Thread: Bunnings to open specialty tool chain

I retrieved a 12V Milwaukee drill from the roof of a job I am working on last Tuesday, the owner told me that it had been there exposed to the weather since September last year, he didn't care because the handyman had done the wrong thing by him so it stayed there. I pulled the trigger not expecting anything other than one stuffed drill but no, still had 2 lights out of 4 showing charge in the battery and away it went, no problem. So I put a 20mm auger bit in it and tried it out on a solid door I was fitting a mortice lock to, it put my 18V Makita to shame and asked for more, very impressive. It now lives with my 12VMilwaukee cordless riveter included a charger for (1/2 the cost of a Makita one with no battery or charger) all my rivet work.

Originally Posted by BobL

..... local police warehouse where recovered stolen tools were stored awaiting auction. The pyramid of tools (yes it was a large pile of tools, chargers and batteries just sitting on the floors was about 3m across and nearly 2m high. The cops said most of them would have been stollen off the back of trades utes...

Good to see they attempted to match serial numbers to reported losses....


(Ah yes, to bring the thread on track - death to Bunnings)

Originally Posted by Cgcc

One thing I am *really* keen to get is the milwaukee 12v pin nailer when it comes out.

you mean one of these ??

Milwaukee M12 12 Volt Lithium-Ion Cordless 23 Gauge Pin Nailer - Tool Only [2540-20] | KMS Tools & Equipment
Note the price for the bare tool is Canadian dollars

Originally Posted by Cgcc

I really like the Milwaukee 12v (m12) line. The batteries are tiny so the tools are very light, compact and gutsy. For years I only have a Ryobi drill but after using the m12 line, when I go back to the 18v drill they seem large and needlessly unwieldly.

Same, that's all I use 99% of the time (plus a bosch screwdriver). Save my wrists.

For the remaining 1% of the time I just take out the corded Makita, that thing will go through anything like butter.

Originally Posted by Lappa

I have a Makita 18v pin nailer and it’s superb.

Hi Lappa. I have been looking at getting a 18v nail gun from Makita. What model you have?

My pin nailer (23gauge) is a Makita DPT353Z.

Milwaukee and Makita seems to be what I see most. Is there much difference between Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt, Bosch, Hikoki? I doubt it, Im sure most of it comes down to personal preference. Some tools tools might win out (eg 1 brand might win out on a particular tool and another brand wins on something else) but across the board it would be hard to say if a single brand comes out on top. At the end of the day its the companies that win unless you are willing to stock multiple batteries or obtain adapters to use other brand's batteries.

Milwaukee seems spend the $$ to have the presence in tool shops. Total tools and Sydney tools has a Milwaukee section as does Repco now.

It would be interesting to hear from someone in the tool repair trade to hear which is the most well made.

Originally Posted by ian

me thinks they would have the ACCC stepping in and making life very difficult should they attempt to take over Sydney Tools or another established tool retailer.
Far better to rebrand and grow "Adelaide Tools" into a national competitor to Sydney Tools, Total Tools, Gasweld

afterall, ACCC has already approved Bunnings' acquisition of Adelaide Tools

That would very much depend how they went about it. Being a family owned business it should not cause the same distress to ACCC as a franchised operation being eyed off by a major player, I would have thought.

That's the one - I cannot see it being sold in Australia anywhere yet.

I won't use it for anything I would consider proper furniture or a fine piece (or anything where I would want to retrieve a nice bit of timber for repurposing). But for shop fittings, utility items out of ply, jigs etc it seems just the ticket.

Originally Posted by chris parks

.... I wonder why they don't just buy an existing chain as it removes a competitor straight away ...

accc ?

Originally Posted by woodPixel

It would be very interesting to hear from the tool makers/suppliers themselves. ....

Do you speak chinese?

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Do you speak chinese?

Hehe. I've been learning. Not my favourite language, to be honest.


BUT, thinking a bit about this Professional Store deal has a few problems:

-- Bunnings was either very smart or very stupid announcing this adventure as they did. It is either a cataclysmic mistake that it leaked (most likely) or that it is a FUD-bomb* designed to knock competitors off-centre (unlikely, given the ham-fisted way their business operates).

-- IF it were deliberate, they'd want to have all the PRO-tool manufacturers lined up and literally pen-in-hand to sign the delivery deals. If they don't yet have the suppliers organised, they've made a serious mistake.

-- Bunnings is, fundamentally, a property business. Selling hardware is a secondary bonus. This simply adds cash flow. Their entire business has been strategically focused on getting the best land at the best prices near DIY and home market users.... NOT green-fields and industrial end users.

-- The likes of Sydneytools, et al, are already deeply entrenched into the delivery of professional level tools into the pro market. They may be competed against, of course, but simply popping opening a store and calling oneself "Bunnings Pro" isn't going to cut it. (i.e. Will the audience migrate? OR, does Bunnings simply dilute itself of its own market?)

All of this is subjective and is my opinion only.


Bunnings stinks of a myopic, fat, slow, cumbersome and unwieldy business. Their profit margins are (to quote a mate) "the fat underbelly of a lumbering dinosaur". It is surprising that many of the deals I saw (and discussed with some) have not eventuated in the last 24 months (COVID, I'd bet!) ...


If I were Bunnings, I'd be FAR MORE worried about Amazon and AliExpress entering the market. I'm aware of plans that AE were going to forward-store a vvaasstt stockpile of goods onshore here to essentially replicate Amazon. As some have pointed out here, the replica tools on offer can be astounding. There are opponents/arguments against that, but there are many fans of the better Chinese brands, all for good reason.

I can be point-blank about Amazon too. This is exactly what they intend to do***.

I thing/feel the only thing that stopped these plans has been COVID, the bulk delivery problems (prices! Freight Rate Index - Freightos Baltic International Container Index) and the heaving internal problems China is experiencing**.

The last point I'd make is that Bunnings is essentially "made in China" anyway, so there are three middlemen to be advantageously cut out if AE decided to go direct here.


* Fear Uncertainty Doubt
** scratch the surface and its looking very ugly indeed.
*** I discussed this elsewhere some time back in detail

Originally Posted by qwertyu

Milwaukee and Makita seems to be what I see most. Is there much difference between Milwaukee, Makita, DeWalt, Bosch, Hikoki? I doubt it, Im sure most of it comes down to personal preference. Some tools tools might win out (eg 1 brand might win out on a particular tool and another brand wins on something else) but across the board it would be hard to say if a single brand comes out on top. At the end of the day its the companies that win unless you are willing to stock multiple batteries or obtain adapters to use other brand's batteries.

Milwaukee seems spend the $$ to have the presence in tool shops. Total tools and Sydney tools has a Milwaukee section as does Repco now.

It would be interesting to hear from someone in the tool repair trade to hear which is the most well made.

I know the owner of one of the accredited repairers for all major brands who also has a tool hire business
he tells me stick with Milwaukee or Makita

Originally Posted by woodPixel

... All of this is subjective and is my opinion only. ...

Really interesting conjecture and you raise even more questions than you try to guess at ... But if you take one step backwards then it gets even more interesting.

Bunnings is a subsidiary of Wesfarmers, so is Blackwoods and there are probably other less publicised subsidiaries as well. So far Blackwoods has not been the most vigorous competitor in their market segment, while Bunnings dominates the lower-middle and middle sector. One scenario could be that Wesfarmers are trying to reinvigourate their competitiveness in the upper middle sector???

In corporate jargon, they are category killers. The only competitor that they like is a dead one.