Well looks like what we all thought is finally happening, expects closing sales soon I guess.
http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/page/The_Newsroom/Press_…
Woolworths Pulling out of Home Improvement Sector, No More Masters?
Related Stores
Comments
Are you studying to be a journalist.
Thats not exactly what was said
We intend to pursue an orderly prospective sale or wind-up of the business
Sale or windup, thats been said for quite a while, nothing new here
Haha, journalist title yes - but not mine. Thats the title of the article in the link.
True, but dont continue the lie on their behalf :)
If it doesn't sell; its likely they will keep their profitable stores and get rid of the ones that they are losing on.
They said the same about Dick Smith back in 2011, and yet the Mentone store stayed open until the end.
@eXtremist: they were talking about closing underperforming stores when they bought tandy, long before they sold it
So who wasn't expecting this doozy??
Woolies winds up Masters
So did Masters take the bait and get angry?
Masters baiting…
We are mass debating on the topic of Woolworths pulling out. But did they manage to do it in time?
Natually.
Question: how to catch two Mazdas?
Answer: you need two Mazda bait.
I thank you.If Masters pull out now they'll have a serious case of Blue Boxes they can't get rid of.
Maybe merge this thread with the other created 1minute earlier, with the more accurate title?
Yeah except they sold Dick Smith in 2012 for almost 120 million. Seems they did alright on that front considering the paid 20 mil for it in 1982
not really…https://foragerfunds.com/bristlemouth/dick-smith-is-the-greatest-private-equity-heist-of-all-time/
So who wasn't expecting this doozy??
Long time coming…
Any private equity firms looking to snap it up and IPO it for 5x it's value?
Although this time they might actually make the business genuinely profitable and therefore Masters would be here to stay.
Anyone with giftcards might want to use them asap
The card issuer is
Woolworths Limited
ABN 88 000 014 675 1 Woolworths Way
Bella Vista NSW 2153Unlike Dick Smith who was the issuer or their cards
In this case Woolies would have to go bankrupt or be wound up, not Masters
Ie If Masters was the issuer then you might be more concerned.
Does that also apply to the Masters only gift cards? Maybe I'm just paranoid these days
Yes under the conditions it says - the Masters cards are issued by
But check the back of any card you own.
I used a Masters gift card at Dick Smith online in early December when they still used the old checkout system.
All Masters gift cards are issued by Woolworths (Everyday Gift Cards) and all can be used in all other Woolworth divisions.
@Slyniz: Not the free ones they gave out at Masters as part of that promotion where if you spent $100 or more, you'd get a $20 Gift Card. When you tried to scan those at the checkout at Woolworths (supermarket), it would just decline. Maybe they work online though.
Woolworths will honour all gift certificates, product warranties, returns, and lay-bys and the completion of any contracted home improvement projects such as kitchens, bathrooms and floor coverings. Any gift cards can already be used at other Woolworths Group stores.
Nek minnit…
Shareholders appear to approve of the move, with Woolworths defying a steep share market slide to post a 4.2 per cent gain to $23.62 by 2:31pm (AEDT).
The company's shares had been up more than 7 per cent earlier in the day after the announcement was made.
Peter Esho, chief market analyst at Invast, said Woolworths' strength lies in its food and liquor retailing and the exit from hardware was overdue.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-18/woolworths-to-exit-mas…
Woolies would have to honour the unused masters gift cards at their other stores. Even if they are not obligated, they would have to do what they did with Dick Smith gift cards and provide goodwill. They dont want more bad publicity
What a shame as I actually prefer Masters over Bunnings, but I do shop at both depending on what I am after.
There goes competition and I guess prices will now rise.
Masters near me is as big as seems to be as well stocked as Bunnings, but it's cleaner, air conditioned, and has more parking. I only go to Bunnings if I really have to.
1. but it's cleaner
- because there are no customers
2. has more parking
- see 1.
It's cleaner because they actually prepped the building before filling it with stock. IE: epoxied the floor, painted the fixtures, etc.
There are fewer customers, and that makes parking easier.
I honestly don't understand why there are fewer customers at Masters, it's a much better shopping experience.
Agreed and I dont understand why there has been a refusal by people to shop there. Perhaps people think its not "tradie" enough and would prefer to shop at a not so shiny place.
