Bunnings experiments with new format

As reported on the website of the Australian Hardware Journal, the Australian DIY retailer, Bunnings, has opened its first "HouseWorks" store. The slogan of the new store located in an outer suburb of Perth reads "A better home for less". According to the magazine, it stocks lighting, paint, chairs, cushions, sheets, garden furniture and DIY flat-pack furniture, and could pose a threat to Harvey Norman, Freedom and Ikea. The group is looking for new possibilities beyond its traditional area of business. Bunnings recorded sales of AU $ 4.068 bn in 2005, which amounts to growth of 5.8 per cent over the previous year. It had 210 DIY stores in operation in Australia and New Zealand at the end of 2005, 131 of them in a warehouse format.