Bunnings banks on house-bound handymen

Bunnings chief executive Michael Schneider is eyeing thousands of workers who are suddenly working from their living rooms.

Bunnings has witnessed steady foot traffic through its doors since the new year and the coronavirus pandemic, with vegetable seedlings and garden products selling very well. Picture: Christopher Chan

Bunnings chief executive Michael Schneider is eyeing off the hundreds of thousands of workers who have suddenly found themselves working from their living rooms and dining tables, hoping as they cast their eyes over their homes and gardens they notice DIY jobs that require a quick trip to their local Bunnings store.

Small repair jobs, pottering around the garden, replacing smoke alarms or finally fixing that wonky door hinge that you promised you would attend to months ago could become priorities as Australians find themselves stuck at home for weeks and possibly months, with plenty of spare time on their hands.

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“There is certainly demand now for the things that are helping keep the home clean and safe — that is the way that I would categorise it. Things that keep your home clean and safe are certainly what customers are looking for, and more broadly than that, my sense is that there has probably been an increased focus on the home because customers have a little bit more time they are spending there at the moment than perhaps they otherwise would,’’ Mr Schneider told The Australian.

Bunnings has witnessed steady foot traffic through its doors since the new year and the coronavirus pandemic, with vegetable seedlings and garden products selling very well at the moment. Products for jobs seen as “essential services” such as plumbing, water systems and electrical work are in strong demand.

The boss of the nation’s biggest hardware retailer is also increasingly focused on the welfare and livelihood of his more than 40,000 staff as the pandemic reshapes Australian life.

While Australia’s 30 years of uninterrupted economic growth could soon come to a spluttering end as a recession looms in the wake of COVID-19, Bunnings is hopeful it can push ahead with its own 25 years of earnings growth. But it might have to achieve this without the aid of its famous sausage sizzle as a lack of dependable sausage supply put an end to that Bunnings tradition this week.

“Our focus has very much been on caring for our team members, caring for the community, which is why we made the decision around the BBQs and sausage sizzle Tuesday and ensuring availability of stock. I think we have been pretty transparent around the fact that things like face masks, hand sanitiser and cleaning products have certainly been in high demand,’’ Mr Schneider said.

“We have more recently seen a bit more demand for seedlings, vegetables seeds, and things like that.’’

But that doesn’t mean Australians witnessing panic buying at the supermarkets with shoppers stripping the shelves are suddenly turning to the idea of feeding themselves from their own garden, although some sense of self-sufficiency might have taken hold among some consumers. “I think that is less to do with people saying I can’t find lettuce in a supermarket — lettuce would take weeks to grow. What is happening is that we have more people than ever working from home and less people travelling, major events cancelled, so people have got more time and a desire to probably be home more than out.

“If you sit at home for a bit longer you start to see some of the things you wanted to do in your home that you haven’t done. There is also an element in Bunnings where urgent home repairs, access to wiring, to pipes, hot water systems for tradies, are all very important and a reliability of supply is important.

“The same is true for DIY jobs for changing a light bulb or replacing a smoke alarm.

These are all something that might seem little but actually are very important.”

People have got more time and a desire to probably be home more than out.

He doesn’t believe Bunnings is too exposed to any possible downturn in the large construction market as fears of a national recession grow.

“Our exposure to the heavy construction industry is very low … smaller tradies, a lot of those business people are operating one, two-people businesses and are providing an essential service to homeowners in particular with repairs and maintenance, whether they are plumbers, electricians or locksmiths. So they play a really important role in the community anyway and we don’t anticipate a significant change.’’

Mr Schneider said he supported the $17.6bn stimulus package unveiled by the federal government to help bolster household budgets and businesses, but he doesn’t believe it will directly and immediately feed into a sales bonanza at Bunnings in the same way the cash splash during the GFC went into TV plasma screens and other discretionary retail products.

“Clearly the government wants to put money in the hands of people who need it most, which I think is such a good and socially responsible thing to do. And I think those people are going to need to use that on things like food, electricity bills and core essentials, and we will just focus on being ready when customers want us. We will be ready when our trade customers want us like in any other challenging time.’’