‘It’s nuts!’ says tools retailer as sales bolt out the door
QUEENSLAND specialist retailer TradeTools has employed 27 new staff over the past month to cater for its unprecedented growth.
Founder Greg Ford, who established the business in 1987, runs a chain of 18 companyowned stores stretching from Tweed Heads to Cairns.
There is also an outlet in Vanuatu and another Australian store due to open at Browns Plains later this year.
“We’re a little bit reluctant to admit it but we have had a massive increase in turnover,” the British-born businessman said, acknowledging that not everyone in the retail sector had fared as well.
“We had one quiet week when COVID hit and then it went whoosh and it has never stopped. Every store has gone up and our figures are currently 60 per cent above what they were this time last year.”
He said the company was mainly a trade supplier and he could not explain why growth had been so strong.
“It is not like there has been a huge upsurge in the building trade,” he said, although he noted that retailers like Nick Scali and Bunnings and others exposed to the homewares and building trade had all done well during the pandemic.
“I think we just drained all the money out of tourism … because no one is going anywhere,” he said.
“If we manage to average our current turnover through the rest of the year, we are going to be looking at $160$170 million turnover.”
Mr Ford said about 10 to 12 per cent of the companies sales were completed online.
TradeTools now has 250 staff on its payroll, including Mr Ford’s daughter Rachel who is marketing manager.
He said having enough trained staff and keeping stock on the shelves were the two biggest challenges.
Mr Ford said sales could have been even higher if there had been more stock to sell.