Bunnings coming to town

Bunnings Warehouse the largest warehouse chain in the Southern Hemisphere is pursuing plans to set up shop in Wairarapa.
The hardware giant's general manager for New Zealand, Brad Cranston, yesterday confirmed the company is actively seeking land to build a warehouse but would not disclose the locations of the blocks being looked at, for commercial reasons.
"There is a fair bit of work that needs to be done to secure the land and before we can lodge resource consent applications."
Mr Cranston said the size of the store intended for Wairarapa will be governed by the land area purchased.
He said he could not put a ballpark date on the hardware chain's arrival here & "How long is a piece of string?".
Options for the Bunnings store are thought to include land at Waingawa, and perhaps on the east side of the Masterton urban area.
Yesterday, Masterton District Council held a discussion, in committee, on servicing industrial land at Waingawa.
Mayor Garry Daniell, a director of Masterton Mitre 10, excused himself from all discussion, being a landowner at Waingawa.
The arrival of Bunnings anywhere in Wairarapa would ensure unheard-of competition in the hardware trade.
Bunnings Warehouse is a huge concern, with over 220 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand.
It was started in 1886 when brothers Arthur and Robert Bunning emigrated from Britain and settled in Perth, landing a government building contract that led to them founding a group of building companies that later became Bunning Bros Pty Ltd, the forerunner of the warehousing empire.
Bunnings parent company is Wesfarmers Australia's largest employer.
Competition for the hardware dollar in Wairarapa would come mainly from Mitre 10 that is in the throes of building a Mega Store.
Directors of Masterton Mitre 10, Mr Daniell and Rex Slight, have revealed details of their plans to develop a "new generation" store with a retail floor area of 9000sqm, which is about double the floor area of the Pak'NSave supermarket at Kuripuni.
The Mega Store will be built along similar lines to the one in Palmerston North and will employ around 100 over a seven-day week.
Included in its plan are a timber yard, plant and garden section, a drive-through building supplies area, a children's playground, a cafeteria and parking for over 200 vehicles.
In Australia, Bunnings and Mitre 10 have been the major players in a hardware war lasting over a decade.
About four years ago Bunnings started a programme of buying and rebranding Mitre 10 stores in small centres.
By 2006 they had acquired Mitre 10 stores in Griffith, New South Wales, Belconnen in the Australian Capital Territory and in Wodonga,Victoria.