@misa:
They don't stock as much stuff. You can shop online so less need to go in store. I only buy when there's 10%.
@misa:
I think a factor is because it is so big they are hard to find stuff. If you have been going to Bunnings for years you get to know the layout.@macrocephalic:
Clearly they wasted money doing the joint up properly. Seems we all want warehouse style cheap places.Big problem for me is convenience. There is no Masters near me. Most people shop on convenience.
The couple of times I've trekked to a Masters the staff have been pretty poor. Wonder if staff quality has been an issue for them?
@bargain_knight: I find the prices pretty comparable (which probably means the profit margins are slimmer at Masters). The staff at my local one (which is the same distance as Bunnings) have been excellent IMO. The door greeter is really cheerful, and the staff are always eager to help - never a scowl or an "I don't know". The BBQ guy even specifically recommended not to get the BBQ that he was supposed to be pushing because he didn't think they were very good. And this is at a store in, what's generally regarded to be, the dodgiest area in Brisbane.
I've only been to the one store though.
@macrocephalic: My experience in their stores has also been fine, but a little variation store-to-store on the strength of this comment…
Bunnings really did, in their initial strategy, put a genuine emphasis on a 'team culture' among staff and on customers consistently encountering staff who actually enjoyed their jobs and were anxious to assist, in a real way, when called upon.
That, plus the employment of older workers in significant numbers (also a novelty in Oz retail), has really endeared Bunnings to many customers.
Other missteps by Woolworths aside, Masters arriving so incredibly late as a competitor almost sees them (still) perceived as something of an interloper in that relationship. A pretty big factor in the outcome, I reckon.
A real pity for competition in the marketplace, though. :(
@macrocephalic: I'd say it depends on the store.
Camden Masters the staff have been very nice and very helpful every single time.
Hoxton Park the staff have been rude and unhelpful and that slow to attend customers that I would call it negligence. Several times while I've stood around for 30-45 mins waiting for customer service I've heard multiple complaints from other customers that staff see them then veer off in different directions. I waited 2 hours once for them to mix a tin of paint. Not too mention the made up and completely incorrect advice you get.They have mainly US brands too in a lot of areas (e.g Troybilt, Cobalt). It seems Bunnings secured the distribution rights for many of the major product lines.
@Peace Maker:
Kobalt is a line of hand tools, power tools, and tool storage products owned by the American home improvement chain Lowe's. It is the house brand for both Lowe's in North America and their joint venture Masters Home Improvement in Australia.
@tonka: I seriously doubt you waited 2 HOURS to mix a tin of paint…….. No one waits that long, without walking out.
@Level380: Yep.
Waited around 20 mins for any staff to show up.
Discussed paint types and was ordering when the dude just walked off. I thought he was going to mix the paint and after a while I chased him down as I could see he was just chatting with co-workers.
He instructed someone else to help me. (Apparently he was the dept manager and I think it was beneath him, young guy though.)Ordered the colour, they said they had to wait for a guy to come back from lunch who had just left.
I said will have look around and come back to pick up. Browsed around for 60 mins (first time at Masters), came back and they had forgot (I am a bit annoyed but still polite).
I had arranged to meet my mother at garden section , so let them know I would come back and collect and where I was going.
Came back and still not mixed, they told me they didn't bother to mix as I wasn't there and maybe changed my mind. Despite the fact I told them where I was going and was specific about them mixing the paint and they said they would while I went to the other end of the store to tell my family would be longer. When I said this they were 'yeah so what you still weren't here'.
I had to wait again for the mixing dude to (supposedly) come back. I needed the paint to finish a job.I was absolutely furious, I had not been rude to them, they didn't apologize once, they were condesending and they tried to blame me for their mistake. I did write to management it took 3 weeks to respond and the manager was apologetic and offered me a discount on future purchases which I didn't take up as I was too angry to return to the store for about 12 months.
I've been in several times since though and never once seen the paint section attended or any customers.
I've only ever gone back if I had a Wish card to spend. Every single visit though something has sucked. Either staff rude, ridiculous waiting times, advertised items not in stock.
