thegeek wrote: Tue 20 Nov, 2018 21.32
thegeek wrote: Tue 24 Jul, 2018 12.36
This photo, shamelessly stolen from a local Facebook group, shows the Bunnings in Walthamstow - as of this week, a Homebase again.
I was in said Homebase today - last time I was there was before its brief sojourn as a Bunnings.
Still lots of signs in Futura, and blackboards, and a café with no customers. But what I did find is that there were loads of staff, and they were really helpful and friendly. Quite a contrast to the B&Q I was in the other day, where everyone was grumpy. I'm not sure it'll last...
From a Metropol perspective, it's a shame there were only a handful of Homebase->-Bunnings->- Homebase conversions in the UK, as not all of us got to experience at first hand the branding car crash that unfolded - even more entertaining than the Safeway/Morrisons saga.
5 months on from the reversion of the Bunnings stores into Homebases, they're continuing to be run in the Bunnings format, with the only difference being the name (codename 'HINO' - Homebase In Name Only?).
The signature Bunnings offerings have strangely been preserved - greeters permanently stationed at the front door, key cutting, wood cutting, the kids' adventure playground, Santa's grotto, sausage sizzles, the ridiculously overpriced Hardware Café and basically the whole trading style.
There hasn't been any incursion of Homebase POS material during the regular 15% Off events on particular ranges, although the Bunnings shelf-edge prices are adjusted to match the temporary discounts offered nationally by Homebase.
It's like they're trying to keep the facade of the Bunnings EDLP ("no special offers") retail model whilst allowing the lowered prices for the sake of pricing harmony across the wider Homebase-Bunnings business.
Hard to understand what they're doing here. My only possible conclusion is that new owners Hilco thought there
might be some glimmer of hope in the Bunnings retail format (after all, it worked in Australia), so are keeping it alive for experimental purposes.
This approach is totally different to Morrisons' brutal wipeout of the Safeway trading style in the shortest time possible.
