Page 9 - HW July 2020

hard news
rm in the belief that his team will “win the service war” when Bunnings opens and that his store’s “ rst mover advantage and loyal following will really make a di erence”.
“We’re fairly backing ourselves,” says Dave, adding that the new Costco will be just a short walk from his big orange shed on Fred Taylor Drive...
e Hargreaves also own Mitre 10 MEGA Henderson, which they bought from Vinod Kumar in 2018. How do the two stores compare?
As well as showing a higher socio- economic mix than Henderson, Westgate also has a younger demographic, but there are a lot of new rst time buyers in both catchments and, as a result, both stores’ DIY departments are “travelling well” right now.
Both stores also rank very highly in terms of power and hand tools, paint, all the traditional DIY categories.
Just being out west isn’t any guarantee of success however. Take the closure of
the corporate-owned Palmers Planet big box in June.
Opened in late 2014, close to Mitre 10 MEGA, pre-lockdown, the company had already signalled that it intended to relocate to a smaller site, but circumstances overtook these plans.
A Palmers spokesperson has said
of the decision: “Without the support of a franchisee, we could not support investing additional capital to fund the ongoing shortfalls.
“ is decision was made before the country moved to lockdown level two and trading recommenced, however
the long term impacts of the last
three months and resulting economic uncertainty did not change the position.”
Looking to the positive, Dave Hargreaves has been pleased with a bit
of a lift seen by his business as a result
of Palmers vacating the site and is no doubt anticipating that the arrival of both Bunnings and Costco will further boost sales.
Apprenticeships get
further Govt boost
In mid-June, the Government announced a new scheme within its Apprenticeship Support Program, called “Apprenticeship Boost”.
In terms of the detail, from August 2020 and up to April 2022, some 18,000 employers will be able to apply for funding of up to $12,000 per apprentice in their first 12 months of training, and up to $6,000 in their second 12 months.
The Ministry for Social Development will be responsible for administering the scheme, which is in addition to $40 million for regional apprentices from the Provincial Growth Fund, $19 million to support the seven existing Group Training Schemes and the extension of the existing MSD Mana in Mahi scheme.
www.workandincome.govt.nz
Trade & consumer building shows to go ahead
Mid-last month, XPO Exhibitions con rmed that BuildNZ, colocated with Facilities Integrate and the National Safety Show as the “Mega Event”, would go ahead at ASB Showgrounds on 12-13 August 2020.
Billed as the only large-scale construction trade event of its kind this year, the “Mega Event” combines the three shows into one, and is free of charge to registered visitors.
The organisers of the Auckland Home Show have also now con rmed that the 40th edition of the show will go ahead as planned, at ASB Showgrounds over 9-13 September this year.
“We’re delighted and incredibly relieved to be able to announce the 2020 Auckland Home Show is going ahead
for 2020,” says Amanda Magnus, General Manager of Exhibitions & Events New Zealand.
With three months until the event,
the Home Show organisers are aware that they may still need to work around Covid-19 health and safety concerns, adding that the existing event ticketing system can collect any necessary contact tracing data required.
https://megaevent.co.nz/ https://www.aucklandhomeshow.co.nz/
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JULY 2020 | NZHJ 7