@macrocephalic: Because they are more expensive for a ton of things, and they have less of a range. Melamine sheets were $10 more (for a $25 sheet). They didn't carry the wardrobe rail supports I needed, and instead sent me to Bunnings. Useless.
@Peace Maker: Kobalt is Lowes home brand like Woolworths Select.
(EDIT: Sorry someone has already mentioned this above)
Yep, considering they never have any customers they should have excellent service. Alas they are always standing around chatting to each other and ignoring customers.
If they ever wanted to compete with bunnings they needed a point of difference. Cheaper prices, amazing service, different/better products or something; but none of that exists.
We have no Masters near me and have to travel 30 mins, as opposed to 10 mins to Bunnings and another Bunnings being built just 5 mins away soon. And thats Sydney traffic distances. Bunnings have critical mass and Masters are hammered/screwed by Bunnings growth strategy.
3hrs in Sydney saturday traffic to return a broken item that was badly packed. After double confirming that the store had replacement stock, which was set aside for me to collect.
Rock up, no exchange item, no records of anything being put aside, staff couldn't care. Nothing similar I could buy. Left the store an hour later empty handed. Waste of a day. Thanks Masters.
To my mind, Masters didn't seem to be competing on price.
While I don't think Bunnings is cheap, I rarely found anything cheaper at Masters.
When I did comparisons Masters was either about the same or more expensive. Sometimes they didn't even have an equivalent product.
- they arrived too late. The market is already saturated. people already used to Bunnings.
they did not try to compete with Bunnings on price. Most of their items are more expensive than Bunnings,
a handful of items are cheaper than Bunnings. Most customers will find Masters has same price or more expensive.
they didn't seem to be competing or even trying to compete with bunnings. They didn't even advertise much.
so they are stuck this image as "just another bunnings" with less staff.they have different stocks than what we are used to. Many will hesitate.
Was recently at 2 different Masters stores, was barely any customers in there, I felt lonely! There were way more workers in there than customers walking around, felt so weird haha.
Waiting for the fire sale of their stock…..
Probably depends on what Woolies can do with it. If they can find a buyer then I wouldn't hold my breath, except for categories they exit (maybe whitegoods?). If they close it down then it'll be raining Masters deals on OzB haha.
Unsurprising. Always seemed to be a question of when not if.
need to visit at least once before extinct~
Closest store to me is Chullora way out so I'll wait for a good sale before making the trek.
Same.I almost went to one 2 weeks ago…..but then didn't.
Hope they start letting dogs in.
That wasn't a good thing…
Well, i tried Masters a few times, each was drama filled.
- no stock because they didn't pick my order in-time.
- broken promises on delivery after I arranged to be home for it
- broken promises on call backs. I now know they just offer to call you back to get you off the phone.
- un-interested staff who couldn't give two sh*ts. I had to go and find the items for my own click and collect order while they stood around staring into space.
Overall, I'd say the staff are their own worst enemies. The attitude like you're some huge chore for them, and it's not like they have anything else to do. Bunnings staff on the other hand seem genuinely helpful.
I've had opposite experience. Staff always come up asking if I need a hand. At bunnings they seem to avoid you as they get so many customers asking them questions
My experiences were at Chullora and Canberra airport. I did 2 orders from Chullora and 4 from Canberra, each was unpleasant.
Chullora used to be the pain in the a$$, but last Saturday I went it was OK at least someone knowledgeable to offer me some help and I did purchase.
Completly agree with Canberra staff. Most of them are arrogant and have no idea of the product.
I second this. I rarely shop at Bunnings. I am finding Masters a better experience.
But I guess Masters is a victim of perception. Someone wrote an article Bunnings deliberately make its stores dirty to give impression its products are cheap while Masters seem to radiate the perception that its goods are more expensive.
Bunnings also use its own staff (according to the article) to spruik its stores and I must admit I didn't see that with Masters.
Lastly, imho, Bunnings seem to enjoy the benefit of incumbency.
I've found on things like screws, timber, etc they ARE more expensive. Pity, because they have a nicer store.
