Great Mills (DIY)
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| Public company | |
| Industry | Retail DIY |
| Successor | Focus DIY |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Products |
DIY Tools Paint & Decor Outdoor Living Gardening |
| Parent | RMC Group plc (1979–2000) |
Great Mills was a large DIY chain, consisting of around 98 stores across the United Kingdom. In December 2000, the business was bought by Focus DIY, which in turn entered administration in May 2011, with all stores closing by July 2011. Most Focus DIY stores have been bought, some by B&Q, Wickes and B&M Bargains (B&M Homestore).
However, some stores, such as Rogerstone and Paulton, the latter being the first Great Mills, have been left empty.
Originally known as Clapton Building Supplies, the store was opened in 1972 by Tony Blackburn, an unwell Dulux Dog and a staff of four. The store managed a modest turnover of £50,000, but within six months, the turnover had doubled.
In the early 1990s, Great Mills launched Bay6 (Basics), These stores were identical in size, look and layout to Wickes. In 1995, Wickes bought the six Bay6 stores from Great Mills'parent company, RMC. Four were already trading, two were under construction.
An important step forward for the company came in 1992, with the introduction of a central distribution method of delivering products to its stores. This saved many motorway miles as deliveries were co ordinated, rather than having hundreds of suppliers delivering to the same store each day. By 2000, over 70% of the product range was delivered by the Great Mills fleet, two or three times a week.
In 1994, four of the worst performing Great Mills stores were rebranded into the chain No Frills DIY. These stores were St. Austell, Salisbury, and Northallerton. Other than external signage saying No Frills, the interior of the stores followed no corporate planning as the concept was to sell anything and everything in an attempt to make the previous loss making store profitable again.
Only St. Austell got close to being in profit, before the entire chain was shutdown with the sale of Great Mills. Whilst none of the stores got into profit before closure, all four did significantly reduce the losses over their previous incarnations as Great Mills.
In July 1997, to further reduce distribution costs, an new Central Distribution Centre was opened. The purpose built development was fully automated, and operated computer systems to monitor stock control, and to make sure deliveries were made on time to stores. In May 1998, Great Mills appointed Jill Keen from Asda to be the new marketing director. She took over from Peter Bastin.
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Wikipedia