Hardware chain stores busy as DIY season roars into life

Photo / Richard Robinson

Hardware giants Bunnings, Mitre 10 and PlaceMakers are gearing up for a big summer of home improvement as Labour Weekend marks the start of the New Zealand DIY season.

New stores are planned and opening around the country in a sector identified by retail experts as one of the few in expansion mode.

Peter Stewart, Mitre 10 general manager for marketing, said business was picking up.

"Spring is a very busy time for us. We've had a lousy winter but when the sun comes out, people start looking at gardening. Vegetables are doing very well for us, outdoor furniture, new lawnmowers, anything that improves the outside of the house.

"People start looking to whether they want to paint their house, those sorts of activities," Stewart said.

John Beveridge, chief executive of Fletcher Building's distribution division which owns the 63-store PlaceMakers, said stores discounted items and stayed open late on Tuesday so customers could have supplies delivered in time for the long weekend.

Beveridge said PlaceMakers stores in Christchurch traded well during September after the earthquake and the October 1 GST rise boosted sales nationally. "GST had more effect than we expected. We sold a lot of big-ticket items.

"People wanted kitchens, timber, decking, right throughout New Zealand. Easter is big for us but we have to shut down for a day. Labour weekend is on a par with that but technically a fuller weekend with three days," he said.

PlaceMakers is planning a new Albany store and Glenfield is proving the hot spot for head-to-head DIY competitors Bunnings and Mitre 10. A new Bunnings is being built alongside the Mitre 10.

Mitre 10's Stewart said Bunnings' effect on the Glenfield Mitre 10 Mega would be hard to gauge.

"I'm sure it will have a marginal effect but since we opened that store it has been doing exceptionally well. New Zealanders love competition and we will more than hold our own," he said.

A New Mitre 10 Cambridge store opens in December and a new Mega store opens in Pukekohe around the same time, he said.

Mitre 10 Mega opened an 8849sq m Timaru store on Friday.

Mitre 10 chief executive John Hartmann said the shop took nine months to build and 30 new jobs were created.

"Mitre 10 has been part of Timaru for more than 30 years and the new Mega store will be a key part of the CBD for decades to come," he said.

Mitre 10 started in New Zealand in 1974 and has 110 stores, 3500 staff and annual sales close to $1 billion.

Bunnings' new Glenfield store is part of a $150 million expansion announced last year which is expected to create 600 jobs.

Beveridge said the new Mitre 10 Mega in Lunn Ave, Mt Wellington, had increased patronage of the nearby PlaceMakers but the two chains were trading in different areas of the market.

PlaceMakers targeted trade while Mitre 10 focused on consumer and DIY, Beveridge said.

Bunnings says it has more than 170 warehouse stores and 59 smaller format stores in Australasia employing more than 26,000 people.

Building extensions

Bunnings: Building a new store in Glenfield, part of a $150 million expansion.

Mitre 10: New stores planned for Pukekohe and Cambridge in December.

Placemakers: Planning a new store in Albany.