Thabang Mokopanele
Trade and Industry Correspondent
HARDWARE supplier Hardware Warehouse said yesterday it had acquired two new stores, bringing its total to 16.
Hardware Warehouse (HWW) bought a Queenstown store for R1,21m in May and a business called 45 Degrees in Gonubie, Eastern Cape.
“The excellent location attracted Hardware Warehouse to the Queenstown business. We will rebrand the store,” CEO Shaun Miller said.
The Queenstown store has 1000m²² of retail space and a 2000m² yard for excess stock. It will incorporate a Bath and Tile Warehouse, a new Hardware Warehouse division.
Key management would remain to ensure customers were not affected negatively during the takeover process.
The Gonubie store caters for middle to high living standards measure (LSM) customers, shopping malls and contractors.
Hardware Warehouse took occupation at the beginning of the month. The store has about 300m² of display area, a large yard and working area for granite top manufacturing. It will also be rebranded and fall under the Bath and Tile Warehouse banner, with Hardware Warehouse’s range of tiles and sanitary ware included.
“The business was purchased in line with our medium-term strategy of diversifying our customer base and product range,” Miller said.
Hardware Warehouse is expanding to selling more upmarket products to a higher LSM category in urban areas. The company would also consider providing credit to selected contractors that conform to a strict credit policy.
The company opened its first bath and tile concept store in King Williams Town in November, and it has met trading expectations.
These concept stores mostly follow a store within a store approach, displaying complete bathrooms to show what the finished product will look like. There will be stand-alone Bath and Tile Warehouse branches.
“We are rolling out the Bath and Tile Warehouse concept in a number of existing branches — Mdantsane, Sterkspruit, Cofimvaba and Mtubatuba,” Miller said.
Source: Business Day
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
