Bunnings ramps up UK expansion

Bunnings Warehouse has opened its third UK store as the Australian home and hardware chain’s overseas expansion gathers pace.

The Wesfarmers-owned brand’s green and red livery is now on display at the Apsley Mills Retail Park at Hemel Hempstead, Buckinghamshire, after the store launched earlier this month.

The new store sits on a former Homebase hardware store site, occupying a relatively small 5900sqm footprint.

Same but different: What to expect at Britain’s Bunnings

Bunnings paid $705 million for British chain Homebase’s 265-store portfolio early last year, and announced it would spend a further $1 billion rebranding the stores as its own.

In January, Realcommercial previewed Bunnings’ first UK pilot store at St Albans in Hertfordshire, which, at around 6500sqm, was less than half the size of an average Bunnings in Australia. Another store, also at St Albans, opened shortly after.

The Hemel Hempstead store employs 111 staff and stocks 27,000 product lines, and is one of a string of former Homebase sites set to become Bunnings stores over the next three to five years.

The next two Bunnings outlets set to open in the UK are at Milton Keynes and Folkestone.

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