@deadcat: They must have localised pricing. I did a massive amount of hardware shopping a couple of years ago after building a new home. I bought about 95% of items from Masters because they were cheaper on the same items, or better quality on comparable items. The three local Bunnings stores were full of disinterested, ignorant or just plain absent (in every way) staff. Masters was like having a personal shopping assistant WITH A CLUE!! :-) Hopefully they won't disappear, as I cannot stand Bunnings, their attitude or the cheap sh*t they fill their shelves with.
I've never seen Bunnings as "dirty" or as "cheap", maybe a little more run down, but I guess I felt that was because they have been around longer and get more traffic.
You can certainly get things like screws much cheaper at other trade stores, and even online.
and now that masters has folded… Bunnings will become just like this. No compertition in the market place is a BAD thing
I still have Mitre 10 near me and they have a pretty good range.
Check out their catalogues for bargains.
mitre 10, thrifty link etc are all still around yes, but are not a big player like bunnings/masters.
I don't have any near me at all, the closest I have is bunnings, to get to masters I have to drive by TWO bunnings in one direction, and basically two bunnings in the other direction. So unless I was after something really cheap at masters or something I could only get at masters it wasn't worth the drive for me.
Its a sad day really. Bunnings needs someone to compete against, otherwise service will go down and prices will go up.
Hopefully they do a clearance on their Honda lawn mowers
Long term this is going to be a bad thing though. I found location to be biggest problem with them. Now bunnings will be back to monopoly
I'm disappointed that WW is taking the option to buy out Lowes and close down. I was hoping it would go the other way - that Lowes would take a controlling interest. Lowes surely has the money.
Lowes had an option to sell back their shares, they exercised it. Basically for them, there was a guaranteed easy out if it wasn't looking like it was going to be worthwhile. WW would not have bought out Lowes if they had a choice.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-18/woolworths-to-exit-mas…
Woolworths has surrendered its attempt to enter the home improvement and hardware business by today announcing it will offload its failing Masters chain.In a statement to the stock exchange, the retailer said it would commence an "orderly process" to exit the Masters Home Improvement and Home Timber & Hardware business, by either selling it or shutting it down if no buyer can be found.
lol I work with some very smart scientists, lots of PhDs. No doubt they're a lot smarter than me. But seriously, the wallet inspector would get them every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttgcu01FfwoFor laughs you can ask them the time when they're holding a cup of coffee or a beer. Yes, i'm massively generalising. Problem with a lot of scientists is that the better you are as a scientist, the more narrow your focus tends to be. In the real world, a narrow focus is a recipe for disaster in just about any other field.
Not everyone with a PhD is a scientist.
I've worked in HR for 'a large scientific organisation'.. typically all hell breaks loose when scientists lacking people-skills are promoted to run teams.
haha most PhDs are professional life long university students. No real world knowledge whatsoever.
funny how two guys with PhDs own the world's second largest company
What is the name of the world's second largest company that these guys own ?
after dick then master…
woolworth is truly a master of a dick!Very unfortunate.
All those staff members potentially out of jobs.They are making a good change compared to 2 months before when I revisit them last Saturday, more knowledgeable staff and more stock on floor.
hopefully have more 20% off sales so I can get my bosch mower. How will warranty be handled?
I hope they get taken over by a more competent management group. So much potential but the ppl working on pricing and inventory have no clue.
warranty will be handled by bosch. You will have to contact them directly I suppose.
Jesus, wouldn't let Woolworths touch anything, it'd be dead within weeks. This is bad for us consumers in the longrun etc. but….. Come on Firesale!!
Was about to buy timber for new decking but will hold off. I assume masters sells timber?
You should buy timber from a TIMBER place, not a hardware store.
I'd say Bunnings/Master/etc would be the worst place to buy decking timer. Quality will be better (higher grade) and prices should be lower at a proper place.
Anyone need a masters size warehouse at Parafield Airport, SA?
Because there's a masters there being built along with OW and HJs. Doubt it'll open, and there's a bunnings down the road!
Look forward to your new indoor karting track opening soon then!
My one a few KM away opened like 1 month ago lol.
JB Hifi should buy Masters and have flannelette wearing hipsters / roller derby girls sell hardware tools, accessories gardening equipment for all the organic elitists.
Merged from Woolies winds up Masters
http://www.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/woolies-winds-u…
So first Dick Smith and now Masters.
Seems Woolies should stick to supermarkets….