Bunnings

[Rumpig]

yes the majority have no options. that was the killing off of the smaller stores you missed 
rubbish.
large shops have massive buying power. Coles, Woolies, etc etc
Bunnings rings up and says we'll take 100 pallets of Bosch things... Yep for an order that big, you can have for $40 per unit
Dad n Daves hardware rings and says we'll take 10 units. for that order you can have them at $75

Bunnings sells for $60 which is less than Dad n Dave can buy it for. Dad n Dave go broke, Bunnings love it and up their price.. its known as divide and conquer and give you no options.\


But I'm sure this has been done a dozen times in the past.

it's not just their buying power, many items on the shelf Bunnings don't even own, they sell the space that those items are stocked on and other companies carry the cost of those items until they are sold.

[3rd time lucky]

Rubbish is all i am reading. Successful businesses adapt to market forces and governing authority regulations. Whinging losers with their heads stuck in the 70's sand go broke. No capitalist economic environment stays stable for long. Constant evolution. I have no other option? Is that why i drive straight past the pig sh#t local hardware for another 5 minutes in heavy traffic to get to Bunnings?  Really,l? Lol agree to disagree and leave it there. Be good.

[Bird]

Rubbish is all i am reading. Successful businesses adapt to market forces and governing authority regulations.

So a company with 250k turn over should be able to survive against a billion $ company that could infact sell at a loss for 5 yrs to just pwn the smaller business?? specially when shelves are full of items on consignment? LMAO

Bunnings figures 2016.
Revenue A$11.6 billion (2016)
Operating income A$1.2 billion (2016)

[gronk]

Rubbish is all i am reading. Successful businesses adapt to market forces and governing authority regulations. Whinging losers with their heads stuck in the 70's sand go broke. No capitalist economic environment stays stable for long. Constant evolution. I have no other option? Is that why i drive straight past the pig sh#t local hardware for another 5 minutes in heavy traffic to get to Bunnings?  Really,l? Lol agree to disagree and leave it there. Be good.

I know for a fact ( clothing shop ) that a dad and dave rural shop can't ever compete with a big retail shop that comes to town.
As said, if dad and dave buy 50 pairs of jeans at $25 and sell them at $50 ( only way to make a living ) and David Jones buy them ( 500 at a time )at $18 ( because of buying power ) and sell them at $40, the local bloke has no hope of making a living....UNLESS he can keep his loyal customers.....but money is money, so how many customers can he keep ??

[3rd time lucky]

And that is precisely the whole point of this tangent of the thread - pure economics. Why is there so much moaning and pessimistic negative attitude towards modern big business? Thats life in tbis day and age. Lamenting days gone by achieves nothing. Its so easy to criticise.

[3rd time lucky]

So a company with 250k turn over should be able to survive against a billion $ company that could infact sell at a loss for 5 yrs to just pwn the smaller business?? specially when shelves are full of items on consignment? LMAO

Bunnings figures 2016.
Revenue A$11.6 billion (2016)
Operating income A$1.2 billion (2016)

They survive or go under....its not a God given right to open a business and expect it to survive. Adapt ie grow/merge/fold...or accept the consequences.

[Nomad]

Mum and dad operators cannot keep up with Wesfarmers. Mitre 10, Homehardware etc cannot keep up with Wesfarmers......ffs Woolworths cannot keep up with Wesfarmers.

They have the money and that has been enough to hire the best in every business they want to be in. They have the money to implement any strategy they justify worth having a go at.

Yep they sell on consignment, the market has shifted that way across all major retail from food to fashion over the last 5 to 10 years. Infact because of that major retail centres are starting to feel the pinch because the likes of Coles, Woolworths, David Jones and Myer can rent space to the major retail brands, i.e. Myers selling Country Road, for alot cheaper than Country Road would have to spend setting up there own store in the same centre. They also do it on lease terms, such as turnover thresholds that are favourable to them and if the brand can't make target then they are shown the door and the new brand is wheeled in.

Coles no longer like having any specialty shops around them, they tolerate a small coffee shop and their own bottle shop but other than that they want to compete against everyone else.....and that comment is direct from the source.

