Changes at B&Q ???

[les chicken]

Visited my local B&Q warehouse the other day to check the prices of beech conti board to build a wardrobe for a "victim". I could not find any !!! they now only stock white melamine.

Spoke to one of the capable store guys who informed me that B&Q are changing from the diy supplier to a Home makeover store. Hence the reason for bargains in power tools etc. They are totaly changing their policy.

So it seems makes the most of the current bargains.

Les

 

[Woody Alan]

changing from the diy supplier to a Home makeover store

That's really great after putting our local family firm out of business who would get any sheet goods and tools to order etc decent screws. They are now going to be more unhelpful ...if that were possible. Things like stocking the same amount of PZ2 bits as all the others why don't they have a bin full, 'cause there's never any there.

Alan

 

[Kane]

I visited the new B&Q in Peterborough last weekend and they're selling timber branded as Straightwood - ironically it was as warped and twisted as the usual c**p they sell .... :roll:

 

[harryc]

The B&Q near me in Wednesbury in the West Mids has just had a major facelift and the impression I get is that they are moving into the higher quality end of the power tool market, so higher margins i suppose rather than the pile it high sell it cheap policy where they have to compete against LIDL etc.
Previously they would only have stocked limited items from the likes of Makita, AEG and Triton etc. Dedicated sections know.
Prices are more expensive but at least you can handle the items before buying unlike ordering from the internet.(or wait for the sales!)

Harry

 

[Paul Chapman]

I think I read somewhere that they are moving away from DIY and more into soft furnishing and that sort of stuff. As someone else said, they put the small shops out of business and then stop selling the stuff - that's consumerism for you...... :roll:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

Not sure how I feel about this one. Essentially I use B&Q because I am lazy and a skinflint. If they stop selling the supplies I use them for then I will be forced to use less convenient suppliers. But will I get a better service and product for my troubles? Probably.

Valid point about the small business that went out of business. But on the flipside, it opens up an opportunity for someone else to come along.

 

[OllyK]

But will I get a better service and product for my troubles? Probably.

Almost certainly, and I'll bet it will be cheaper to boot!

My local woodyard does 8'x4' 18mm ply for under £20 a sheet

 

[exigetastic]

B&Q have had lean times recently, though i thought they were finally back on the up :? Seems strange to change direction in light of this.

Mind you times must have been tough, as we had what I believe was one of the largest Warehouse stores (Netherfield, Nottignham) nearly close after only 6 months of opening.

They boosted up the other Nottingham store, i guess in preparation, then decided instead of closing to down size and sell part of the store to Argos and Next.

Oh well if it's true, and it seems that way, I'll be going to Wickes instead more of a proper builders merchants than B&Q ever was. The local Screwfix trade counter also helps. Though i do like to see what I'm buying first!


I've been getting more and more timber from the local timber merchant recently, and using dobuild, via ebay it costs even less :?

Si

 

[patl]

Interesting direction for them to move though.
I thought they intentionally differentiated themselves from homebase by being more DIY-y and less home store. So I guess they're now planning on meeting homebase head on, can't say I'm particularly bothered as to which one is the ultimate casualty :wink:

 

[StevieB]

Yup, tis true. Kingfisher, B&Qs parent company have been going through troubled times it seems. The move from DIY is partly due to falling sales and partly due to the higher profit margins on furniture and homewares.

Personally I think this is a real shame. I never use homebase now as its a glorified woolworths rather than a DIY store - the even sell electrical fittings in single cardboard and platic packets. Seems B&Q are going the same way. I use my local merchant for DIY stuff when I can, or drive 10 miles to the screwfix outlet and pray they have what I need in stock, but they do at least sell in bulk.

Sadly it seems everyone is trying it, you cannot move in our local Tescos for HD TVs, clothes, kids toys and christmas trees, to the extent that they have reduces food lines to make space. They used to be stockists of wheat and oat free bread for my son, now my only alternative is to order it from my local health food shop at £5-23 a loaf!

Steve.

 

[Kane]

Don't B&Q own Screwfix?

 

[andy king]

I visited the new B&Q in Peterborough last weekend and they're selling timber branded as Straightwood - ironically it was as warped and twisted as the usual c**p they sell .... :roll:

While this rings true with their pre-packed/shrink wrapped timber, (which is predominantly whitewood) if you go to the warehouses, their redwood selection is usually equal to the local timber merchant.
I've just been to one of the Bristol ones and came away with a piece of beautifully tight grained, straight as a die 3600x175x25 PSE, without a single knot or blemish in it. This would be sold as U/S (unsorted) at a timber merchants, and at a premium price, but this was alongside the standard 5ths grade stuff. Their 5ths is on a par with local merchants as well.
You'll always find bananas at any timber merchants, it's the nature of the beast, but I've found that since B&Q have opened the warehouses, the PSE timber stocked in them, where they hope to get the tradesmens custom, has met equal standards to the standalone timber merchants. The range of boards may not be there, but the qualty is if you go for random length redwood rather than pre-pack whirewood, and are prepared to sort through and eye up the stock - Much the same as I do at a timber yard.

