Bunnings Plainland: Lockyer Valley hardware stores’ business down 40 per cent since opening

Longstanding family-owned businesses have revealed just how hard they’ve been hit by the hardware giant setting up in their backyard.

Longstanding family-owned hardware stores in Queensland’s salad bowl have seen their business cut in half and fear for the future after the first Bunnings warehouse opened in the region three months ago.

After years of speculation over the hardware giant setting up a store in the Lockyer Valley, it was revealed at the end of 2019 it would be located at burgeoning Plainland just off the Warrego Highway.

Bunnings owns a large site in Gatton and it received council approval to build a warehouse there in December 2015.

A Bunnings store opened in Plainland in June. Photo: Bugress Rawson

But the company’s interest moved elsewhere and the 7.8 hectare block is now on the market.

Construction began on the $18 million Bunnings at Plainland in October last year and it opened in June, with more than 100 staff employed in the store.

Just over 10 minutes away in Laidley, Goodwin and Storr Mitre 10 has been in owner John Storr’s family for 110 years.

“We were down 60 per cent to start off with (when Bunnings first opened),” he said.

“Now it’s at 40 per cent. It’s just terrible.

“I’m just basically going through the books every three months and seeing if it’s worth keeping going. If it gets to a point where I’m wasting time I’ll be closing up.

“I’m only just starting to make wages. You can’t go for too long like that if you’re not making wages.”

Mr Storr, who employs four staff, said the threat of a Bunnings had been hanging over his head for several years.

He said the Laidley township was particularly quiet in recent months, which he put down to the impacts of Covid.

“I would have been happier if it was (built) over in Gatton,” he said.

The Laidley business has been in Mr Storr’s family for 100 years. Photo: Dominic Elsome

“To be honest I think they’ve made a dumb move. They’ve boxed themselves in and there isn’t any room for expansion.

“It’s lucky they didn’t do a full Bunnings or they would have absolutely crushed us.

“There’s not that free money going around (the town).”

Mr Storr said he expected the sale of big-ticket items like power tools to “grind to a halt” when Bunnings opened but it had been the opposite, with interest in smaller items like nuts and bolts drying up.

“I just find it frustrating when you know your prices are alright for certain things and they don’t even get a look in,” he said.

“My paint sales have just stopped.

“My big-ticket items have been ticking over but the margin is so small there’s very little profit in it.”

It was a similar story for Plainland’s Mitre 10 just a couple of minutes west down the highway.

Owner Stephen Rule took over the 30-year-old business in 2003 and employs 19 staff.

Members of the Plainland’s Mitre 10 team in January 2020. The hardware store has been running for 30 years.

“We got a kick from Covid but based on sales around the same time last year we’re down 40 to 50 per cent,” he said.

“We always suspected that (Bunnings would) come. It’s disappointing that they didn’t go to Gatton when Gatton doesn’t have a hardware store and they came and specifically targeted this area.

“They have a habit of setting up new hardware stores next to existing hardware stores. Almost as they though intend to wipe it out.

“When I bought it in 2003 there was talk then of Bunnings coming. It’s been in the pipeline a long time.

“We can still make it work for Bunnings there at this stage. The disappointing thing will be trying to maintain staff numbers. We don’t want to lose staff.”

Mr Rule said their rural range, including fencing, water tanks and stock feed, remained strong as Bunnings didn’t stock these items.

“It’s keeping us going,” he said.

“Our margin has really copped a whack.

The new Bunnings employs more than 100 people. Photo: Ali Kuchel

“We’ve lost it on the smaller items.

“We should thank our customers that are supporting us. We’ve been through floods and fires.”

The Plainland store was sold to Melbourne investors sight unseen for $2.2 million in June and Bunnings has a 10 year lease on the site.

“We compete with a huge range of retailers and believe that there is ample room for a wide variety of operators, speciality providers and online retailers,” Bunnings area manager Debby Stevens said.

“Bunnings is a strong employer of local residents in the Lockyer Valley, with over 100 team member jobs recently created at Bunnings Plainland and approximately 700 team members employed in surrounding stores.

“The new Bunnings at Plainland represents an investment of over $18 million in the local community.

“We are committed to engaging with the local communities where we operate and actively (contribute) to local causes and organisations through product donations, hands-on support as well as in-store fundraising.”

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.