Home improvement store in Hamilton ‘sure’ to attract Northlanders

A giant new home improvement store 300 kilometres away in the Waikato is so confident in what it has to offer it believes Northlanders will drive down to shop there.

Trade Depot on Airport Rd and Raynes Rd in the Titanium Business Park near Hamilton Airport and Mystery Creek boasts 2km of display featuring bathroom, kitchens and appliances.

There is also a massive warehouse of a further 26,000 square metres – enough stock for 500 shipping containers. And there is parking for 150 cars and trailers.

Trade Depot has been planning the building for four years.

Trade Depot director John Christie says they chose Hamilton because it is so centrally located and booming.

He says Trade Depot is already supplying to more than 1000 new homes being built in the next year.

He expects the new store to attract customers from far afield because ‘‘there is nothing like this.’’

As well as the sheer scale of the store, Christie says it aims to offer more high-end products and features throughout bathroom, appliances and kitchen ranges and new ranges to be released throughout this year.

The new store will also feature an appliance repair centre where Christie says most brands will be serviced while you wait.

‘‘That’s part of our new environmental plan which also includes a lot more recycling and waste reduction.’’

A Trade Depot cafe will open at the site around June.

General manager Scott Riley says they sell around 150,000 large appliances a year nationally, putting it in the top three distributors of appliances in the country.

He says its bathroom items are also used to renovate more than 35,000 bathrooms each year.

Trade Depot is also promoting its own home brand, Vogue.

Christie says there are a lot of great stores in New Zealand, ‘‘but we started wanting to do something extra to bring better products at amazing prices.

‘‘With products, we’re always asking ’why is that so expensive?’ and ‘how low can we sell it for to get massive volumes?’. We were tired of seeing low prices overseas and not in New Zealand.

‘‘We have a group of owners that all work for the company. We’re all Kiwis and want to keep it Kiwi.

‘‘Amongst us we have strong experience and passion for nice homes, lower costs, technology and websites, international sourcing and the engineering/ science of the products we sell.’’