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HI
WEEKLY
Vol. 1 No. 8
BUNNINGS’
RETAIL
SECRETS
WESFARMERS/BUNNINGS
2016 Q1 RESULTS •
MAKITA, BOSCH OUTSIDERS? • HIPSTER
HARDWARE STORE•
What Bunnings does best
BEING BIG ISN’T HOW BUNNINGS
GOT WHERE IT IS TODAY. IT’S ALL
ABOUT UNDERSTANDING RETAIL
5
Bunnings FY 2016 Q1 results...............................3
The Outsiders: Bosch, Makita...........................11
Big Box Update..................................................15
HNN Index...........................................................16
Hipster Hardware Store......................................18
3
News...................................................................21
People.................................................................23
New Products.....................................................25
Hot Links.............................................................28
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18
Bunnings Results FY 2016 Q1
W
Store sales up by 11.6%, same store by 8.2%
esfarmers-owned big-box home improvement retailer Bunnings reported
strong results for the first quarter of FY
2015/16. Sales revenue is reported as $2,476
million, up by 11.63% over the previous corresponding period (pcp), which was July to September 2014.
Total stores sales growth (included in overall sales) grew by 11.6% for the quarter, up from
10.9% in the pcp. Store-on-store (comp) sales
growth was 8.2%, the same as for the pcp.
Wesfarmers released good results for its other
retail operations as well. Sales at Kmart grew by
12.5%, with same-store sales up 8.6%. The Australian Target reported a sales revenue increase of
3.1%, with same-store sales up by 3.2%. Supermarket chain Coles reported sales of $7.6 billion,
up by 4.7% on the pcp. Its same-store sales grew
by a reported 4.0%.
In the press release accompanying the results
announcement, the managing director of Bunnings,
John Gillam, is quoted as stating:
Bunnings Results Q1 2016
$millions
Category
Sales revenue
Store sales
growth
Same store
sales growth
(comp)
2015/16
Q1
2014/15
Q1
Change
2476
2218
11.63%
11.6%
10.9%
0.7%
8.2%
8.2%
0.0%
Our work creating more value, improving experiences and extending our brand reach is
resonating well with consumer and commercial
customers.
The press release indicates that three Bunnings
Warehouses and one smaller format store were
opened during the quarter, while 14 further sites
are in various stages of construction.
Presentation questions
The teleconference presentation to investment analysts was quite low-key, with most analysts using the
opportunity to ask questions about the retail operation
of Coles, Target and Kmart.
David Thomas of CSLA (the CITIC Securities-owned brokerage group) asked whether the possible slowdown in the Australian housing market have a
negative impact on the growth prospects of Bunnings.
The managing director of Wesfarmers, Richard Goyder,
responded:
We would expect Bunnings to be pretty resilient.
But we have made no secret of the fact that the
housing sector through housing construction and
house pricing, and the wealth effect of house pricing, and churn, have been tailwinds to Bunnings.
The business through the consumer and the trade
has taken real advantage of that.
But we would expect it to be pretty resilient. We
have seen that now through a couple of cycles,
certainly in my time as CEO. So, it is pretty hard
to keep 8% comps going and 12.5% total sales
increase going.... We have a strong store rollout
program, but the percentage space increase will
probably come off a bit in the years ahead.
The housing market will do what it does, but this
business has been a champion of innovation in
terms of its product range and its offer. I think the
stores now are in as good a shape as they have
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been for a long time. Customers are responding
really well to that. We would expect it to be very
strong.
Later, in response to a question from Citi Group’s
Craig Woolford about store cannibalisation in Wesfarmers’ retail operations, Mr Goyder explained that this did
not seem to be much of an issue:
What we are seeing in terms of our review of open
stores is pretty consistent and pretty strong at the
moment across al businesses. So Terry called out
Target, Kmart has a strong programme in front of
it and the new stores in Kmart are performing well.
Bunnings is consistently strong on new stores in
terms of sales and return on capital, based on our
projections. So we are seeing that in general the
outcomes are lining with the business cases.
Analysis
What both analysts’ questions are pointing towards is
the next challenge that Bunnings is seen to face: while
it has demonstrated its performance in the current
strong market for home improvement, how will it fare in
a flat or declining market?
As Mr Goyder has pointed out, Bunnings has proven to be a terrific innovator on a number of levels, and
it seems likely the retailer will be able to find an answer
to most market shifts. Already the company can be
seen making moves to expand into adjacent markets in
a few product lines.
Kaboodle, for example, is successfully presenting
a case for expansion into a kitchen market that is one
notch higher than the market it started in, while retaining its low-cost foothold. Bunnings has ventured into
more expensive outdoor furniture this summer, and has
revealed a sharp, fashion-conscious eye in some of its
stock selections.
HNN also has seen indications that Bunnings is
expanding in areas related to storage, particularly wardrobes. Its standard, not very modern range has been
supplemented by a wider range from Flatpax (owned,
along with Kaboodle, by DIY Resolutions), and Bedford
(a South Australian company that provides a working
environment for people with disabilities) in some stores.
These expansion markets are likely planned to
broaden Bunnings’ market base, making it easier for
the retailer to adjust to changes in the overall market.
They are also, of course, viable and strong markets,
part of the expanded, $45 billion-plus retail opportunity
that Bunnings plans to access.
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Bunnings Retail Insights
C
Subtle tweaks that boost sales
ompeting retailers often see Bunnings as
succeeding simply through its scale and
access to an efficient supply chain. In fact,
however, Bunnings’ success owes just as much to
its merchandising and clever use of its store spaces.
By looking at what Bunnings does and how it does
it, it is possible both to find innovative ideas that can
be used elsewhere in retail, and to better understand
the strengths and weaknesses of the Bunnings business model and ways of doing business.
HNN has recently undertaken a survey of Bunnings
stores in Victoria, ranging from Cranbourne and Carrum
Downs in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, out to
Ballarat in the state’s west. More recently we visited the
brand new Epping store. Based on these experiences,
but using the new Epping store as the main example,
we’ve developed six key examples of how Bunnings
excels at merchandising and retail store/situation design.
The new Bunnings store at 310 Cooper Road, Epping, Victoria
The former Bunnings store, Epping, Victoria
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Insight #1: The drop palette
At its origins the “drop palette” (a palette of goods
positioned in a large aisle of a store) was likely a quite
innocent invention. Retailers had some seasonal goods
to sell. The didn’t want to allocate permanent shelf
space to them, and they didn’t want the work of packing and storing existing items to make room for the new
items, only have to repeat the process in another two or
three months.
So, creatively, they “made space” in the store, by
plunking down a complete shipping palette stocked
with the seasonal goods in the middle of an aisle. It
made a quick impression on customers, and - importantly because these seasonal items were strong sellers
- it was easy to restock: hoist the palette on the forklift,
Like a spine to the store, the
wide aisle mid-way to the back
of the Bunnings Warehouse is
the perfect place for the drop
palettes. Palettes are located
near appropriate aisles, but also
form a sequence.
take it back to the storeroom and restock, or simply
bring out a fully stocked palette to replace the existing
one.
At many hardware/home improvement stores - including Masters Home Improvement - things have not
really moved on since that stage of development. There
is a little more art and craft in selecting products, but
the basic palette concept has stayed the same.
Not so at Bunnings. Bunnings has taken this casual
invention and raised it to the status of an almost scientifically designed on-floor selling machine.
The following images explain what HNN understands about how Bunnings designs and makes use of
its drop palettes.
Price placard is large, can be
read from 8 metres away. Cardboard carton underlay contains
additional stock. Top layer of
stock can be kept “perfect” by
replenishing from cartons.
Boxes are positioned on
the palette to convey as much
information as possible. View includes side of box, plus box end.
Each palette station consists
of two palettes, each with a
unique offer. The offers are price
staggered, frequently above/below the $40 mark. The two offers
are related by function, seasonality, or bargain price.
