Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

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stuart
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Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by stuart »

If you have been passed the Penge West Homebase you can't fail to see the 'CLOSING DOWN - ALL STOCK MUST GO - BUT ONLY THIS LOCATION' posters. - and a crowded car park!

I knew that Hombase had been sold by the owners of Argos to an Australian company and they were going to rebrand as Bunnings. Indeed I've seen some Homebases transformed into Bunnings. But clearly there were going to be rationalisations and it looked like Penge had taken the bullet.

So when getting some half price stuff last night I sympathised with the staff losing their jobs. Oh no - they said. We will be re-opening as Bunnings in February.

We shall see. Meantime you may want to get in quick as SE26 & SE20's finest vultures are already hard at work ;-)

Stuart
iandavenport
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Joined: 1 Feb 2012 09:33
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by iandavenport »

I think you will find this is just a re-branding - Wesfarmers bought Homebase from Home Retail last year , its obviously taken a while to work the new name through the branches, although it might be interesting to see if the BBQ range improves.
Tadpole
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by Tadpole »

They are closing on the 5th Jan. Staff are having 1 months training at other Bunnings branches and will work at other stores until it re opens in April as Bunnings.
No staff are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the changes :D
Nigel
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by Nigel »

That is great to hear staff not losing jobs .
I don't know if it's just a coincidence but we went in to see if there was a standard lamp going cheap and I noticed they had a wide range of wall fixings . I don't usually use that place for any DIY stuff but last time I ventured in , one evening after proper DIY shops had closed , they had only low quality own-brand fixings - no Rawlplug , Plasplug, hollow wall anchors etc . I must say their nuts and bolts section looked better , though would always go to Sydenham DIY ( or Penge DIY if it's a Sunday morning as they open ) .

A very good morning
Nigel
alywin
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by alywin »

I'd heard it was going to become a supermarket: obviously mistaken information. But I've never heard of Bunnings, and nor, I suspect, has your average Brit.
alywin
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by alywin »

Well, adverts at local bus stops indicate that Bunnings will be opening soon - in fact, one I've seen says it's already open, but that's not borne out by the ad in the News Shopper this week. Just in time for the Easter DIY rush, I'd guess.
The Clown
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by The Clown »

Yep. Drove up there. Looks like it will be opening soon as Bunnings Warehouse - all branded up and staff on site but not open. This was Fri morning
butters
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Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by butters »

Went to Bunnings (Penge Homebase) on Saturday morning. Really please - they seem to have utilised more of the outdoor space than HB did, the garden area was full of really decent quality and affordable plants - the HB ones always looked like they were on their last legs. Friendly chirpy staff. Plus, they were selling sausage sizzles outside (any aussies will know what these are - just a sausage in a piece of plain white bread!) Perfect!
syd-gal
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Location: Sydenham

Re: Penge Homebase closing - or perhaps not?

Post by syd-gal »

It opened last Wed or Thur, even though the signs outside said "will open soon"! I went on Thur afternoon.
There is no upstairs now, so now beds, sofas etc. Lots of interesting things, and of course lots of things for outdoors and barbies, as it is an Aussie firm. The outdoor area is large. And I was amazed at a big section of knobs and handles etc!
mosy
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by mosy »

A Bunning's flyer (the newspaper magazine sort) was delivered to houses here this week and it does look like B&Q type of goods. Lots on gardening as you'd expect at this time of the year, and paint, although I imagine there'll be paint bargains aplenty with bank hols upcoming on the calendar.
alywin
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by alywin »

Well, went up to Bunnings today - with what seemed like half of Penge! - looked good, with comprehensive stock going up towards the ceiling (higher shelves accessible by Bunnings employees only), so will see what happens when I actually go in there looking for something specific.
Zsazsa
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Location: Sydenham

Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by Zsazsa »

I went into Bunnings this morning and I had a plan b as I thought I might be able to get what I went in there for. I think it is a real improvement on the old Homebase. The staff were really helpful (and it felt genuine) and the range is great. A lot of it is towards the value end but they also stock Craig and Rose paint which is my favourite brand and quite hard to find.I came out with all sorts of things I didn't go in there for so it gets my vote.
syd-gal
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Location: Sydenham

Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by syd-gal »

Looks like the owners of Bunnings are trying to sell

https://news.sky.com/story/aussie-owner ... e-11310795
The Clown
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by The Clown »

My positive post has been deleted, is there a problem with the site - admin!
admin
Site Admin
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by admin »

Not aware of this - when did you post it?
JGD
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by JGD »

Homebase has been sold by Wesfarmers for just £1.

Homebase currently employs 11,500 people in 251 stores and is being bought by the restructuring specialist, Hilco.

Only 24 stores were rebranded Bunnings by Wesfarmers but the turnaround failed.
leenewham
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by leenewham »

I worked on Focus DIY years ago on their packaging and branding, but they struggled to sell the old stock from the stores they took over (Great Mills, Do It All, Focus branded stuff was still in stores years later, then they changed their branding twice more, once through another agency then through use, and those legacy designs stayed in store too). It is incredibly difficult to integrate stores, more so for DIY than food as the stock sells so much more slowly. Bunnings didn't stay the course or give it much time, the whole thing sounded like a mess, poorly thought through.

I was at a conference yesterday at Googles HQ about the future of brands, retail, ethics etc. Huge changes are coming and high streets and retailers are going to have to cope with it. Some good, some not so good. Niche, specialised, personalised, different, gap fillers will do well. Mid-market, please everything, 'meh' brands will fail, which we are already seeing. The low end and high end of the markets will thrive. Technology and experience is key to success. Just selling 'stuff' isn't enough any more.
SimonVennerRoad
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Location: London

Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by SimonVennerRoad »

So this must be a world record - Bunnings opened on March 7th and is set, according to a staff member, to close for good on June 14th. Bargains galore for sure but very sad for the workforce, the site and the moral of that end of Penge High Street.
JRW
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by JRW »

Having sold the whole chain for a pound, the buyer might be able to revert to the Homebase brand, and salvage it. This seems a good site and hopefully it will carry on somehow. Homebase didn't have an image problem, it was rebranded as a vanity exercise by an ill-informed buyer who wanted to make a splash.
alywin
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Re: Penge Homebase closed - now Bunnings warehouse

Post by alywin »

This is a huge shame: I actually really like the new Bunnings, and the amount and variety of stock they hold, compared with Homebase. I hope the store somehow manages to keep going.
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