Bowens embarks on $50 million expansion amid home construction boom

Timber and building supplies group Bowens has accelerated its expansion plans to meet demand during the housing construction boom, investing $50 million in its store network.

The 128-year-old, family-owned business will open three new stores and upgrade four existing sites over the next two to three years.

Bowens director and chief investment officer Andy Bowen said the Victorian business was focused on its growth plans. 

“Prior to any kind of construction boom or COVID we were already focused on growing the business and if anything that has accelerated our plans,” Mr Bowen told realcommercial.com.au.

“We’re not typically doing this much at any one moment but we’ve got the ability to do it and we need to do it to continue to grow.”

Bowens currently has 16 stores and will open another three while refurbishing four sites. Picture: Supplied by Bowens

The boom in home building and renovations during the pandemic has created issues for the industry due to supply chain issues with a worldwide shortage of building materials resulting from COVID-19 disruptions, labour shortages and soaring building costs.

Mr Bowen said it has been an incredibly challenging period for customers of the trade-focused Bowens, as well as for staff trying to support builders.

“Ultimately we just want to make sure we’re doing the best at the basics, and that includes delivering product on time and in full, and offering alternatives if we can, and being honest and transparent with the customers.

“It has been a real challenge and it continues to be. The demand is there but the challenges are also there, and that’s something we see playing out for at least another six months.”

Mr Bowen said adding new stores to its network will help Bowens meet the very strong demand, while being a family-owned business meant one store can assist another with orders and deliveries.

Bowens currently has 16 stores in Melbourne and regional Victoria that focus on providing building materials and hardware to builders and professional trades.

New store sites in growth areas

Bowens will open its 17th store in August in Warragul, 100km south-east of Melbourne, after buying and refurbishing a 10,700sqm former Bunnings site.

Bowens recently purchased a 5ha industrial site at Cobblebank in the fast-growing City of Melton in Melbourne’s west in a deal negotiated by Colliers.

Bowens recently bought a 5ha industrial site in Cobblebank in Melbourne’s west. Picture: Supplied by Colliers

Mr Bowen said Bowens had been looking for a site in the area, where there is expected to be a lot of industrial and construction activity over the next five to 10 years, for a long time.

“This was an opportunity more than us needing 48,000sqm of land for a store. It’s significantly bigger than what we’re typically used to.”

While Bowens is in the early stages of planning for that site, it expects the Melton store to be about 20,000sqm with that opening likely two to three years away.

Before then, a new store will open in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham on a site Bowens purchased about four years ago.

“I would have loved to have got that job started a few years ago, it certainly would have been a lot cheaper to build a few years ago. But it just so happened the timing is right now,” Mr Bowen said.

Mr Bowen said the group is three months into construction of the 9000sqm Cheltenham store, which should be ready for handover in December this year.

A render of the new Bowens store in Cheltenham, which is under construction. Picture: Supplied by Bowens

He said the new sites in Warragul, Cheltenham and Melton were chosen in large part due to the needs of Bowens’ customers, as well as data on new housing construction projects and growth corridors.

“We do about 850-1000 deliveries a day across Victoria. The best data we have is customer-driven, so where are we delivering, what products are we delivering to these sites.

“Those areas are going to be really key for our business moving forward.”

Bowens is also refurbishing four other stores, including updating its store in Taylors Lakes in Melbourne’s north-west while its distribution and pick-up centre on a 20,000sqm site in Geelong will become a full-range Bowens store this year.

One of Bowens’ oldest stores, on a 4.3ha site in Hastings, is also undergoing a major rebuild this year.

Mr Bowen’s grandfather purchased the site in 1968.

“It’s long overdue for a rebuild,” Mr Bowen said. “We are knocking that down and rebuilding it.

“Being a 128-year-old business, a lot of these sites that we’ve had in the network for a long time, they need the work.”

A render of the new Bowens store that will be rebuilt on the Hastings site the family-owned business has owned since 1968. Picture: Supplied by Bowens

The new store will be about 20,000sqm with about 7500sqm of roofed area, and will be more in line with Bowens’ new sites.

“That will be a really key site for us for the Mornington Peninsula, and it already is,” Mr Bowen said.

The company also plans to double the size of the warehousing at its Epping store in Melbourne’s north.

Bowens has further growth ambitions

Mr Bowen admitted Bowens has future growth plans that may include expanding beyond Victorian stores.

“We have ambitions I’d say to further grow the business interstate but it’s not something I can go into more detail on right now,” he said.

Bowens has a presence in Brisbane through its ownership of prefab supplier Timbertruss, which manufactures roof trusses and wall frames.

“We’re already there in Brendale, so we’re familiar with the market. We’re already working with builders up there,” Mr Bowen said.

“So that would be a natural fit for Bowens to be in that market. It’s certainly something we look at and look at really closely and it makes sense, but it’s not something that we can go into more detail on right now.”

Timbertruss, which Mr Bowen said is the largest timber prefabrication business in the country, has its major facility located in the Geelong suburb of Corio.

The Brendale and Geelong sites mainly deliver their products to sites in Queensland and Victoria, although Mr Bowen said it has also been delivering into New South Wales and South Australia out of the Corio site.

Mr Bowen said the Timbertruss prefabrication business was another potential growth area.

“The business is incredibly busy. It’s an area for growth.”

Mr Bowen said Bowens has been consistently investing in its business over the past five to 10 years, including in staff training, improving systems and making a significant digital investment to ensure it remains relevant to the next generation of builders and trades people.