M&B Sales Group Joins Mitre 10 Trade Centres

An Australia chain of six DIY stores has joined with Mitre 10, converting four of its six stores to Mitre 10 Trade Centres. 

Since 1969, M&B Sales Pty Ltd has been delivering professional advice, unsurpassed service and innovative quality products to the Western Australian building industry for both residential and commercial projects. The company wanted to be able to maintain its core values and strengths while taking advantage of the benefits of Mitre 10's national trade model.

The Baldock and Murray families, who own M&B Sales, invested in Mitre 10's Sapphire transformation program alongside Independent Hardware Group, to ensure that they could continue to compete with Bunnings, which is investing heavily in the region and in its IT capabilities.

The first two stores to undergo conversion were M&B's Albany and Geraldton branches which are expected to be finished this month.

Paul Baldock, MD and owner of M&B Sales said of the partnership: “We have done a lot of due-diligence on the bannering and Sapphire transformations for about six years, as we have been waiting for the Mitre 10 Trade Centre brand to get to a point where it really suited our trade business model. I believe the Mitre 10 Trade brand has changed a lot over the years. Mitre 10 is now very focused in trade and has come up with a really good business model in their Sapphire Trade Centre.”

“We are now aligning ourselves with IHG and working with them moving forward because they are progressive and also a very large player. IHG has put a lot of work and thought into their trade business model and they have got a lot of really good people now focussing on this,”.

“Aligning ourselves with IHG, which is bigger than Bunnings in trade and has a hell of a lot of stores, gives us a bit of security in being part of a group like this. In 15 years time you just have no idea where you are going to be when you have to compete against such a formidable competitor like that. They have become more of a convenience to builders because they are everywhere and they are throwing a lot of money at their IT. We wanted to align with IHG so we could continue to compete against Bunnings for years to come,” Paul said.

Store updates will include new Mitre 10 signage, layout changes, expanded hardware areas, and the introduction of new product lines.  The company will also benefit from Mitre 10’s Truck Tracker, Trade Online and Click ‘n Collect services, which would have been   

Source : Insight DIY Team

Image shows Bayswater Timber Mitre 10 Trade

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