Strip retail is actually going through a growth phase again, and if you look at places like Sunshine Plaza and Chermside the retail component is shrinking and food and service business's are replacing them.........eat your nitrogenie icecream whilst getting your toes done by some little Thai working in a nail joint......sure take your pick of them

Wesfarmers is now considered the fifth largest bank in Australia............now thats something to think about!

[03GV]

I can't wait for ol'mate billionare Gerry harvey to cop it when amazon come here.

[BrettMG]

Masters?

[gronk]

Why is there so much moaning and pessimistic negative attitude towards modern big business?

Mainly because for Bunnings, they carry a huge lot of stock, but never the range. Lets go back to the rivets...the old little hardware store may have had only 1 packet ( or a handful out of a box )of each sort of rivet, but you could get the unusual type as well. Bunnings.....yep, you can buy 20 packets of most rivets, but no, not the unusual type !!

They can't even order some in, because they don't carry that sort, so they can't order them ?

This is the general attitude of big business , corner the market, but don't deliver good service.

[Roo]

Go back a few generations and the story looks a little different. Elders became BBC...who took over Campbells then a few years later Bunnings came to town and eventually bought them out too. Big fish eat little fish.
If you want to live in the 70's, move to a small rural town well away from the bright lights. You'll find your Dad and Dave store there. I visited a Co Op hardware store in a small town west of Swan Hill Vic. It was pretty well stocked and quite keenly priced. They're out there, go use them if you like. Nothing wrong with Bunnings but it is a different model. That said after years working on the trade desk of a large trade supply focussed BBC store I switched sides and worked as a buyer/estimator for a small volume,  high end building company. With the transition to Bunnings we had no issues with poor service or lack of range from Bunnies. Sales reps with decades of industry experience always available. Staff in store with decades of trade sales too. But things change. Nobody really aspires to work at Bunnings....do they? They might start there as an after school job or transistion through from one job to another on their way to bigger things. We lost a generation to the mining boom who now have unrealistic wage expectations. Things change. Move with it. No point yelling at the wind.


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[kylarama]

Any Melbournians remember Faram Bro's Hardware in Bay St Port Melbourne? About as old school as they came. Closed up back in 2012. Still bought your nails and linseed putty by the pound. My ex girlfriends boat restoring father used to send me there for a pound of linseed putty. "The good stuff, not the glaziers crap". I think it was all the same... They used to close for 1/2   everyday for a sit down hot lunch with their wives.

Another great one is Charalambous Hardware on Sydney Rd Brunswick. Old Greek family that sell everything.  Its worth going in just for the experience.

I've been helping the inlaws restore their 100 year old Brunswick rental. Great place for oddball old door hardware and if they don't have it, they know where to get it from.



Hurstbridge had Stubbly Bro's until 7-8 years ago. Was a great source for irrigation fittings. Although the Bosch power drill boxed up in the front window was top dollar. Even though the box was faded to almost beyond recognition.

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[prodigyrf]

Is it Australia's newest and most observed religion?

No it is the temptation of the Devil and beware all ye who enter there 

[krisandkev]

I can't wait for ol'mate billionare Gerry harvey to cop it when amazon come here.

I hope you are joking.  Amazon is an American company, most profits will go there.  They do not employ as many staff as traditional stores.  They have said they will sell at a loss for a few years with the aim to decimate local retailers in Australia.  The potential is real serious for our country and jobs.  If you have super then there is a real chance your fund has shares in companies which could be affected by Amazon.  Some experts think Amazon will not survive here because of our unions and Amazon run their staff like robots and their online approach for groceries is not suited to our distances and population centres.  At least Bunnings is an Australian company, same as Harvey Normans.     Kevin

[Hairs]

Go back a few generations and the story looks a little different. Elders became BBC...who took over Campbells then a few years later Bunnings came to town and eventually bought them out too. Big fish eat little fish.

In the Clarence Valley it was Shaffers that Howard Smith bought out.
Two stores, Maclean & Grafton. There are a couple that still work for Bumblings today.

