Masters Home Improvement

Masters Home Improvement was an Australian home improvement chain operated by two retailers; Woolworths Limited and Lowe's Home Improvement. It was established as a way for Woolworths Limited to enter the hardware retail market, which has been historically dominated by Bunnings Warehouse, owned by rival Wesfarmers. These two companies also compete... with each other with groceries, liquor, fuel and general merchandise. Most of the stores shared the same format of conventional Lowe's stores and borrowed elements from Bunnings Warehouse for the garden and trade areas. The joint venture was ultimately a failure for Woolworths Limited, accumulating losses of over A$3.2 billion over a 7-year period, and caused Woolworths to leave the hardware market. All stores were closed and sold off by 11 December 2016. A key reason for the failure was the lack of product localisation to the Australian market from company leadership, with product schedules based upon the United States Northern Hemisphere seasons, which do not align with Australia's opposite Southern Hemisphere seasons. The failure is regarded as one of the biggest disasters in Australian retail history and left Bunnings with a near-monopoly over the retail hardware market in Australia.Read More