypervalue, later renamed Buyology. B&Q moved to a larger purpose built warehouse, and Buyology moved into their old site. When the lease was due, they moved out and Matalan moved in. A while later, Wickes moved to the old Focus store, and Buyology opened in the old Wickes store. Then B&Q left the area completely, Buyology moved out too, and now the old Wickes store is a M&S food store, and the old B&Q store is another sort of discount store B&M. All within the space of a few years.

[melmerby]

When B&Q opened in Redditch it was a huge warehouse store complete with a separate trade section.

It was close to the town centre and one of the Fast (70 mph) dual carriageway roads that link the different districts of the town.

There was a large free car park.

One would have thought it would have done well in what is/was a fast expanding new town.

Although it was well stocked it never was over busy.

 

Now half the store (including the trade) has gone and the rest is an Asda!

However in Shirley (south of Birmingham) the store there expanded 50% some years ago by taking over the furniture store next door.

 

Keith

Edited September 21, 2018 by melmerby

[28XX]

On the subject of power tools, I bought a Worx Lithium-Ion hammer drill for general DIY odd jobs, which, due to changing circumstances, has been used to do a full rewire, board out a loft and is currently tackling a fascia and barge board replacement without any detectable deterioration thus far.

[kevinlms]

I  heard, some years ago that Focus failed, partly to getting in financial advisors who suggested they sold their stores, and rented them back, to release capital. But, there was a hook up between the advisors and the company who rented back the stores, who increased the rentals. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/may/29/focus-diy-collapse-sparks-anger-private-equity-firms.

 

A lot of movement locally. The original Great Mills store became a Focus store, and then the site was occupied by a discount seller, Hypervalue, later renamed Buyology. B&Q moved to a larger purpose built warehouse, and Buyology moved into their old site. When the lease was due, they moved out and Matalan moved in. A while later, Wickes moved to the old Focus store, and Buyology opened in the old Wickes store. Then B&Q left the area completely, Buyology moved out too, and now the old Wickes store is a M&S food store, and the old B&Q store is another sort of discount store B&M. All within the space of a few years.

Wow, my head hurts!

 

Reading that, it makes me wonder why Bunnings thought they could possibly make any headway into that market. After all their home market is one of total dominance and much of their competitors have collapsed into a heap.

 

It reads much like the failed Dick Smith group here, which was founded as an electronics chain. After a series of sales, it morphed into a discount (actually not so much discount :-) ) selling TV's and other consumer goods. They set up 'super stores' abandoning their smaller electronic stores, catering to the electronics market.

Another group Jaycar, in many cases basically took over the existing stores & continued selling electronic goods. From a customers PoV, they just had to go to the same shops as they had long done, and buy virtually the same products. Hardly needed any big advertising, as only the signage changed!