Bunnings

Bunnings Warehouse

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Hardware
Founded	1887 (130 years ago) Perth, Western Australia
Headquarters	Hawthorn East, Victoria
Number of locations	324+ (2015)
Area served	Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom
Key people	John Gillam (CEO/Managing Director)
Revenue	A$11.6 billion (2016)
Operating income	A$1.2 billion (2016)
Total assets	A$6.6 billion (2016)
Number of employees	31,000+
Parent	Wesfarmers
Website	www.bunnings.com.au www.bunnings.co.nz

Bunnings Group, trading as Bunnings Warehouse, is Australia's largest household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Bunnings was founded in Western Australia in 1887, by two brothers who had emigrated from England. Initially a limited company focused on sawmilling, it became a public company in 1952 and subsequently expanded into the retail sector, purchasing several hardware stores. Bunnings began to expand into other states in the 1990s, and opened its first warehouse-style store in Melbourne in 1994. The chain currently has over 300 stores and over 30,000 employees. Bunnings has a market share of around 20 percent in the Australian retail hardware sector, with competing chains including Home Timber and Hardware, Mitre 10 and various independent retailers.

In 1886 brothers Arthur and Robert Bunning left London to settle in Perth, Western Australia, and soon gained a government building contract, which led to them founding a group of building companies which later became 'Bunning Bros Pty Ltd'. They purchased their first sawmill the following year in the south west of Western Australia, and over the next few years they concentrated more on sawmilling and timber distribution and less on building.

The company expanded to include several new mills around Western Australia. In 1952, Bunnings Limited became a public company, expanded into retailing and purchased several hardware stores. In 1970, Bunnings bought the merchandising and sawmilling operations of the Hawker Siddeley Group. In 1983, they bought out Millars (WA) Pty Ltd and, in 1990, the Alco Handyman hardware operations. The Victorian stores McEwans, owned by James McEwans Limited and the South Australian stores, Harry's & Lloyds were acquired by Bunnings in 1993, with many branches subsequently closed, leaving only the best performing sites. Bunnings Limited was then bought out by Wesfarmers in 1994. In late 1995, the 'Red Hammer' symbol was introduced and in June 1996, its trademark slogan "Lowest Prices Are Just The Beginning" was established. Both are still in use today.