Started with BBC as a Truck Driver, then Storeman(GIR), then Trade counter. The lower Clarence was slowly starting to grow, Wesfarmers purchased the BBC business from Howard Smith. I remember Allan Fels(ACCC) at the Press Club crowing that, that the Wesfarmers takeover of BBC was a good thing for the consumers of the country, yeah right.

Bumbling closed the two small stores in the lower Clarence, we were offered jobs in Grafton(Pound St).
Our local Council and the RMS bent over backwards to allow Bumblings to build their new warehouse at South Grafton, the road intersection was changed to funnel H/way traffic to the new store.
I left their employment well before the new store opened.
Why, because I was frustrated with Melbourne dictating what we were to carry, supplying to the building/cottage industry. Product had to comply with the Building Code of Australia. We needed to carry product that complied with Wind Rated 41, Melbourne didn't want to deal with certain suppliers, these suppliers were at the time the only ones that produced these products.
Their trade walked away.
Bumblings also saw the rebate system from suppliers as a given, they only saw the $$$$$$.


Now that I work for myself, Property Maintenance, they are the only ones that caryy some products that I need.
March 24th I order from Bumblings a length of Fascia, 180x25 Bullnose 6.0M. It had to come from Coffs Harbor(80k's away from the Grafton store)
Pay by CC, Card is deducted then.
A week later I inquire, nobody can help me, I am told someone will chase this up.
The salesperson is on holiday.
I arrive at Mansfield for the National meet, I receive a call from a lady at Grafton bumblings informing me that my special order has arrived.
The following Thursday on our way back from the meet, I swing on by Grafton Bumblings to pick up the stick of fascia to save a trip from home(Lawrence 35k's).
They know the stick is there, nobody can find it. 3/4 of an hour later and a staff member walks out to the pick up area with it.

It's damaged
The complex manager didn't want to know about.
I can use 90% of it, but still, no sorry, no what can we do to make this better for you.
Youtube Chopper Reid Bunnings.
Says it all.
 

[Paddler Ed]

Now that I work for myself, Property Maintenance, they are the only ones that caryy some products that I need.
March 24th I order from Bumblings a length of Fascia, 180x25 Bullnose 6.0M. It had to come from Coffs Harbor(80k's away from the Grafton store)
Pay by CC, Card is deducted then.
A week later I inquire, nobody can help me, I am told someone will chase this up.
The salesperson is on holiday.
I arrive at Mansfield for the National meet, I receive a call from a lady at Grafton bumblings informing me that my special order has arrived.
The following Thursday on our way back from the meet, I swing on by Grafton Bumblings to pick up the stick of fascia to save a trip from home(Lawrence 35k's).
They know the stick is there, nobody can find it. 3/4 of an hour later and a staff member walks out to the pick up area with it.

That sounds like the experience I had with them - special ordered a Space Case in Grey (already had a blue one, and we needed his and hers but not in matching colours) and paid in advance because they couldn't find the one that was supposed to be in stock... 3 weeks later still no case (OK, Christmas was in the way, so I'll them off that bit call it a week) but still no idea when it was going to arrive from the supplier... gave them another week for it to arrive, still no case and it's getting closer to when I needed it for... Eventually got them to transfer it from Tamworth instead; why they didn't do that first, I don't know. I suspect because the supplier pays shipping, whereas a store transfer they wear the cost.

Now I won't order anything from them if they require payment in advance...

In terms of their tactics, they win because they come in touting that they will create x number of job; as with so many retailers this is at the expense of the incumbents (who are often locally owned, rather than national or multinational) as they take the money that would have been spent with them and is now spent with the BGS. We're lucky; we still have a local independent building supplier, a couple of independent nurseries and a Home Franchise, along with 3 plumbers merchants, 1 irrigation place, couple of metal suppliers and 2 electrical places... however, they close at lunchtime on a Saturday, and some may open on a Sunday in the summer... I do go round everyone when I want something, and often can find things more easily in the others than I can in the BGS because they don't always organise things sensibly, and actually have a decent staff and staffing ratio that isn't based on nepotism...

