The opening of the second UK branch of Bunnings in the same town as the first looks a little puzzling.

This week I’ve been in Brisbane (aka ‘Brisvegas’), the shiny east coast Australian metropolis, and made a point of heading off to look at one of the several Bunnings to be found in and around this city of just over two million people.

On advice, I headed for the Rocklea ‘Warehouse’ branch, and there is only really one thing to be said about it: gargantuan.

From the almost inevitable ‘sausage sizzle’ at the entrance to the free popcorn and hot cross buns, this seemed a destination.

By 10am on Saturday the car park was full and it was pretty clear from the purchases that were being put through the tills that shoppers had travelled some distance to visit this one.

Meanwhile, back in the somewhat less sunny south-east of England, the Bunnings DIY invasion was gathering pace: the Aussie DIY giant had opened its second store in St Albans.

And in case you’re wondering, there shouldn’t be a comma after “store” in the previous sentence. This is the UK’s second Bunnings and, like the first, it is in the commuter town that is a few minutes north of London by train.

Two’s company

OK, so it makes sense in a place the size of Brisbane to have a few Bunnings branches scattered around the city and its periphery, but if you were planning to make an impact on a new market, would your first thought be to welcome shoppers into two branches in the same town?

“It is probably the case that in terms of marketing and logistics, two Bunnings in the same town is sensible. But stores in a new market are about learning and testing the water”

St Albans is certainly highly affluent and no doubt has its fair share of project home-improvers, but such is the novelty value of the UK’s first Bunnings that surely it might have been an idea to try converting a Homebase branch in another town nearby.

Luton springs to mind – an entirely different demographic and therefore a good place in which to compare and contrast the performance of a fascia new to this country.

It is probably the case that in terms of marketing and logistics, two Bunnings in the same town is sensible. But stores in a new market are about learning and testing the water.

Have a go

At the risk therefore of seeming a little harsh, what kind of decision-making process was followed that resulted in St Albans being a bi-Bunnings location?

Bunnings has been around a long time Down Under, and you don’t get to be the market leader without knowing a thing or two.

In a new market, however, market trials and a little caution might seem the order of the day. By all means ‘have a go, you blokes’, but can somebody please explain?