Bunnings Warehouse

Infobox Company
company_name = Bunnings Group Limited
company_
company_type = Public company
genre =
foundation = Western Australia, Australia in 1952
founder =
location_city =
location_country =
location = Melbourne, Australia
origins =
key_people =
area_served =
industry = Retail/Trade Hardware
products =
services =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent = Wesfarmers
divisions =
subsid =
owner =
company_slogan = Lowest prices are just the beginning
homepage = http://www.bunnings.com.au/
dissolved =
footnotes =

Bunnings Warehouse is the southern hemisphere's largest hardware chain, [cite web|title =Officeworks fits in the Bunnings shed|publisher=The Australian|date=2007-04-04|accessdate=2008-02-21|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21500497-27644,00.html] with 223 stores Australia and New Zealand. [cite web|publisher=Bunnings|title=Bunnings Today|accessdate =2008-02-21|url= http://www.bunnings.com.au/aboutus/130/Bunnings_Today.aspx]

The chain is owned by Australia's largest employer Wesfarmers Limited, based in Perth, Western Australia.

History

Pre 1900s

In 1886 brothers Arthur and Robert Bunning left London to settle in Perth, Western Australia, and soon gained a government building contract, which led to them founding a group of building companies which later became 'Bunning Bros Pty Ltd'. They purchased their first sawmill the following year in the South West of Western Australia, and over the next few years they concentrated more on saw milling and timber distribution and less on building.cite web|publisher=Bunnings|title=Bunnings History|accessdate =2008-02-21|url= http://www.bunnings.com.au/aboutus/153/Who_We_Are.aspx]

Early 20th century

The company expanded to include several new mills around Western Australia. In 1952 Bunnings Limited became a public company, expanded into retailing and purchased several competition hardware stores.

Late 20th century

In 1970 Bunnings bought the merchandising and saw milling operations of the Hawker Siddeley Group, in 1983 they bought out Millars (WA) Pty Ltd and in 1990 they bought out the Alco Handyman hardware operations. The Victorian and South Australian hardware stores McEwans, owned by James McEwans Ltd, were bought out by Bunnings in 1993. Many of the McEwans stores were closed shortly after, leaving only the best performers. Bunnings Limited was then bought out by Wesfarmers Limited in 1994.

1994 onwards, Store Development

After the acquisition of Bunnings by Wesfarmers, the first Bunnings Warehouse was opened in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine by Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and Joe Boros, the Managing Director of Bunnings. This was quickly followed by three other Melbourne stores, and since then new Warehouses have opened on average every three months across Australia. Development in Sydney and Brisbane has proven more difficult than in other areas, as large blocks of land in the metropolitan area are limited.Fact|date=October 2007 In 1997, the remaining smaller-format McEwans stores were re-named "Bunnings".

In August 2001, Wesfarmers bought Howard Smith Group, owner of major competitors BBC Hardware and Hardwarehouse, supplementing Bunnings network by several dozen stores, many of them large Hardwarehouse stores in Sydney, Brisbane, and New Zealand. Hardwarehouse had been dominant in New South Wales and Queensland and the purchase complemented Bunnings prior domination in Victoria, where Hardwarehouse had only seven stores to Bunnings' twenty at the time of the buy-out.

Hardwarehouse and BBC Hardware stores retained their branding for a year, while television advertisements were tagged with each of Bunnings Warehouse, Hardwarehouse and BBC Hardware during this transition period. Lower volume stores were closed and in 2002 remaining Hardwarehouses were re-named Bunnings Warehouse.

From 2004 to 2006, Bunnings purchased and re-branded Mitre 10 stores in Griffith, New South Wales, Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory and Wodonga, Victoria, and a Magnet Mart store in Griffith was acquired.

Since the development of the Bunnings Warehouse stores, there exist two general formats of Bunnings stores: Bunnings and Bunnings Warehouse. The older "Bunnings" stores stock a more limited range of hardware, whereas the larger "Bunnings Warehouses" contain a more comprehensive hardware range and often garden supplies including plants. Over time, the smaller-format Bunnings stores have gradually been closed.

References

External links

* [http://www.bunnings.com.au/ Bunnings Warehouse home page]
* [http://www.wesfarmers.com.au/ Wesfarmers home page]
* [http://www.bunningstrade.com.au/site/ Bunnings Trade Home Page]
* [http://www1.bunningspropertytrust.com.au/ Bunnings Property Trust]