Fresh stores for growing DIYers

Bunnings has reported strong growth. Photo / Richard Robinson

The recession is spawning a new breed of DIY enthusiasts, particularly homeowners keen on vegetable and flower gardening.

Rod Caust, Bunnings New Zealand general manager, said it was these people who were driving the hardware chain's $150 million national expansion.

He singled out this area as a key sector for growth in the business, which now has 16 Bunnings Warehouse stores but last week announced it would develop six more.

"People are trying to do more things themselves, particularly ready-to-grow vegetable gardens. But they're generally tackling smaller jobs and beautifying their houses. We've seen an increase in the workshops on weekends designed to educate people about doing things.

"More people are also downloading DIY brochures from our website too. People want to do things for themselves like repairs, painting, landscaping, doing up kitchens, etc," he said.

Four of the new six Bunnings had already been announced before last week. But few details had emerged of the Glenfield and Hastings stores before then.

The new Auckland stores will be:

Glenfield near Wairau/Archers Rd. This site was bought and planning consent was publicly notified, Caust said.

Westgate on Don Buck Rd. An application for consent has been lodged and construction is due to start later this year.

Caust said Bunnings had also bought a second Glenfield site but was not planning to build on both pieces of land.

"Bunnings purchased the Morgan Furniture site when it became available in 2007. We have applied for and obtained resource consent to operate a Bunnings Warehouse on that site. Subsequent to that the 3M site became available and Bunnings purchased it because it was a preferable location and a better-shaped site. Our intention is to open a Bunnings Warehouse on the 3M site as soon as possible," he said.

The former 3M site is between Wairau Road, Archers Rd and Poland Rd, near the new Pak'nSave supermarket.

Mitre 10 Mega has a store almost next door at 15 Poland Rd and the nearby Mitre 10 Mega Albany is one of that chain's largest stores.

It is also its newest store on the North Shore, having opened in December.

Craig Wilson, Mitre 10's chief executive, said he was extremely pleased with the Albany store which had been on a greenfield site.

Caust said the new Bunnings Warehouse in Gisborne would open in the next few months. The application for planning consent for the Hastings store had been notified and he hoped a construction date could be set soon.

Construction of the new Wellington store at Lyall Bay could begin once existing tenants who operate a Bunnings there shift early next year.

A small-format Bunnings was built on that site but the firm wants to expand.

Work on the $27 million Dunedin store on Strathallan St has started. The 2.3ha site Bunnings bought from Dunedin City Council was demolished in 2007 and the new warehouse will open in the middle part of next year.

Mitre 10 said it had more than 100 stores throughout New Zealand operating under its banner.

The stores are run by owner/operators and the business goes to some lengths to distance itself from Australia. "Mitre 10 is New Zealand-owned and operated and is a totally separate company from the Australian Mitre 10," the company says.

BUILDING BIG

Bunnings
* Owned by Wesfarmers
* 2400 NZ employees
* Annual NZ sales of more than $500m
* 41 NZ stores.
* A$5.3 billion sales in Australasia

Mitre 10
* Co-operative ownership structure
* 3500 NZ employees
* Annual sales of $900 million
* 100 New Zealand stores