"Who is Homebase Targeting"?

In this months KBB Review Derek Miller asks Who is Homebase targeting?

Here are my thoughts.

Tim Wallace

KBB Review editor

7/2/13

In reply to Derek Miller page 12 KBB review February 2013

“Who is Homebase Targeting”

I can say with absolute assurance that they “sheds” I.E Hombase, B&Q etc will never on a mass scale have the big name brands on their shelves or their offering. This is for a couple of reasons:

1. The sheds will devalue the major brands product and they will not want to be associated with a “shed” in such a large scale, they may offer the “shed” a smaller part of their product but not the main designer led product.

2. If the “sheds” sell the major brands product then the shed in the end will dictate the price and the quantity it wants, what also will happen is the shed will change its course and the suppliers eggs are in one basket and they pull that brand, this happened to Next Dimension in Scunthorpe with its better quality kitchens, B&Q pulled and next Dimension went under, this has happened to other companies that have dealt with them and it has happened to other larger retailers & their suppliers.

In 2000 Wickes had an idea it wanted to “Go Fluffy” and to be able to attract the female buyer rather than the Tradesman which is what they are known for, it did not really work for them other than it promoted their kitchen, bathroom offering, and now Wickes has gone back to its core trade customer.

Homebase has always been seen as the middle class DIY store especially when it was owned by Sainsbury’s as some people would not be seen dead in another DIY store even if they did sell the same product cheaper and for several years even when Homebase was sold to the ARG group people still thought it was owned by Sainsbury’s. Generally a certain type of person will shop at Homebase, the type of person who sees them as a bit more homely (but they are a bit more expensive as a result of that).

They have upped their game on kitchens and bedrooms by offering Schreiber and Odina kitchens but we all know it is still a DIY store with a bit of “Fluffy” going on.

If they want to be really serious about their strategy going forward then they need to employ professional kitchen/bedroom/bathroom designers not salespeople or train they salespeople they have to a very high standard, they also need to look at their delivery side of things for high ticket items but mostly they need to look at their so called installation service, having a Trustmark is definitely no guarantee that the customer gets a top quality fit, I know this from experience of clients who have bought from me. The top guy in Homebase should type into a search engine “Problems with Homebase kitchens 2012” and see what comes up.

Russell Buckley, Managing Director. Stuart Henry Kitchens Ltd.