Bunnings open four in one day

Bunnings sent a signal to the competition today, as they officially opened four Bunnings Warehouses in a single day.

Although the four stores, in High Wycombe, Newmarket, Hanworth and Walthamstow had all been trading for the last ten days, Bunnings chose 1st February as the day to announce the official opening of all four stores.

We've covered the opening of the four stores and more information on each, including store size and the launch events are detailed at the links below:-

Bunnings Warehouse opens in High Wycombe

Bunnings Warehouse opens in Newmarket

Bunnings Warehouse opens in Walthamstow

Bunnings Warehouse opens in Hanworth

These stores bring the total Bunnings now open and trading in the UK to 19, with at least another four currently being converted, including Waltham-on-Thames, Herne Bay (due to be a smaller format Bunnings like Bicester), Penge and Frome.

The nineteen Bunnings stores now open and trading include the following (click on links for full address and details):-

• St.Albans - Griffiths Way
• St.Albans - Hatfield Way
• Hemel Hempstead - London Road
• Milton Keynes - Snowdon Drive
• Folkestone - Park Farm Road
• Broadstairs - Westwood Gateway Retail Park
• Sittingbourne (Kent)
• Basildon Vange (Essex)
• Weston-super-mare (Avon)
• Harlow (Essex)
• Basingstoke (Hampshire)
• Bicester (Oxfordshire) - new format smaller store
• Rotherham (South Yorkshire)
• Rochdale (Greater Manchester)
• Chichester (West Sussex)
• Walthamstow (Greater London)
• Newmarket (Suffolk)
• Hanworth (Greater London)
• High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire)

The stores currently being converted include ;-

• Walton-on-Thames (Surrey)
• Herne Bay (Kent) -  - new format smaller store
• London Penge (SE20)
• Frome (Somerset)

Check out our Insight DIY map of the UK here, showing all Bunnings locations.

Insight & Analysis

February is a key month for Bunnings, as Wesfarmers announce their half year results, including a sales update on Bunnings UK & Ireland on 21st of the month. Back in November, Wesfarmers incoming CEO Rob Scott told shareholders at their AGM in Perth, to expect the results from Bunnings UK and Ireland to get worse, before they get better.

Read - It's going to get worse before it gets better

Following a poor, weather affected seasonal Christmas period and growing evidence of a market-wide, big ticket slowdown in January, we anticipate their like for like sales performance to be yet again in double digit decline. Despite the best efforts of top management to manage the expectations of shareholders and investors, two years into the acquisition of Homebase and almost exactly one year since the first Bunnings store opened on UK soil in St.Albans, this is a very disappointing place for them to be.

Following the recent departure of CEO PJ Davis and General Merchandise Manager Craig Castelino, immense pressure is now building on the new management team, including Ex-B&Q Director Damian McGloughlin, who only joined the Bunnings business in December and David Haydon, Chief Operating Officer. 

Read our predictions for Bunnings and the fortunes of the other Home Improvement retailers in 2018 here.

Source: Steve Collinge - MD Insight Retail Group Ltd

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