Homebase goes into administration

[D365]

Further from the discussion at the end of August in this thread, Homebase are apparently “preparing to appoint administrators” with shops at risk.

The current rumour is that The Range are going to purchase the brand, website operation and around 70 stores, which will continue operating under Homebase branding (in a similar manner to Wilko). So the brand won't disappear.

There is also reportedly significant interest in the remainder of the store estate from others such as B&M, Aldi/Lidl etc.

While I expect there will be some job losses, I suspect that the vast majority of employees will continue in similar employment to their current situation.

It appears that Homebase’s administration has been announced. And, as rumoured above, The Range will be purchasing up to 75 stores.

 

[Meole]

An outdated concept well past its sell by, the failure to adapt to this century is telling.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I spent a few years doing up the house, I used many different places for materials but it is telling that I didn't buy a single tool or blank of wood from Homebase. I did go in one as I was nearby and needing some skirting board, but it was all so warped and twisted none of it was any good and I suspect some of it had been on the racks since 1987 and the Pet Shop Boys were number one!

 

[dgl]

B&Q must be loving this, yes the likes of The Range, B&M and home bargains sell some DIY stuff it's not as extensive as B&Q. You do have Toolstation and Screwfix but you can't browse one of them like you can B&Q and anyway Screwfix and B&Q are owned by the same people so not really competition.

 

[JKF]

B&Q must be loving this, yes the likes of The Range, B&M and home bargains sell some DIY stuff it's not as extensive as B&Q. You do have Toolstation and Screwfix but you can't browse one of them like you can B&Q and anyway Screwfix and B&Q are owned by the same people so not really competition.

Toolstation are also owned by Travis Perkins.

A word of warning about B&Q, they’re now using their website as a ‘fulfillment platform’ meaning other people get to sell stuff through it. So if you see a product on there, don’t expect to find it in store, a mistake I made recently. It’s quite misleading.

Wickes has been quite handy for me, but my local one closed down earlier in the year because the lease ran out and the site is going to be redeveloped. I think they're looking a bit run down and wouldn’t surprise me if they disappeared in due course. Wilko was also really handy for bits and bobs and were usually conveniently sited in normal city centre shopping areas, that’s left quite a hole. I’m a building manager and having Wilko about three minutes away on a bike was extremely useful. There’s a Toolstation about the same distance but you can easily queue for 20 mins at busy times, understaffed and slow service, and sometimes you just need to see the item to be sure it’s what you need.

I’ve found buying some DIY tools and materials online occasionally very frustrating, often crucial dimensions are not given, and the search facility on some websites is risible (Amazon possibly the worst, no idea how they’re so succesful)

 

[m0ffy]

I found it telling that despite Sainsbury’s involvement in establishing Homebase, they wanted absolutely no part of it when they acquired Homebase’s more recent owner, Argos.

 

[66701GBRF]

An outdated concept well past its sell by, the failure to adapt to this century is telling.

How so?

 

[skyhigh]

I found it telling that despite Sainsbury’s involvement in establishing Homebase, they wanted absolutely no part of it when they acquired Homebase’s more recent owner, Argos.

Not a surprise. What Sainsbury's were really interested in was their distribution network and associated technology which was very good, with the bonus that they could see good efficiencies by combining the store operations with unused space in their own stores. There was none of that with Homebase which is why they weren't interested.

 

[gswindale]

Now I'm trying to work out if our local store is closing or if it will become a Range site instead - we have both, reasonably close to each other, but The Range is in an extremely busy retail park which has decidedly dodgy parking (roads and spaces too narrow for even 20 year old cars!) whereas Homebase is a little further out and has much better parking facilities.

The Range location is also what was formerly Do-it-All, but they reconfigured the units and built 2 more next to it on the old outdoor section.

 

[jon81uk]

An outdated concept well past its sell by, the failure to adapt to this century is telling.

When Argos and Homebase were part of the same group they were adapting, they started integrating Habitat and Argos together, focused more on furnishings and interior design and not being a builders merchant, seperating their offer from B&Q and Wickes. Then when Sainsbury's got Argos and Homebase went to Bunnings, they tried turning Homebase into a Bunnings store so they were competing with B&Q and they lost all of their advantage.

It was the Austrailian owner that killed the concept, after the previous owner did adapt.

 

[gg1]

The one area I thought Homebase did beat their main rivals on was kitchens. We had a Homebase kitchen fitted at our old house in 2012 and were very happy with it, decent quality units and their fitters did an excellent job. Currently perusing options for a new kitchen in our current house and again, the Homebase units on display in store seem a step up in quality from the Wickes/B&Q/IKEA ones.

Their big problem is they're weaker in comparison to the competition when it comes to their bread and butter DIY products.

 

[jmh59]

Currently perusing options for a new kitchen in our current house and again, the Homebase units on display in store seem a step up in quality from the Wickes/B&Q/IKEA ones.

I'd personally be concerned about any warranty on a new kitchen from them now if Homebase does disappear.

 

[gg1]

I'd personally be concerned about any warranty on a new kitchen from them now if Homebase does disappear.

No arguments there, but this news hadn't come out when we were looking a couple of weeks ago.

 

[david1212]

B&Q must be loving this, yes the likes of The Range, B&M and home bargains sell some DIY stuff it's not as extensive as B&Q. You do have Toolstation and Screwfix but you can't browse one of them like you can B&Q and anyway Screwfix and B&Q are owned by the same people so not really competition.

Fine so long as they move into our local store other than with no competitor they can set pricing as they wish.

Currently Homebase is the only large DIY store. For B&Q a choice of 3 but all around 25 mile round trip. The Range opened a while ago, I have not been but the whole store is not as large as Homebase and based on others far less DIY / decorating. Wickes have recently opened a store so still a local option and at least initially a bonus for them. Other than timber I have never bought much from Wickes. Toolstation and Screwfix have become my choice for plumbing and electrical given one of them normally has whatever is needed in stock plus significantly cheaper than Homebase or B&Q. City plumbing is another option for the former and in the same block as Toolstation, both are part of the Travis Perkins group who occupy the largest area of the block.

Given their store is not far away I can't see the Range taking the site on. If B&Q don't much too large for Aldi, who have a recent build nearby, or Lidl. Given B&M is a 25 mile round trip and Home Bargains further they would be most likely. The downside for either is while parking adequate for Homebase it wouldn't be for them at busy times. They could create some more by using the outdoor garden area but still would be restricted.