Note that Bunnings has even
alternated the colour of the two
palettes between the brand
green and the brand red. Detail!
The more expensive of the
two items is shown assembled,
outside the box. Breaking up
the outline of the palette with an
actual product display makes it
more accessible and touchable.
Note the height of the palette
display: everything can be read
and examined without having to
bend over or stretch up. Convenience.
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Insight #2: Scale
It might seem at first that the use of scale is an obvious
technique for Bunnings to use in some of its very large
warehouse stores. However, scale has to be carefully
applied, especially in such large spaces. Too much
use of scale, or a poor use of scale, can make a space
seem disorienting.
Bunnings only uses scale for two reasons. The first
is pure functionality. When a selection has to be made
from a large number of small items, or from a moderate
number of quite large items, scale can transform that
task into something much easier to achieve.
The second use of scale that Bunnings makes
is just pure fun. It’s enjoyable to see certain objects
displayed at scale across a vast space. It brings a new
perspective to the process of choosing and comparing.
The examples below illustrate some of the good
uses of scale that Bunnings makes.
Buying sinks is seldom much fun, but
this display wall adds zest to the process.
While the disadvantage is lack of context,
the sheer breadth of the display makes it
possible to rapidly assess and dismiss a
large number of possibilities.
This isn’t a simple display to achieve. A
great deal of attention has been given to the
way the sinks are attached to the wall for
display, and the lighting.
Equally, the arrangement of the sinks is important, and the general effect is of transition from one type of sink to another across
the display.
Kaboodle kitchen benchtops displayed
in seried rows along the back wall of the
Bunnings Warehouse at Epping.
Where the scale display above of the sinks
provides a vista to be scanned, this use of
scale is more of a tour, with the buyer walking down the aisle, looking at the various
benchtop options.
It is a great way to communicate the vast
selection that is available. With many elements of the Kaboodle kitchen quite fixed,
it is important for the brand to fully display
the elements that can be easily changed
and selected.
As with the sinks, this display of tapware takes a mundane task and adds a bit
of fun to it. It is possible to scan through a
wide range of options to find the best type
of fixture.
Again, this is not a simple display to put
together. The fixtures have been carefully
selected, and the display assembled to
show them to the best effect.
Note also that the scale is kept under control: the tapware only goes part way up the
wall, and the bathroom cupboards take up
the rest. An entire wall bristling with spigots
would make selection much more difficult.
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Insight #3: Go Vertical
As with scale, going vertical in a large warehouse space
seems like an obvious idea. However, using vertical
space correctly is even more difficult than making use
of scale. Looking up can easily become uncomfortable,
awkward or make product selection difficult.
One of the key aspects that Bunnings gets right is
making sure to space the products out. Tightly packed
products at height are hard to see and hard to assess.
The whole point of the vertical should be to add perspective to what is being seen.
The following are some examples of this use of the
vertical.
The Kaboodle benchtop
display again. By going up,
and stacking an additional
row of benchtops above,
Bunnings makes the selection
process easier.
The customer’s eye naturally
scans vertically as well as horizontally, and as the benchtops arrranged in a colour
order, it all makes sense as
he/she moves down the aisle.
A display of sheds on top
of other garden products.
This works really well in part
because the display gives the
customer the kind of perspective that is needed in looking
at a shed. Note the spacing
between the sheds.
The same display space is
used for rabbit hutches and
large Christmas decorations,
with a similar result.
The Wall of Barbecues. This
display works quite well on a
number of levels. In the foreground, on the shop floor is a display of larger barbecues, and the
customer’s eye travels naturally
from there to the smaller barbecues stacked up the wall.
Again, the vertical units are given
good separation, and have their
prices clearly displayed on placards.
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Insight #4: The Little Touches
While the big design ideas we’ve looked at so far are
important, they are supported in Bunnings stores by a
range of smaller design touches. Many of these seem
at first to be quite casual - until you go to a number of
Bunnings stores on the same day, and find they have
been repeated in nearly identical form.
Bunnings’ insight about these little touches is the
customers will not necessarily be attracted to slick
displays of merchandise. Often what they are looking
for is something friendly and approachable - something
to which they can relate.
Coming up with this kind of display is something
Bunnings is expert at. Here are a few examples.
It might not look like much, but this “bump
box” is almost pitch perfect retail.
First, the product. It is a very inexpensive cordless screwdriver, powered by a 3.6-volt NiCad
battery. It has a rotating handle and an LED light.
Second, the placement. It is located right next
to the DIY blinds. For someone who just wants
to get blinds up, it is the perfect tool to offer.
Thirdly, the display itself. The small carton lifts
the display up to an accessible height, but it is
low enough to not get in the way. There are just
enough of the screwdrivers displayed. It’s positioned at an angle to the racking, making it easy
to see and access. The price is prominent.
So innocent and unassuming, this endcap.
Yet it packs a powerful sales message.
The product is the least expensive of the Ozito
drop saws - but it has been paired with a simple
stand. All for just $99. As HNN has discussed in the
past, these saw are popular even with experienced
DIYers for doing decking jobs, because they are
lightweight and easy to move to the job. The lightweight stand adds to that attraction.
The end cap display is quite far from the power
tool section. It looks casual and thrown together,
but it has all the elements it needs: a very good
offer, a sample of the product that can be touched
and tried out, the boxed product close by, and a
clear statement of the price.
It is unassuming, approachable and, especially
with that price, enticing.
This is an unusual way to display lawnmowers that are on special, but it works surprisingly
well.
It turns out that in buying a lawnmower, it is
really helpful to get an up-close view of the unit
itself. This display lifts the mower up to an easy
access height, making it a simple matter to
check its features and details.
The raised stand also serves to make the mowever more visible to customers, and the space
underneath is a convenient place to store the
boxed product.
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Insight #5: Bring Community Into the Store
The newer Bunnings Warehouse stores tend to have
what HNN has come to call Bunnings’ “Community
Pod”. This consists of a space for DIY courses, a play
area for children, and a cafe. These are usually
alongside each other, though in some circumstances the cafe will be separated, or the play
area in a different location.
The possibility for community interaction
that these facilities provide is substantial. Dad
or Mum can attend a DIY course, while the
other parent has a coffee, popping over once in
a while to make sure their children are playing
safely. Mums and Dads can meet up with other
Mums and Dads, their children can play together while they sit in the cafe. And so on.
What Bunnings is offering through these facilities is
a genuine set of solutions to shopping and socialising
for parents with their children.
Insight #6: Trust the Customer
One of the rules we have at HNN is that if we spend
a long amount of time in a store, and especially if we
have any interaction with the staff, we must buy something from the store. (That is only fair, as we are using
up the store’s resources in some ways.) So at the end
of our Bunnings store visit at Epping, we trooped off
to the power tool section to buy a tool we intended to
product test.
Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with new
stores, while there was a display for this tool, there
was no stock to be found. About mid-way through the
interaction we were having with the staff, we realised
that the team member we were dealing with likely had
a learning disability, and was part of the programme
Bunnings has in place to provide some assistance in
these circumstances.
It was, without doubt, one of the best retail experiences we have ever had. The young man in question
was polite, keen, attentive. He was more distressed
than we were, it seemed, that the product could not be
found.
What occurred to us later about this experience
was this: in offering that assistance programme, Bunnings is, more than anything else, trusting its customers. The thing about that is, in view of the kind of demographic that Bunnings does attract, it can absolutely
trust them. There are probably not that many places
in the world where that could be said with such confidence - perhaps some of the Scandinavian countries.
But we all know that young man is going to do fine.
He’ll be looked after. Because it is just unthinkable to
us, as a society, that anything else should happen.
Click ad to visit hbt.net.au
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The Outsiders: Bosch, Makita
W
How will these industry stalwarts compete?
hile power tool manufacturers such as
Techtronic Industries (TTI) and Stanley
Black & Decker (SBD) seem to dominate
the industry, the market really remains quite diverse.
Two of the more individual, significant players in the
market are Japan’s Makita, and Germany’s Bosch.
With both TTI and SBD offering increasingly advanced “Internet of Things” services with their power
tools, what moves are these other companies making
to stay in technological touch? What can we expect
from these companies in the future? What niche markets have these companies found?
Makita: a special destiny
In considering Makita it is perhaps best not to apply the
standard metrics applied to other power tool companies. In the past HNN has looked at the markets in
which power tool companies work in
terms of the dimensions of occupational use (DIY, builder, construction) and
size of tool fleet. Makita seems to have
a third dimension to its market as well,
which relates specifically to the reliability, toughness and repairability of the
tools it makes.
In fact, a number of Japanese
words suggest themselves in terms
of describing what Makita does with
its tools. Certainly the idea of “shibui”
comes to mind. Shibui doesn’t have
a direct translation, but it refers to a
certain austerity in things, the elements
of an object that somehow define it, and
continue through generations, an essence stripped of
ornamentation.
While other power tool makers have gone down a
pathway that is sometimes described as “developed
Mattel” - after the toy maker - featuring bright colours
and chassis detailing to make their tools seem exciting
and modern, Makita design has remained for the most
part more subdued. The exception to this has been
with some of Makita’s 10.8-volt (sometimes referred to
by its maximum voltage as 12-volt) power tools. These
have been made in both the standard teal livery, and a
black-and-white livery.
Where it gets very interesting in considering Makita
is where and how the company has applied modern
technology to its tools. It’s important to remember that
Makita was actually the pioneer of using brushless motors in power tools, beginning with its aerospace line in
2003, and then in its standard power tools in 2009 with
its 18V LXT Brushless Motor Impact Driver.
This followed on from a proud tradition of firsts in
power tool development. In 1969 Makita developed
the 6500D battery-powered drill, the first rechargeable
power tool. This was followed in 1978 by the first NiCad
drill, the 6010D. In 2005 Makita released the TD130D,
the first lithium-ion battery tool.
More recently, however, Makita seems to be falling
behind. While TTI is bringing whole-of-fleet management through advanced tool network connectivity, and
SBD is solving major battery management issues with
its Bluetooth-equipped battery range, Makita has yet
to offer anything in the “Internet of Things” (IoT) field.
It is also, if you read the latest reviews, losing out on
The two liveries of Makita
the core technology, with TTI’s Milwaukee Tools M18
FUEL tools producing better performance in a range of
measures.
Makita has also been slow to respond to market
demand in some ways as well. For example, it is only
this year that the company has begun to equip both
its 10.8-volt and 18-volt batteries with charge gauges,
making it easier to work out the charge state of a specific battery.
The company has also struggled to clearly define
its sub-brand, Maktec. As this is cheaper than the main
Makita brand, it is presumably not as well made. Is it
still targeted at trade professionals, perhaps for tools
that are not highly stressed? Or is this going to be developed into more of a consumer-oriented brand?
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Still the one to beat
Most of what is outlined above really reflects the
difficulties Makita may face over the next two to three
years unless the company finds new ways to develop
its tools systems. Today, it remains one of the premier
brands, offering an almost unrivalled combination of
quality, trustworthiness and value.
One area where Makita has succeeded well is in offering a comprehensive range of tools. Its 18-volt range
virtually defines what wide coverage of tool types can
be (especially for those in specialty areas such as concrete), and the 10.8-volt range is rapidly catching up.
Singing the Bosch Blues
The situation of Bosch has some similarity to that of
Makita, but it is also quite different. Bosch suffers from
some of the same technical lag problems as those that
are developing at Makita, but it has an additional problem which relates to its brand presence.
The difficulty that Bosch faces is in the relationship
between its “consumer”, Bosch green brand, and its
“professional”, Bosch blue brand. Bosch has gone out
of its way over the years to clearly distinguish between
these two. Bosch had to do this to establish its reputation as a tradie/pro tool supplier.
Unfortunately, the result of this has been the wrong
kind of what can be called “brand flow”. This describes
the relationship between “cousin” brands made by one
manufacturer, how one brand comes to influence customers’ perception of closely related brands.
An example of a very good brand flow is that which
exists between SBD’s Stanley FatMax brand of power
tools and its premium DeWalt brand. If you look at an
image of a drill from the two brands, you can clearly
see the similarities, both in the yellow and black livery,
and some design features.
SBD has developed these brands so that, in effect,
to the DIY consumer the Stanley FatMax brand looks
like a “baby” DeWalt. This is positive brand flow. The
association is going to help sell the FatMax products.
Furthermore, if and when the user of a FatMax drill
decides to upgrade to something more “serious”, it is
highly likely that upgrade will be to a DeWalt. The similarity in appearance and the brand ownership makes
the DeWalt brand seem familiar and a good choice.
With Bosch, the brand flow between its green and
blue branding is mostly negative. The blue brand is
perceived as being a quality brand, but the green brand
is seen, in comparison, as not being a good brand at
all. In fact, it seems to occupy one of the least enviable
brand positions there are, as a somewhat expensive
“cheap” brand.
This is not at all fair. Many of the Bosch green prod-
ucts are actually of reasonable quality and offer good
value for money. For example, the Bosch green line of
corded jigsaws priced between $90 and $130 are good
quality and likely the best in that category. But the consumer perception persists.
Meanwhile, one of the real losses of this situation is
that the extreme branding between “pro” and consumer means that Bosch is missing out on a really viable
market for its blue brand: the “prosumer”. The Bosch
blue tools in general fit into the market just below the
DeWalt and Makita tools. It is an ideal price-point for
more casual DIYers who want to move up a notch in
their tool purchases. In this case, however, the “pro”
branding of Bosch blue can be a little off-putting.
If and how Bosch can extricate its brands from
these problems is difficult to say. One aspect of the
problem is likely that attitudes in continental Europe are
somewhat different to those in Australia, the USA and
Britain. As Bosch is committed to singular, worldwide
brands, this makes it a little difficult for specific, regional solutions to be implemented.
The tech problem
While the brand situation is an understandable legacy,
it is something of a surprise to find that Bosch power
tools have slipped behind in comparison type of technology TTI and SBD have developed with their Milwaukee and DeWalt brands. The Bosch company has great
technical resources, and in fields such as automotive
systems development is a world leader.
In 2015 Bosch has attempted to overcome this
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Whither Maktec?
12
problem by offering a new technology of its own. This
is what it refers to as “wireless charging”, known more
broadly as “inductive charging”. The technology has
been offered commercially for four or five years for mobile phones, but Bosch is the first power tool company
to incorporate it into its battery systems.
HNN has purchased one of these wireless charging
units (available only for Bosch blue in Australia) and we
are currently in the process of testing it. The charging
system consists of just two components: a special
Li-ion battery, and a small charging “sled”. The battery
is attached to the power tool in the usual manner. To
charge, the battery (attached to a power tool usually) is
slid onto the sled. A series of green LED lights across
the back of the sled indicate the state of charge of the
battery, and a flashing LED indicates that charging is in
progress.
For tools such as impact drivers and drills, the charger can be used horizontally, and the power tool simple
rested on the sled. The charger can also be mounted
vertically, with power tool slotted into the sled, making
it possible to charge jigsaws and other such power
tools.
HNN has only just begun testing, but we should
have full results available within a week, including data
on how long the charger takes to charge a battery from
10% to 80%, and how effective it is at maintaining a
charge in a power tool during moderate to heavy use.
The “use case” for this particular kind of charging
system does seem to have been something that has
troubled Bosch itself a little. Perhaps the ideal use is
where a user is working in a workshop, but wants to
use a cordless tool for its convenience. The charger
can be easily plugged in, and the tool returned to the
charging plate whenever it is not in use.
The other good use case is for industrial/assembly
type of work taking place in a factory building or yard
with available 240-volt power. The safety, speed and
convenience of working with cordless tools is for some
workplaces outweighed by the sheer effort needed to
manage a fleet of batteries, keeping them charged and
regularly distributed. This inductive charging system
could help make cordless tools in such a factory setting
a much more feasible option.
Beyond that, the use case gets a little more difficult
to imagine. For the average tradie/builder it is hard to
see how there would be much of an advantage to this
system over buying a couple of extra batteries and a
series charger.
To help bolster its potential, Bosch has come out
with a range of additional accessories (though these do
not seem to be available in Australia at the moment).
The first was a “holster” that could be fitted to, for
example, the back of a van which had a 240-volt outlet.
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The tradie/builder could then “holster” the tool before
driving off, and have it recharge on the way to a new
location, or overnight while the van was parked.
One difficulty with this is that each tool requires its
own “insert” in the holster, which adds a certain level
of fuss and bother if more than one tool needs to be
regularly charged.
More recently Bosch has added an LBoxx docking
station. This works in conjunction with a specific LBoxx
for the Bosch tool. The tradie/builder simply “docks”
the LBoxx containing the tools into the docking station, and it will charge both the battery attached to the
tool, and a spare battery as well. For professionals who
spend a good deal of their time on the road driving from
one job to the next, that could prove a good solution.
Not entirely caught up
While this is an interesting addition to the arsenal
of charging systems available today, it is quite different
to the kinds of tech development that both TTI with its
Milwaukee-based One-Key fleet management system, and SBD’s DeWalt Bluetooth-enabled batteries
offer. Those are both networked, IoT systems that help
extend power tools into a whole new set of potential
management controls.
It will be interesting to see if Bosch develops an IoT
solution of its own in the near future.
Click ad to visit hbt.net.au
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M
Big Box Update
asters should benefit from the change in
Perth’s shopping hours; the building that
houses Bunnings Warehouse at Springfield
(QLD) will be sold; and Aldi’s new store layout is
designed to lure cashed-up customers.
Masters win in WA trading hours
Masters is expected to be one of the biggest winners
from a West Australian government decision to expand
shopping hours in Perth. It has been less able to compete with rival Bunnings because of anomalies in the
trading laws, which allow the Wesfarmers-owned chain
to open earlier and snare lucrative trade traffic.
But a decision by the West Australian government
to allow shops to open earlier will pare back the shopping hours gap between the two big box home improvement retailers.
The Barnett government will introduce changes
to the Retail Trading Hours Act 1987 next month that
will allow general retail stores to open from 7am on
weekdays and Saturdays, or one hour earlier than the
current 8am opening time. They will be allowed to close
an extra hour later on Saturdays at 6pm.
Masters managing director Matt Tyson told Fairfax
Media: “The extended hours assist in creating a more
level playing field and we welcome the opportunity to
better compete in the home improvement market.”
Masters owns nine stores in WA.
http://goo.gl/GhsRPO
Bunnings Springfield building to
be sold
The 15,972sqm Bunnings Springfield store with parking
for 325 cars will be offered for sale through a national
Expressions of Interest campaign being conducted by
Peter Tyson and Jon Tyson from real estate agency,
Savills. The new store commenced trading in August
2015 and will be offered with an initial 12-year lease
with eight six-year options. The store was developed
on a prominent 37,110sqm site situated opposite the
Orion Springfield Central shopping centre.
Peter Tyson is Savills’ national director of retail
investments. He said: “Assets of this pedigree do not
often come to market in Queensland. Given the ultra-prime bond style nature of the offering, we anticipate strong investor interest. A Bunnings lease is one of
the most highly prized covenants in today’s market.”
http://goo.gl/T4ejit
Aldi experiments with store
layout
Discount supermarket Aldi (which stocks a growing
range of general merchandise including hardware and
tools) plans to expand a rollout of new-look stores
in a bid to capture middle-income earners who shop
at the big chains. A handful of stores across Australia have already been transformed into posh-looking
shopping spaces, giving customers better access to
fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, and offering
better product display, lighting, large silver freezers
and check-outs. It was the first makeover to the retailer
since it set up in Australia 14 years ago.
The New Daily reported that Aldi was able to keep
its overheads low by employing a handful of staff,
operating easy-to-stock stores and using shelf-ready
packaging which can be wheeled into place rather than
being unpacked by hand. Aldi trialled the renovations in
four stores during the past six months, with four more
set to have the changes installed.
According to News Corp, executives said it would
be quite some time before the new format was rolled
out through the entire network of 372 Aldi stores, which
produced annual revenues of $6 billion-plus.
hnn.bz
http://goo.gl/ZeMocC
15
HNN Index
T
Week ended 23 October 2015
he HNN Home Improvement
Index for the week ended 23
October 2015 gained slightly
over 20 points to close at 981.8
points. The underlying ASX 200
index gained 15.5 points on the
adjusted scale to close at 995.6
points. This rise continues the pattern for the previous three weeks,
as the indices recover from their
low period between 28 August
2015 and 2 October 2015.
In direct terms, the ASX 200 rose
83 points to close at 5351.6 points.
Both indices remain below the 1000
points, their score on 1 July 2014.
Outstanding performers included Super Retail Group, which rose
by 7.4% during the week, Breville
Group which rose by 6%, and Pact
Group Holdings, which rose by 5%.
Metcash led the stocks that declined, losing 6% after recent strong rises.
Brambles raises $US500m in US bond
market
USG Corporation reports third quarter
2015 results
On a consolidated basis in the third quarter of 2015,
USG’s net sales were US$972 million, consistent with
the third quarter of 2014. On an adjusted basis, USG’s
net sales increased by US$20 million or 2%. Operating
profit improved by US$80 million to US$102 million.
USG generated US$76 million in net income in the
third quarter of 2015, compared to a net loss of US$12
million in the third quarter of 2014.
http://goo.gl/F1SDyX
Habtoor Leighton to build new “smart”
hospital in Dubai
The Habtoor Leighton Group has won a US$127.4
million contract to build the first phase of a cutting-edge hospital and research centre in Dubai, intended to boost medical tourism. The Fakeeh Academic
Medical Centre will be the first “smart hospital” in the
Gulf region, with robotic surgery and automated medication dispensing.
http://goo.gl/d37R6p
Logistics giant Brambles has raised US$500 million
in the US 144A bond market. The notes will have a tenure of 10 years and a coupon rate of 4.125%. The proceeds from the notes will be used to repay borrowings
under its existing bank credit facilities and for general
corporate purposes, the company said.
http://goo.gl/AVcuKl
Fletcher Building weighs NZ buy
Fletcher Building is poised to buy the privately-held
New Zealand aggregates company Higgins, according
to sources. The value of the business is not known
but it is not thought to be more than $100 million, and
Fletcher is understood to be looking at examining
a potential purchase without using an adviser. The
Kiwi company manufactures aggregates, concrete,
bitumen-based products, road signage and bitumen
equipment.
http://goo.gl/QOwDSg
Goodman Group to build Quest hotel in
Sydney business park for Vikings Group
Goodman Group will develop a 111-room hotel at
its Macquarie Park business park in Sydney for accom-
hnn.bz
16
modation group Quest. The six-level Quest Macquarie
Park hotel will be acquired by Canberra club operator
Vikings Group, when it is completed in December 2016.
Vikings has entered into a contract to purchase the development for $34.5 million from Goodman, with Quest
entering into a 21-year lease and paying annual rent in
the first year of $2.44 million.
INDUSTRIAL &
TOOLS NEWS
http://goo.gl/dVPAjM
Lendlease construction chief: ‘I don’t
get the fascination with revenue’
Having taken over at the tail end of 2013, Lendlease
construction chief Neil Martin has turned a GBP13
million loss in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation) in 2013/14 into a GBP12
million profit last year. Turnover also grew by 10% to hit
GBP667 million the same year.
http://goo.gl/l2W05O
Grocery price war to intensify: report
The supermarket price war is expected to intensify
as Aldi and Costco expand, with shoppers to be the big
winners. Aldi’s cheap private labelled products and its
aggressive expansion into South Australia and Western
Australia will fuel the war, according to an IBISWorld
report.
http://goo.gl/3hdSIA
Super Retail Group’s first quarter sales
bounce back
Super Retail Group kickstarted strong sales performance in its first quarter as the company works to
bounce back from a sharp slide in full year profit. The
owner of Supercheap Auto, Rebel Sport, BCF and
Ray’s Outdoors announced sales had climbed five per
cent across the board in the 16 weeks to October 17 at
the company’s annual general meeting recently.
http://goo.gl/dJstAH
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hnn.bz
17
Hipster hardware store
I
Environmentally-friendly alternative to big box
n its tour of small businesses across the United States, Inc. magazine visited Texas-based,
eco-conscious home improvement store TreeHouse. It has labelled it the “hipster hardware store”
that is loved by fans of Nest and Tesla as well. The
magazine writes that TreeHouse has Home Depot
“scared”.
CEO, president and co-founder Jason Ballard tells
Inc. the time a group from Home Depot visited his
store. They were wearing suits and trying to act nonchalant, a ruse undercut by their questions to Ballard’s
employees. How much of this does the business keep
in inventory? How much of that did it sell last week?
“So I marched up and said, ‘Hey, I’m Jason! How
can I help you?’” Ballard recalls. With a little small
talk, he got them to say they were in town from Atlanta. Then he asked where they worked. They admitted
they’d come from the big box home improvement giant.
Ballard wished them well and cautioned his employees
to say nothing more.
A thin 33-year-old with a boyish grin, Ballard
doesn’t look like a threat to Home Depot. So far, TreeHouse has only the one location. It is on track to do
about US$10 million in sales this year, compared with
Home Depot’s US$83 billion.
But many of the most innovative brands in smart
home technology and sustainable design have embraced TreeHouse in a big way. TreeHouse is reportedly
the largest single retailer of Nest products, for instance.
It was among the first retail partners and is by far the
largest of the much-admired company Big Ass Fans.
Perhaps most impressive, TreeHouse will be Tesla’s
sole retail partner for the launch of that company’s
highly anticipated Power Wall home battery.
TreeHouse’s biggest investor, Container Store
co-founder (and fellow Texan) Garrett Boone, is fond of
telling Ballard: “If TreeHouse doesn’t end up working,
there is no truth in the universe.”
Boone, Tesla, and TreeHouse’s other fans like its
earth-friendly mission; creating a Whole Foods store for
the DIY set. (Whole Foods is an American supermarket chain specialising in organic food.) They are also
impressed by an innovative approach that turns the
superstore model inside out.
Instead of a huge, warehouse-like facility with a
vast product assortment, the company operates in a
highly curated showroom with lots of space for consumer education, collaborative planning, and project
management. It’s less do-it-yourself than let’s-do-it-to-
gether. And TreeHouse’s prices are increasingly competitive with the big box guys.
Like some of the disruptive brands it carries, TreeHouse harbours world-changing ambitions. Austin, with
its wealthy neighbourhoods and progressive politics, is
a natural origin city for the business.
But it is just ground zero for what Ballard envisions
as a much larger company. He said:
We will either be a multibillion dollar business or
we will go bankrupt. Just like Tesla is not looking
to be a boutique car company, we don’t want to
be niche. This should become the new normal.
A change in plans
Ballard is the first to admit that his business philosophy is built on idealism and naivete. It is those traits,
he says, that have made him successful so far, despite
long odds and high hurdles.
Ballard’s family comes from “the kind of poverty
most Americans don’t know exists,” he said.”There are
lots of people in my family who, part of their regular
dinner involves possum and raccoons.”
The biggest influence on Ballard growing up was
his grandfather (“Paw-Paw”), a lifelong oil-refinery
worker. Paw Paw lives simply -- “like Moses”. A kind
of default conservationist, Paw-Paw has electricity and
running water but otherwise lives largely off the land.
The first in his family to attend college, Ballard studied biology and ecology at Texas A&M University. After
graduating, he became preoccupied with the wastefulness of standard building practices.
hnn.bz
18
Homes in the United States are responsible for
more energy and water consumption, landfill waste,
and human exposure to toxins than almost any other source. With no idea what to do about the issue,
Ballard started working construction for sustainable
builders in Colorado -- just “swinging a hammer,” as
he puts it. He thought about becoming a builder. Then
another possibility presented itself. He said:
Everyone I worked for had the same problem.
There was no one-stop marketplace for everything
you need. It took a lot of time and diligence to find
a good product. And then it would arrive and the
colour on the wall would look different than it had
on a computer screen.
In addition, buying sustainable materials was expensive because builders often buy for one project at a
time.
Ballard lacked formal business training or experience. But he saw the solution clear as day. Why not
start a company that does a ton of product research,
sources the materials, buys them at sufficient scale
to bring down prices, and educates homeowners and
builders?
He sent his idea to a close college buddy, Evan
Loomis, who had worked on Wall Street. Loomis ran it
past some colleagues, and they deemed it a no-brainer.
If Ballard didn’t do it, someone would. Loomis quit his
job, signed on as a co-founder of TreeHouse, and set
out to raise money for the launch.
This was 2009, and the US home building industry
was in shambles. It took more than two years to get
traction; several times they almost gave up. Ballard
seriously considered going to seminary and becoming
a priest. But when he consulted his bishop, the bishop
told him to finish what he’d started.
Investors told Ballard and Loomis repeatedly that
they didn’t want to back two twentysomething upstarts
with no experience in the industry. Eventually, the pair
recruited a pair of industry veterans -- formerly of Home
Depot -- to become co-founders as well.
Treehouse finally opened in late 2011 with Ballard
as a vice president and Loomis as CEO. It promptly
missed all of its sales targets. From there, things got
worse. Ballard’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and
his daughter with epilepsy. Then the board let all the
co-founders go, including Loomis, and installed Ballard
as the new CEO.
As Ballard turned 30, his entrepreneurial dream and
his family’s health were failing. On the line to save his
business, he turned to his faith. He said:
It helped me keep fear under control. I just knew
that, even if the worst happens, in the ultimate
sense I was going to be OK. That allowed me to
make some decisions that were very unorthodox.
Bye hammer, hello smart
products
The original strategy, honed with the help of Ballard’s
more experienced co-founders, was to be a kind of
green Home Depot or Lowe’s, with long aisles of light
bulbs and hammers and power tools stocked deep
on tall metal shelving units. But “there was too much
Home Depot influence in the beginning,” said Boone.
The industry veterans on the team “were great guys,
but we need to be a totally different kind of store.”
Boone, who is TreeHouse’s chairman, said it was
Ballard’s vision that turned around the company. Rather
than organising the store around types of equipment,
Ballard split TreeHouse into three “lands” based on
performance, design, and the outdoors.
Performance includes things like smart home technology and solar power; design comprises flooring and
paint; and outdoors is everything from organic fertilisers
to rainwater barrels.
More important, most of the tall shelving is gone.
The TreeHouse experience is now less about wandering
the aisles looking for that one thing you need and more
about discovering new things by interacting with the
staff and products.
Borrowing a page from the next-gen menswear
company Bonobos, TreeHouse mostly avoids inventory in the store. It keeps only the bare minimum on
hand: small items like light bulbs that customers need
immediately. Everything else ships from the supplier.
That frees up room for spacious product displays and
explanatory placards, tables, and chairs for design or
project management consultations, and lots of natural
light.
Emily Tanczyn, Big Ass Fans’ vice president of residential sales and marketing, explains that her company
traditionally has relied on direct-to-consumer sales because it allows the kind of close contact with custom-
hnn.bz
19
ers that ensures a deep understanding of the products.
TreeHouse comes as close as it gets to replicating that
relationship through a third party. As a result, “they sell
tenfold what we find with other partners,” she said.
Boone said:
Jason has this wonderful ability to simplify complex buying decisions for customers. That’s the
biggest barrier to buying home solutions.
He points to solar panels as an example. When
TreeHouse opened, solar panels were stocked on a
shelf in the traditional style. Customers failed to notice
them or relied on installers to find the right products.
Ballard switched things up, including in-store consultation and home installation in the price of the panels, plus simple financing and help with permitting. Now
customers see not an intimidating product but a smart,
simple way to save money. Boone said: “He made it as
easy as buying a refrigerator.”
Another big change was product mix. Ballard
dropped most of the basic tools and hardware -- the
hammers and nails -- and focused on curating his ideal
assortment of energy-saving, resource-conserving, and
toxin-reducing products.
Nest, the maker of smart home devices like intelligent thermostats and smoke detectors, was exactly
the kind of brand TreeHouse should carry. But Nest -started by an Apple veteran and now owned by Google
-- worked with just four retail partners: Apple, Amazon,
Best Buy, and Lowe’s. It wouldn’t even return Ballard’s
calls.
Relishing the challenge, Ballard put a recurring
notice on his calendar to call Nest the second Tuesday
of every month at 9am. After more than a year of rejection, he sent employees to buy Nest products at chain
stores and document their experiences.
Most of the chains’ salespeople knew almost nothing about the product or why it was worth US$249. Ballard sent Nest a Power Point documenting those results
and closed with a proposal for how his store would
do it differently: He would work with Nest to tell the
company’s story in full, provide project management to
demystify the installation process, and turn TreeHouse
into Nest’s largest volume retailer.
Within a year, he had done just that. This success
led to the Tesla relationship and others. Overall, store
sales have grown an average of more than 40% a year
since Ballard took charge.
Going large
We just have got to find a way to shelter ourselves
without permanently harming the world around us
and ourselves. It’s an existential problem.
Ballard likes to say he doesn’t have a business but
a goal. Building a business happened to be the best
way to achieve that goal.
But a single-store, lifestyle business is not enough.
To achieve a goal so ambitious, Ballard needs TreeHouse to be huge. Over past few months he raised
US$16 million in a second round of funding, led again
by Boone. He said:
We avoided venture capitalists altogether. I was
very honest. I told people that if they needed their
money back in three years, they should not invest.
I said, ‘You are investing in a company whose
CEO is more interested in achieving his goals than
getting a quick exit for investors’.
The money will fund the launch of at least two more
stores in the next two years, in Texas and elsewhere in
the West. To grow even faster, the company is considering hiring project managers in other cities, establishing networks of installers, and building a digital home
improvement platform.
Ballard is determined to avoid a Whole Foods-like
reputation for high prices. That won’t be easy. Green
products are often more expensive than traditional
ones. And even when TreeHouse sells the same products as big box chains, it can’t command the same
prices from suppliers because its volume is so much
lower.
To compete, Ballard has opted to take slimmer margins, making up some of the difference by launching
smaller stores, which his lean inventory model makes
possible. Still, retrofitting a home tends to involve big
projects, and that favours customers with means. An
affluent clientele undercuts TreeHouse’s mission to be a
store for everyone. The work continues.
TreeHouse is also “developing relationships with
manufacturers and convincing them the only way we
can all establish higher volumes is by being price-competitive”, said Boone. He points to Ballard’s doggedness with Nest as evidence of his effectiveness in such
negotiations.
He’s incredibly persistent and fearless. He’ll call
anyone. He’ll call the president if he has to.
From Inc. magazine
Ballard points out that his early options -- to start TreeHouse or go to seminary -- were more alike than one
might think. Both were about doing good for people.
And both were somehow “transcendent.” He said:
hnn.bz
20
NEWS
Home Depot colour app
The Home Depot has launched a new app that lets
consumers to see how a paint colour looks on walls in
their house.
Shoppers can download the iOS or Android Project
Color app, which is separate to the Home Depot app,
and take a picture of a room in their house. In the app,
consumers can select any colour in Home Depot’s
colour catalogue and tap a wall to paint it on. Samara
Tuchband, Home Depot’s general manager of online
said:
One of the biggest pain points when attempting
a paint project is helping the customer to imagine
the colours in their ‘own’ space.
The app can adjust the colour in the room to reflect
different lighting conditions, such as daylight, incandescent or LED lighting. This means shoppers can see how
the colour looks at different times of day or in various
kinds of lighting. Tuchband said:
One of the biggest wins in this experience is that
the technology can retain the integrity of all room
shadows to give an accurate reflection of how the
colour will look in a space.
Consumers can also tap any item in the picture,
such as a decorative pillow or a couch, and the app will
recommended two colours that best match that item.
However consumers cannot purchase paint directly
in the Project Colour app. Once a consumer selects a
colour she will be redirected to Home Depot’s mobile
site where she can specify her brand preference, sheen
and container size, and then check out.
Home Depot decided to build the app to give customers more confidence when they are choosing their
paint colour, according to Tuchband. Home Depot’s
in-house team led development on the Project Colour
app while working with a technology vendor that Home
Depot has not discloses. The teams delivered the app
in less than six months, said Tuchband
Home Depot was named the 2015 Internet Retailer
of the Year in June, the top honour among the Internet
Retailer Excellence Awards presented at the Internet
Retailer Conference & Exhibition.
From Mobile Strategies 360
Kiwi tech in US home
improvement market
Technology developed in New Zealand is set to make
an impact in the US construction and DIY markets,
thanks to relationships between NZX-listed ikeGPS and
two US Fortune 500 companies.
Smartphone measurement technology created by
ikeGPS is powering the new Stanley Smart Measure
Pro product, which is being sold through Lowe’s and
the Stanley Tools website.
Smart Measure Pro users can take measurements
from images using their smartphone and the Smart
Measure Pro mobile app. Users can also view, edit,
export and map images from their desktop.
ikeGPS CEO Glenn Milnes said working with two of
the best known brand names in the home improvement
and retail business creates tremendous opportunities
for future hardware and mobile app sales.
Milnes said the launch order alone of the Smart
Measure Pro product will generate approximately
NZ$2.5 million in revenue during the current financial
year, compared with forecast revenues from sales to
other manufacturers of NZ$1.4 million. He said:
Increasing sales will also generate ongoing subscription revenue, and create a platform for further
potential growth in the US and in other markets,
particularly Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
While this is only a pilot launch, we are very focused on making it a success and building on the
opportunities arising from it.
Milnes said the Smart Measure Pro is based entirely
on ikeGPS intellectual property. He explains:
ikeGPS manufactures and delivers the hardware
units, ikeGPS builds and delivers the smartphone
app into Apple App stores and Google Play stores,
hnn.bz
21
NEWS
and ikeGPS hosts the cloud-based software and
subscription product.
The Smart Measure Pro is another significant step
in ikeGPS’ strategy to deliver high volume mobile
hardware and mobile apps, and, on the back of
this, to provide high value subscription software
products to end users via our cloud-based measurement platform.
The hardware unit and smartphone app is expected
to retail in the US for US$149; an annual subscription to
the cloud software service will cost US$119.
From Scoop NZ
Trade centre in Toowoomba
Toowoomba developers are building a trade centre as
part of the Wilsonton industrial estate in Queensland.
Plans for the 5000sqm project have been lodged with
Toowoomba Regional Council for approval.
National franchise Total Tools has already secured
half of the property. Total Tools Toowoomba franchisee
Stef Hlaca said the business, which he owns with Dave
Bosman, had outgrown its current premises, located
across from the proposed trade centre. He told The
Chronicle:
Toowoomba has been really supportive of us over
the past 10 years, for which we’re really grateful.
Every premises we’ve opened, we’ve outgrown.
This new store is more than double the size of our
current store.
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The store will be one of the largest single Total Tools
locations in Australia.
Colliers International Toowoomba’s Markus Eames
said expressions of interest were open for the remainder of the 2500sqm area, which could be cut into
700sqm tenancies. Eames said construction would
start as soon at approval was received. He said:
The developers want to start digging yesterday,
but we obviously have to go through the correct
council process. But we’re confident it is consistent with current uses (in the area) and will be
approved.
Eames said the design included the use of shipping
containers to create the “trendy” drive-through coffee
shop. He believes the project represented ongoing optimism in Toowoomba’s property market.
From The Chronicle
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HI
WEEKLY
22
PEOPLE
Sherwin-Williams announces
new CEO
A 31-year veteran of US paint manufacturer and retailer
Sherwin-Williams, John G. Morikis, has been elected its
ninth CEO in nearly 150 years. Morikis is the company’s
chief operating officer.
Morikis joined Sherwin-Williams in 1984 as a management trainee in the Paint Stores Group. He has
been president and COO since October 2006, and is
now also a member of Sherwin-Williams’ board. Morikis
is the company’s first management trainee to rise to
CEO. He said:
I think that gives me terrific perspective and the
ability to relate well to employees at all levels, as
well as vendors and customers. I’m not asking
anyone in the company to do anything I haven’t
done.
He is the right leader, and he is surrounded by the
right team, to take Sherwin-Williams to the next
level. John and I have been together a long time
and have worked together for more than 30 years.
Sherwin-Williams, which requires all of its store
managers to have university degrees, recently welcomed 1,400 into its newest group of management
trainees, an accelerated career path for those interested in business leadership. Morikis said: “That’s the
beauty of our company. I didn’t come here expecting to
be the CEO.”
Yet there was a career path for him and other promising candidates to take on greater roles and responsibilities within the company.
While some of his predecessors became CEO in
the midst of challenging financials, Morikis said he is
taking the reins after “four consecutive years of record
sales and three years of record earnings” from Chris
Connor. He said the past nine years he has spent working closely with Connor taught him the importance of
surrounding yourself with a really solid team.
With nearly 4,100 stores in North America, including
182 stores, 5,000 employees, Morikis said his priority is
to be the best CEO he can be.
Connor called the recent announcement “the
successful culmination of a multi-year organisational
succession plan to identify the absolute best candidate
to assume leadership of the company”. He added:
John has been an important member of our senior
leadership team for many years and is one of the
key architects of the company’s current organizational structure and strategy. His success over the
years is a direct result of focusing on customer
needs, his in-depth knowledge of the coatings
market, and his dedication to hiring and developing terrific people.
They, along with Sean Hennessy, senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer, have been the
key C-level executives running the company over the
last nine years, he said.
Connor said he was staying on at the board’s request during the transition, but that there is no timetable for when he will retire from the company. He noted
that when he became CEO in 1999, his predecessor
John Breen stayed only seven months as executive
chairman.
During Morikis’ nine-year tenure as president and
COO, which included the US housing recession of
2008-09, the company grew from US$7.8 billion in revenues to more than US$11 billion in revenues.
As president of the Paint Stores segment, he led
the group through one of the most aggressive growth
phases in company history. Under his leadership, Paint
Stores Group grew from approximately US$3 billion in
sales via 2,400 company-operated paint stores to nearly US$5 billion in sales through more than 3,100 stores,
according to the company.
When asked how his administration would differ
from Connor’s, Morikis said: “There’s a lot more similarities than there are differences.”
Morikis serves on the board of Fortune Brands
Home & Security. His professional and community
board engagements include the Joint Center for Housing Studies Policy Advisory Board at Harvard University
and the Board of Directors of the University Hospital’s
Ahuja Medical Center.
From Cleveland Business
hnn.bz
23
PEOPLE
ACIF has new executive director
Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), the
building and construction industry’s peak collaborative
body, has announced the appointment of its new executive director, James Cameron.
With the imminent retirement of Peter Barda after
eight years at the helm, ACIF’s Board sought an industry professional experienced in policy and research,
with detailed understanding of the issues facing the
building and construction industry in Australia. It believes Cameron brings expertise in policy formulation,
most recently from Australian Institute of Building, with
good depth of knowledge of the industry’s key issues
and many participants. ACIF’s chair Ian Pedersen said:
On behalf of the Board and members, we welcome James Cameron as ACIF executive director.
We have worked with James over several years
and are already aware of his high quality work and
his vision for a successful and productive building
and construction industry. We are pleased to see
him pick up the reins from the insightful Peter Barda, to leverage ACIF’s impressive achievements to
date to foster a stronger industry into the future.
Cameron explains his plans at ACIF. He said:
I am looking forward to joining ACIF to tackle both
the opportunities and challenges that the industry
faces. Australia should be the world leader in the
built environment. While the industry has many
strengths, in terms of its economic viability, quality,
safety, sustainability, innovation, design, skills and
research, there is room for improvement. This will
be my mission while at ACIF.
It will be an honour and a privilege to work with
ACIF’s member organisations, as well as industry
and government, as together we make a positive
difference in Australia’s built environment.
I wish Peter Barda all the best in his retirement,
and on behalf of ACIF, thank him for all the magnificent work he has done for the organisation since
2008.
Cameron will commence as executive director of
ACIF in January 2016.
hnn.bz
24
NEW PRODUCTS
Makita expands outdoor tool
range
Makita is starting its 100-year anniversary by introducing its tools to 4-stroke engine technology. Many industries have already switched from 2-stroke to 4-stroke
engines due to their longer lifespans and fuel efficiency,
but Makita is now introducing 4-stroke engines to its
outdoor power equipment, such as blowers and trimmers.
Along with this switch is a focus on cutting the cord
and transitioning over to 18-volt lithium-ion batteries
that are interchangeable across over 100 different Makita tools. Using its history as an electric motor company,
Makita designs its own motors that are compatible with
the batteries and promote efficiency.
Professional users need not worry about a long
charging time either as the 3 amp battery can charge in
30 minutes while the 4 amp battery pack charges in 40
minutes.
Along with the 4-stroke technology, Makita also
boasts of extremely low emissions and noise. Weighing in at around 3.6kgs, its XBU01Z blower delivers 30
minutes of run time.
Another big change that Makita is making is the
removal of Dolmar’s name on its products. While the
company has owned the brand Dolmar since 1991,
Domlar’s 2-stroke chainsaws will now be known as
Makita as well.
GIE+EXPO 2015
Makita had a presence at the 2015 GIE+EXPO, the
Green Industry and Equipment Expo for outdoor, lawn
and garden power equipment, light construction and
landscaping. It takes place in Louisville, Kentucky
(USA) each year.
The company demonstrated its 4-stroke engines
and other outdoor equipment products at the event.
MM4 4-stroke engine technology
Engine seizure due to improper fuel and oil mixing
is one of the most common failures of 2-stroke power
equipment. Makita is delivering a solution with MM4®
4-stroke engine power equipment, including backpack
and handheld blowers (model BBX7600N), a mist blower, string trimmers, brush trimmers, hedge trimmers,
edgers, telescoping pole pruners and couple shafted
products.
For hardscape applications, Makita created the first
4-stroke engine power cutter with the 14” EK7651H.
These 4-stroke engines require no fuel mixing so users
only need one petrol can for all their power equipment.
In addition, Makita MM4 4-stroke engines run quieter, idle smoother, have lower emissions, and give users
quicker starts.
MM2 2-stroke engine
The integration of Dolmar power equipment will
result in an extended range of 2-stroke engine chain
saws including entry-level 32cc saws, 45-50cc midrange (model EA5000PR) and larger saws – as well as
an expanded line of 2-stroke concrete cutting saws.
Select models feature Easy Start technology, which
is a spring-assisted starter combined with a low-spark
ignition coil to significantly reduce pull-starting force for
easier starts.
More 18V LXT lithium-ion cordless
power equipment
Makita 18V X2 (36V) tools are powered by two 18V
lithium-ion batteries, so users get 36V power, speed
and run-time without leaving the 18V battery platform.
Makita offers 18V X2 (36V) blowers (model XBU02Z),
as well as a hedge trimmer, string trimmer (model
XRU07Z), and two chain saws.
Makita also offers several cordless power equipment products that run on single 18V LXT lithium-ion
batteries including 18V 2.0Ah, 3.0Ah and 4.0Ah batteries, as well as the 18V 5.0Ah battery which gives users
65% more run time than 3.0Ah batteries.
Anti-vibration technology
Makita’s anti-vibration technology, AVT® is more
than just a padded or spring-loaded handle. It is an
internal counterbalance system engineered into the tool
that reduces vibration for user comfort and productivity.
Makita offers AVT in every major hammer class, from
1” rotary hammers to a 70lbs (almost 32kgs) breaker
hammer.
http://www.totallandscapecare.com/makita-switches-to-4-stroke-engines-in-its-tools/
From Total Landscape Care
hnn.bz
25
NEW PRODUCTS
Shades of grey central to
bathroom range
Raymor has introduced a new collection of bathroomware using several shades of grey alongside wide
panels of white. It is teamed with a vanity, bath and
tapware in a streamlined design.
The extra-large Aruba drop-in bath measures
1790mm in length, and has a low profile moulded headrest and sculpted lumbar support.
Matching the basin mixers to ensure overall cohesion within the design, Projix bath tapware are in a
simple, unembellished design with a four star WELS
(7 litres per minute) single lever pillar mixer and corresponding wall mounted bath mixer with pin lever. The
tapware comes with a solid brass body in a durable
chrome plated finish.
The Wentworth double wall hung vanity is sleek
and understated in its aesthetic with a unique ceramic
top and double bowls that have an integrated overflow.
It also has premium soft-close drawers with a white
interior.
Bathroom accessories from Raymor’s Ceduna collection complement the look of the rest of the bathroom
fittings with their pared back styling. The pin lever of
the Projix tapware is reflected throughout the profiles of
the towel rails, robe hooks, toilet roll holders and soap
dispensers.
Each are made from a solid brass construction in
bright chrome finish and supplied complete with brass
four-point fixings.
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hnn.bz
26
NEW PRODUCTS
Osram, Google create smart LED
lamps
As Osram seeks new owners for its lamp business,
it has smartened up its product offerings, making its
Lightify range of smart LED lamps compatible with
Google’s Nest home control system.
Osram said the Lightify line has joined the “Works
with Nest” program in the UK and Ireland, with other
countries to follow soon.
Lightify is Osram’s offering in the “smart bulb” market that do things generally not possible with conventional lighting. Users can tap apps on their phones and
tablets to turn lights on or off, brighten or dim them,
or change colours to suit moods — all from the same
room as the lights, or from around the world via the
internet (to, say, deter burglars).
Consumers can also program them in advance to
do those things at certain times of the day, or to flash
as security alarms, smoke detectors, sports or stock
price alerts.
With the new deal in the UK and Ireland, Osram
users now have the option of tying those smart LED
lamps into Google’s Nest thermostat and home automation device, which wirelessly connects to boilers, fire
places, doors, lights, washing machines, and phones,
among other items.
Nest is potentially a key hub in the fledgling Internet
of Things (IoT),
allowing people
to program and
operate appliances
from afar, and to
set up “if-then”
scenarios (if an
intruder walks in,
flash the lights and
sound the alarm,
for instance). Osram said in a statement:
Nest users can use any product within the Lightify
family to create scenes and integrate them with
the ‘home and away’ scenes of Nest. When using
the ‘home and away’ functions, users can choose
from any of their existing Lightify scenes.
Lightify requires a small gateway box that plugs into
a wall socket and serves three purposes — it receives
instructions from the app, transmits instructions to the
light, and sends and receives instructions to and from
the Internet via a wireless connection.
Osram announced in April that it “intends to trans-
fer the general lighting lamps business into an independent structure”. The transaction could include selling
the US$2.5 billion general lamp business.
Lighting giant Philips is attempting a similar move.
Some observers also expect GE to sell off its conventional lighting and home LED operations in the wake of
its recent reorganisation in which it moved commercial
LED lighting into an energy services division called
Current, Powered by GE.
Osram is placing its focus on components and
automotive lighting.
From LEDs magazine
Tree pruners a tall order
The Fiskars Universal Tree Pruner is a premium tool for
ground-cover jobs or higher pruning work that usually requires a step ladder. The device gives the user a
pruning height of around 3.5 metres while keeping their
feet safely on solid ground.
The Telescopic Tree Pruner is ideal for tall trees or
overgrown bushes and hedges. The length-adjustable
tool helps to avoid potential ladder dangers, with a
shaft that can swiftly change from 2.4 metres to four
metres to enable a reach of up to six metres.
Both pruners are designed to make the job easier
and safer. The efficient PowerReel™ mechanism makes
cutting 12 times easier compared to standard mechanisms. The pruners also has an adjustable cutting angle
up to 230-degrees for a more effective action time after
time.
The blade is durable and stays sharp due to its
special CrMov steel construction, and is finished with a
PTFE coating that makes it corrosion resistant and nonstick. The bypass blade is suitable for cutting fresh,
living growth with ease. The locking mechanism means
users will always be able to access that tricky overhead
branch and bring it down safely and without too much
fuss or trouble.
When tackling thicker branches, the Universal Tree
Pruner can cut through with its 32mm cutting diameter.
It goes further with the ability to attach a saw to the
end of the shaft, for removing bigger branches or dead
wood.
These functional qualities coupled with a lightweight and hardened aluminium construction makes
the Fiskars Universal Tree Pruner a must-have tool for
every gardener.
hnn.bz
27
HOT LINKS
Habitat makes new home in
London
Millennials take on virtual home
design
Habitat has unveiled the first phase of its new flagship
store design on London’s Tottenham Court Road, as
part of a multi-million pound refurbishment project. The
redesigned 17,000sq. ft. store is based on the rollout
of 82 Mini Habitat stores over the last three years and
includes an expanded furniture and upholstery floor
alongside a new lighting department.
http://goo.gl/CKlLoa
http://goo.gl/7Vx7yO
Seven tech lessons for retailers
Eco-friendly goods at Home
Depot
After raising US$20 million, online eco-conscious
retailer Bambeco plans to use the money to grow its
product lines, produce its first (environmentally friendly)
catalogue and embark on new corporate partnerships
including Home Depot. The company, founded in 2009,
has been growing revenue by more than 100% yearover-year thanks in part to about 150,000 loyal customers, according to CEO Susan Aplin.
http://goo.gl/5A3yjB
The present generation of movers and shakers defers
to the screen of their mobile phones to procure whatever their hearts’ desire. A simple tap or two delivers
the next meal of the day, a swipe of a finger results
in meeting the love of their life and the pressing of a
button supplies a chauffeured car. The same mentality
applies for decorating their homes.
Savvy retailers know that in order to compete in a
fast-paced landscape of demanding customers looking
for shopping Nirvana through smartphones and social
media, they need to keep up with constantly evolving
technology at every turn. From tech-enabled store staff
to same-day fulfillment to personalisation, retailers have
had a lot of valuable tech lessons this year.
http://goo.gl/iKlNMM
Click ad to visit hbt.net.au
hnn.bz
28
Contact:
Betty Tanddo, Publisher
0411 431 832 || [email protected]