Gardening fertile ground for Mitre 10

Mitre 10 boss Neil Cowie says gardening is the top sales category. Photo / Richard Robinson

Gardening is the gigantic seller for New Zealand's biggest DIY, homeware, trade and household goods chains, dominating all other product category lines.

Neil Cowie, Mitre 10 chief executive, listed garden products as the 81-store chain's most popular category in terms of sales, followed by hardware, paint, outdoor goods and trade business, ranked in order of significance.

"Gardening is our number one sales category, the most popular. But within gardening, there's green garden - live plants - dry garden like fertiliser and potting mix, then tools like spades, then power tools," said Cowie of the chain which on Monday reported how it had broken the $1 billion revenue barrier for the first time in its 40-year history.

Mitre 10 has 38 Mega stores, 43 Mitre 10 stores and 56 Hammer Hardware stores but Cowie said the Mega network could stretch to 44 or 45 stores.

TV shows, spring, Auckland house revaluations and New Zealand's appetite for improving their places were big drivers for the sales growth, he said.

"We're really optimistic that growth will continue. Christchurch and Auckland would be leading that and we're seeing quite a resurgence in renovating," Cowie said.

"I would say it's general confidence that plays a part in it. For most New Zealanders, their house is their biggest asset and repainting, adding a room, extending a deck, redoing a garden ... The Block obviously has an effect, if it's getting people to think about renovating, then absolutely, Cowie said hardware was the next biggest seller "and that includes nuts, bolts, fixings, screws and handtools. Number three is paint and we've got all the major brands," he said.

"Then it's outdoors [including furniture and barbecues] and then the trade business. Our focus on the outdoor area is a significant investment over time, making sure we invest in quality," he said.

The top five categories are also driving expansion, with the business planning three new Mitre 10 Megas, each worth about $20 million, at an unspecified Christchurch site, Ruakura at Hamilton and beside Five Mile at Queenstown near the airport.

Yesterday, Mitre 10 members and associates gathered at the Amora Hotel Wellington for their annual meeting, with discussion expected on strategies, issues and challenges.

In October, Bunnings announced its sales results for the first quarter to September here and in Australia.

John Gilliam, managing director, said sales increased 11 per cent to A$2.2 billion, with store-on-store sales up 8.2 per cent.

"Sales growth was achieved in all key trading regions, across all product categories and in both consumer and commercial areas," Gilliam said.

"Solid trading momentum continued with good contributions from all growth drivers," he said.

Bunnings plans to open a further 20 new warehouse stores in the 2015 financial year.

Mitre 10
Group Sales (years to June 30)
2014 - $1043m
2013 - $944m
2012 - $858m
2011 - $805m
2010 - $798m
[Mitre 10 annual result]