Masters Home Improvement

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Masters Home Improvement
Subsidiary
Industry Retail, Home Improvement
Founded 2011
Number of locations
 58
Area served
 Australia
Key people
 Grant O'Brien (Woolworths Limited CEO), Matt Tyson (Managing Director, Home Improvement), Melinda Smith (Director, Masters)
Revenue IncreaseA$930 million (2015)[1]
DecreaseA$-245.6 million (2015)[1]
Parent Woolworths Limited
Lowe's
Website masters.com.au

Masters Home Improvement is the trading name of an Australian home improvement chain, operated by a joint venture between Australian retailer Woolworths Limited and Mooresville, North Carolina (United States) based hardware chain, Lowe's.[2] Masters was created as a way for Woolworths Limited to enter the hardware retail space, which has been historically dominated by Bunnings Warehouse, owned by rival Wesfarmers. The two companies already compete with each other with groceries, liquor, fuel and general merchandise.

The first Masters outlet was opened in Victoria in September 2011. In January 2016 Woolworths announced they would exit the hardware business, selling or closing the Masters Home Improvement chain.

General

The brand name was announced on 2 May 2011,[3] coinciding with the launch of a website at masters.com.au.[4] Hans Hulsbosch, who has designed brand identities for Woolworths and Qantas designed the Masters brand and logo.[5]

The first outlet, located in Braybrook, Victoria, opened to tradesmen on 31 August 2011, and the general public on 1 September 2011.[3] In the Sydney Morning Herald, CEO Don Stallings is attributed as saying that staff will be trained for at least 100 hours, and the stores will offer over 35,000 products.[6] Ways in which Masters will differentiate from its competitors include stores which are more brightly lit, more colourful with polished concrete, large colour signage and store displays, it aims to place more emphasis on attracting female shoppers. Buzzers scattered around the store, which, when pressed, will send a nearby staff member to that location to help out a customer, pagers handed to customers which enables them to continue shopping while their paint is tinted, selling more 'non hardware' lines such as whitegoods as well as having McDonald's restaurants and McCafés in selected stores. In June 2012 Masters launched their transactional website that offers more than 30,000 products nationwide. This gave Masters Home Improvement the title of Australia's first online hardware and home improvement retailer.

The first Masters store in South Australia opened in Mount Gambier in August 2012.[7]

Operating Results

According to Woolworths Limited annual reports,[8] Masters results were:

Financial Year Sales A$ millions +or- % Prior Year EBIT A$ millions Stores open at end of FY
2011-2012 $146 NA ($117.4) 15
2012-2013 $529 262% ($156.6) 31
2013-2014 $752 42% ($176.0) 49
2014-2015 $930 24% ($227.4) 58

Sale or Windup

On 18 January 2016 Woolworths announced that it intended to "either sell or wind up" all its home improvement area, including the Masters hardware chain. Chairman Gordon Cairns said that it would take years to become profitable and that the ongoing losses could not be sustained.[9]

Big box international retailers are now assessing whether Masters stores are adequate for their use.[10]

References

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External links

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  8. ↑ woolworthslimited.com.au
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  10. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/woolworths-could-unlock-treasure-chest-by-dumping-masters-20151008-gk4ddz.html Walmart to takeover Masters sites?
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