Page 58 - HW March 2022

then as now
After the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and aftershocks, Christchurch Cathedral was set to be demolished. 10 years later, the Cathedral has just been reprieved.
In 2012, Bunnings Australia was facing major competition for the first time from a new competitor of scale.
stake in the ground” as “first and foremost for the building trade” and emphasising that “everything that is important to the trade is just as important to PlaceMakers.”
John Beveridge (Distribution CEO 2009-2013) underlined pointedly: “These ads show that PlaceMakers is not a big box retailer with coffee shops and potted colour.
“We’re a trade business – our core business is the builder and understanding the builder’s needs.”
One of the main messages carried by the new campaign was “Together, we’re building New Zealand”.
The campaign followed an actual build, with actual builders “in their natural habitat” – unscripted and documentary style, from start to finish over six episodes – and the team that brings the build together.
That team of course included PlaceMakers, and it has been interesting to see other merchants taking a similar approach to their marketing in recent times.
With the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and aftershocks still fresh in our minds, in March 2012 it was announced that the seriously damaged 131-year-old landmark Christchurch Cathedral would be demolished.
Ten years later, the Cathedral has just been reprieved and is being rebuilt as close to the original as possible.
Staying with ruined Christchurch and with PlaceMakers, in early 2012 work was well underway to replace its Antigua Street store which was also irreparably damaged by the shakes.
Ferrymead Mitre 10 MEGA had also been badly damaged,
and Mitre 10 CE John Hartmann (CE 2010-2013) was quick to reveal it would be completely rebuilt, with a brand new MEGA for Hornby also in train in the Garden City.
Across the ditch, Bunnings, under Managing Director Richard Goyder, was doing well enough but the big talking point was the entry of Masters Home Improvement which had opened its first dozen or so stores in 2011.
Early in 2012, Woolworth Ltd’s Home Improvement Division (comprising Masters and Home Timber & Hardware) was seeing double digit growth and the first seven Masters stores were “trading in line with expectations.”
Don Stallings, Home Improvement Chief Executive Officer, was “pleased with the trading to date for our Masters stores with customer feedback very positive.”
Uber-bullish, the Woolworths-Lowe’s JV’s plan was to develop no less than 150 Masters stores over five years.
After five years it had rolled out no less than 63 stores but – with Aussie pundits saying “we told you so” – all Masters stores would cease trading on Sunday 11 December 2016.
Woolworth had already written down AU$1.8 billion on the Masters JV, while Lowe’s had put roughly AU$700 million into its books.
One upside is that Metcash would be the proud new owners of Home Timber & Hardware with Woolworth exiting the sector completely.
To end on a more positive note, 2012 was also the year that NZ Hardware Journal went online.
Ten years later we’re even more online and it’s all still free, plus we’ve gone digital-first with our Digital Editions preceding the printed magazine.
Launched with gusto in 2011, Masters Home Improvement would last until 2016, having opened 63 of a planned 150- odd stores.
56 NZHJ | MARCH 2022
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz