Bunnings Warehouse in Hanworth is open for business
Published: 26 January 2018 - Fiona Garcia
The latest Bunnings conversion started trading this week ahead of an official opening next month.
The store – a former Homebase branch on Twickenham Road in Feltham near Hanworth, opened to the public on Monday, January 22. It will have an official opening on Thursday, February 1, complete with Bunnings’ famous sausage sizzle and a team breakfast for colleagues.
The outlet, which was one of a number of Homebase branches to be kitted out with a mezzanine floor during a store refit programme under former owner Home Retail Group, carries the same branded ranges seen in other Bunnings conversions, as well as the standalone ‘tool shop’.
The newest Warehouse boasts Bunnings' 'shop within a shop' style tool department
The site has taken back some of the warehouse and outdoor garden centre to free up retail space on the shop floor, allowing Bunnings to expand certain categories and create space for features like its timber cutting service.
Timber, insulation and a selection of building materials are housed in the covered outdoor area, while the now smaller garden centre has been spruced up and refitted. An indoor houseplant area was also very well-stocked and well-merchandised, with a huge selection of pots from brands like Scheurich located nearby, and all at keen price points that look set to compete with garden centres.
Timber and a selection of building lines are housed in a covered outdoor area
In store, the wallpaper offer, which used to occupy a much smaller space in the former Homebase branch, now stretches the full length of the aisle. Its paint offer includes the same major brands as its other Warehouse outlets, including Dulux Trade, Crown, Johnstone’s, Craig & Rose, and Farrow & Ball, with a paint-mixing service available.
The latest Warehouse doesn’t boast a café but has installed a children’s play area and seating space upstairs on the mezzanine floor, alongside lighting ranges and where DIY workshops will be held at the weekends.
The store offers a good selection of keenly-priced houseplants and pots
Like other stores in the UK chain, the Bunnings in Hanworth has placed a strong focus on linked sales and impulse purchases, with gondola ends used for promotional lines, and clipstrips and boxes of associated products located at every turn. The Bunnings ethos of keeping merchandising simple still applies, with hand-written price labels and those products not merchandised on shelf, displayed in opened cartons on the floor or pallets.
Staff from the nearby Walton-on-Thames Homebase, which is set to open as a Bunnings next month, are currently spending time working at Hanworth as part of their training process.
Paint mixing from major brands Dulux, Crown and Johnstone's is available at the store in a vast range of colourways, while shelf-ready premiumm ranges are available from Farrow & Ball and Craig & Rose.
The garden centre area has been refreshed and re-fitted