Andy

PS. Screwfix and B&Q are owned by the parent company, Kingfisher

 

[andrewm]

B&Q have had lean times recently, though i thought they were finally back on the up :? Seems strange to change direction in light of this.

Doubly so when it puts them into direct competition with Homebase and even to a lesser extent places like IKEA.

 

[StevieB]

While this rings true with their pre-packed/shrink wrapped timber, (which is predominantly whitewood) if you go to the warehouses, their redwood selection is usually equal to the local timber merchant.
I've just been to one of the Bristol ones and came away with a piece of beautifully tight grained, straight as a die 3600x175x25 PSE, without a single knot or blemish in it. This would be sold as U/S (unsorted) at a timber merchants, and at a premium price, but this was alongside the standard 5ths grade stuff. Their 5ths is on a par with local merchants as well.

Out of interest, how did it compare price wise to the local timber merchants though Andy? I have always thought their premium grade timber was a bit pricy, but it is stacked next to the el cheapo polythene wrapped banana wood so maybe that is skewing my perception?

Steve

 

[manso]

The nearest B&Q warehouse is currently restocking - though as far as power tools go it seems more of the same, apart from an additional aisle of glossier tools. What interested me more was that the restocking was being done by people whose livery described them as partners of B&Q. It might be a fancy way of referring to either a division of e.g. Kingfisher or a fitting out company. However I also wondered whether B&Q might be going the Walmart route wherby they delegated stocking to their suppliers.

 

[andy king]

Hi Steve,

Can't remember off hand as it was in with some other stuff and I can't find the receipt but I think it was just over £2 per metre. My local builders merchant I use stocks 5ths at about the same price, so about the same, but i've never seen any as good as the piece I got today stocked there.
Oh yes, when I said it was alongside the 5ths, what I meant was that its all lumped in together, so in the same rack as the rest, so you can get some really good clear timber alongide perfectly acceptable 5ths with the odd knot or two if you are lucky.
It was not in with the 'premium' stuff, which is the 'Burbidge' type stuff if I recall?

Andy

 

[9fingers]

The changes at B&Q seem consistent with groups such as Kingfisher. They have a different brand placed at various section in the customer base.

If they move B&Q to the top of the pile for the home makeover market that leaves screwfix for the mail order and counter collection DIY market and handyman trade. They then have their Trade Depot brand for the project DIYers and the trade to use of odds and ends.

In France they are doing the same thing wth their Castorama stores at the top and Brico-Depot for the serious DIYer. In France the mail order market is very much smaller with delivery being relatively uneconomic and the population is widely spread so there is no equivalent of Screwfix.

Bob

 

[Kane]

I visited the new B&Q in Peterborough last weekend and they're selling timber branded as Straightwood - ironically it was as warped and twisted as the usual c**p they sell .... :roll:

While this rings true with their pre-packed/shrink wrapped timber, (which is predominantly whitewood) if you go to the warehouses, their redwood selection is usually equal to the local timber merchant.
I've just been to one of the Bristol ones and came away with a piece of beautifully tight grained, straight as a die 3600x175x25 PSE, without a single knot or blemish in it. This would be sold as U/S (unsorted) at a timber merchants, and at a premium price, but this was alongside the standard 5ths grade stuff. Their 5ths is on a par with local merchants as well.
You'll always find bananas at any timber merchants, it's the nature of the beast, but I've found that since B&Q have opened the warehouses, the PSE timber stocked in them, where they hope to get the tradesmens custom, has met equal standards to the standalone timber merchants. The range of boards may not be there, but the qualty is if you go for random length redwood rather than pre-pack whirewood, and are prepared to sort through and eye up the stock - Much the same as I do at a timber yard.

Andy

PS. Screwfix and B&Q are owned by the parent company, Kingfisher

It was redwood I was looking for (the bits I checked were loose not the prepacked plakka wrapped stuff) and with the Peterborough branch being new and big I hoped to find some there - it is pretty new though so maybe they weren't fully stocked up, I'll have another scan this weekend if I'm in the area

 

[RogerS]

They used to be stockists of wheat and oat free bread for my son, now my only alternative is to order it from my local health food shop at £5-23 a loaf!

Steve.

Please..please.please don't get me started on the legalised mislabelling that we have regarding alleged gluten-free...as in free = below a certain percentage. Apparently there are some enlightened people selling Zero-gluten stuff. You have my sympathies.

Sorry - OT /rant over

 

[paulm]

I visited the new B&Q in Peterborough last weekend and they're selling timber branded as Straightwood - ironically it was as warped and twisted as the usual c**p they sell .... :roll:

I think I looked at some of the Straighwood some time ago and nearly bought some before I realised that, if I remember correctly, it was basically a number of shorter pieces end jointed together presumably to try and make it more stable and less prone to distortion.

Might be okay for some applications but I was worried about it's inherent mechanical strength for what I was wanting it for so left it and went elsewhere for what I needed.......

Cheers, Paul.