I also suspect that Wesfarmers tell their suppliers they're paying on 60 or even 90 day from end of month terms, rather than the 30 or 45 from date of invoice that the supplier might like... whereas if you have an account with them it might be 30 days from date of invoice. This makes a big difference to cash flow - Wesfarmers can have the money sitting in their account for something that you've bought from them for a while before they need to pay the supplier.

[Chris.]

Youtube Chopper Reid Bunnings.
Says it all.
 

that was awesome 

[D4D]

Hmmm http://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/shoplifters-allegedly-bashed-ran-down-security-guards-at-bunnings-bankstown/news-story/1361cf97f2b7bf1b517935aa9315b96b

[Hairs]

I also suspect that Wesfarmers tell their suppliers they're paying on 60 or even 90 day from end of month terms, rather than the 30 or 45 from date of invoice that the supplier might like... whereas if you have an account with them it might be 30 days from date of invoice. This makes a big difference to cash flow - Wesfarmers can have the money sitting in their account for something that you've bought from them for a while before they need to pay the supplier.

They also tell their suppliers that they will supply product X for a price, if you can't we don't want to carry your product.
Yes, they have a policy of "Free into Store" they don't pay for transport.

Wesfarmers model their Bunnings business on the Walmart plan.
They are there for shareholders, not for the customer, not for the producer, not for the manufacturer, and certainly not for their employees. They squeeze the life out of all that are in either competition or supply to them.
They are predatory while telling you they are the best thing to happen to your life.

 

[BaseCamp]

Its the same way with all the independent mom and pop craft stores: and haberdashery shoppes; and party shops.....

Spotlight (& Sparties) moved in; and killed off all the small independent operators in all these 3 categories.....   Not only in the capital cities, but in many regional centres as well...

The really sad thing is that all these 3 retail categories require a tremendous amount of staff product knowledge; fantastic AAA service; and product innovation.....   Which is something very much largely missing from the "category killers"...

Just look at the mostly scathing customer Google reviews regarding Spotlight (Everton Park) - to see the amount to totally unhappy consumers.   Some in these reviews even lamenting that there are no options left to shop at...

But when Spotlight (and Big W); continue to sell helium balloons for $1 - $2ea; etc etc... (as but one example); its hard for any independent to survive. ...

And referring to "new economy" innovation such as ebay etc;  ... if you have 'commodity' based products, (not bespoke or unique items) -- then your sales (and profitability) will be a race to the bottom of the world...


BaseCamp

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[3rd time lucky]

This whole train of thought is interesting - everyone does realise that free enterprise trading in a capitalist economy will always encourage monopilies of the Bunnings ilk, esp in smaller populatiom bases such as ours. Every single publicly listed company has share holders to satisfy, and greed dictates that "more" must be gained than previous years. Why a certain profit level is not accetable is beyond me, but there it us. Ever must there be bigger profit margins and income.

[fuji]

Mitre 10 Diamond Creek👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[prodigyrf]

This whole train of thought is interesting - everyone does realise that free enterprise trading in a capitalist economy will always encourage monopilies of the Bunnings ilk, esp in smaller populatiom bases such as ours.

Not at all as there is no monopoly here and Masters proved that. The only necessary condition for competition is there be free entry to the marketplace and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the market shares that eventuate under that regime. Bunnings are just damn good at what they do which is why so many of us shop there but if Amazon or ebay, etc can do it better, then we're a very fickle lot. If you think you and your mates can do better than Bunnings then you gather your hard earned together and go gobble up all those super profits you reckon are going begging and best of luck to you 

[Bird]

3/4 of an hour later and a staff member walks out to the pick up area with it.

It's damaged
The complex manager didn't want to know about.

should have told them to insert it in their anus and give you your $ back

but they know they have you ****ed, so they don't have to give a Shit.

[gronk]

Bunnings are just damn good at what they do which is why so many of us shop there

I don't know what their good at, but we have no choice but to shop there as they gobbled up all the opposition.

When you get the chance to compare prices, Bunnings are not cheaper than the small remaining shops that still sell comparable products.