BUNNINGS READY TO FEEL THE LOVE
THE way Bunnings boss Mike Schneider sees it, Covid-19 has helped Australians fall in love with their homes all over again.
That’s not to be unexpected, especially in the states that suffered the worst lockdowns. The current trend of working from home has also ratcheted up the ‘wear and tear’ on homes, driving repair jobs and leading many people to rethink home projects.
It’s leading Bunnings, the nation’s leading hardware retailer, to seek out new categories or push deeper into existing product ranges as it follows the customer from the letter box to the back fence. “What I have seen really strongly after the last two or three years is Australians have re-fallen in love with the home. We are spending inordinate amounts of time there, it is a really safe place to be and we want to do things around the home and create really great experiences,” Mr Schneider said.
Bunnings is growing more into the pool maintenance area and has vastly expanded its barbecues range, including selling cookers and smokers and other giant pieces of machinery that involve slow cooking, pellet-fired flames or charcoal.
An especially hot category at the moment is indoor plants. This has been a handy category to have firing, given the unseasonably wet and cold spring in some parts of Australia that is keeping many people away from starting gardening and outdoor projects.
“I’ve been at Bunnings for 17 years and spring is sometimes early, sometimes late, but spring always happens,” he said.
And when that weather improves, Mr Schneider expects Bunnings cash registers to be busy ringing up lawnmower and whipper snipper sales.
Australians have re -fallen in love with thehome Mikeschneider