Masters no more

I went and had another look today, The place was really cleaned out over the weekend.. Slim pickings now. All the stuff that was bargain prices is pretty much gone now. Stuff is getting cheaper and it seems the discount increases seem to come about on a Wednesday.

I bought a tin of paint for the garage ceiling, 2 packs of C Brads (now 50% off and cheaper than Trade Tools). All the gal framing nails were gone unfortunately. Also picked up some lengths of dowl

Talking to a mate who works there, he said they are supposed to be winding up early December, so its probably worth keeping an eye on as the final days get closer.

I picked up $1500 worth of arkitraves, skirting and some trims. 60% off which was still better than any trade quote i could get.
Happy with it.

Also got an rcd for my leads 2 weeks ago which broke. Swapped it for a new one and they gave me money fpr the new difference in cost.

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Another 10% off today and tomorrow.

Needed some dynabolts to another set of timer wood racks.

Drove right into Masters like any other hardware trip.
Was surprised they still had the things I wanted.

Got lucky and found a huge box of screw bolts for brickwork
each hade a barcode
10 / 100 were $2.20 each.
So got 15 instead of just 9.

Dowling is 50% off so grabbed 5 lengths.

Was gonna go back in to look around and couldn't be bothered.

I'll mark this shopping trip as a positive result.

December 10th or 11th i think it was they will be 100% done.

Masters sold the stock to a liquidator. So masters no longer will keep the store open past that date.

Not sure what will happen with leftover stock.

Everton park still looked 40% full.

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Originally Posted by Bebbo

Not sure what will happen with leftover stock.
Everton park still looked 40% full.

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They just shift stock from those quieter stores to the busier ones

I am chasing some white or grey epoxy paint so if anyone sees some in the brisbane (north) region let me know! Using it to paint a trolley that we use for a Volunteer Marine Rescue boat. Ultimately, it will be painted in any colour I can get my hands on if its cheap.

I was in the Penrith store on Tuesday.

The hardware shelves are very depleted.

SAD thing is the staff still don't know what or when the final close is happening, PLUS they haven't be told about there job forecasts....

I wonder if wholesalers will use them to dump old stock cheap as their supplies run low? Seems to happen from time to time in closing down sales, stores sell products they have never sold before.

Its possible but I would have thought unlikely. More stock is more liabilities.

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Originally Posted by Ubernoob

I wonder if wholesalers will use them to dump old stock cheap as their supplies run low? Seems to happen from time to time in closing down sales, stores sell products they have never sold before.

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Unlikely.

My mate that works at masters said they had stuff up where they had sold out of 90mm merbau decking but more was delivered as a result of an order mistake. Given I am in IT I would hazard a guess that it was an automatic reorder based on exceeding minimum stock levels. Since then, they have shut down a lot of the computer systems. Masters want stock gone, they are already 3.5billion down.

Masters couldn't give a toss about the stock now Damian - it's no longer theirs, and belongs to the liquidators.

I dropped into my local Masters tonight (South Morang) and the tool section had been cleared out. Staff were turning away customers at the door because they closing at 8pm (used to be 9 ?). I saw at least 5 people get rejected as I walked 20 metres to the car.

I went to the Adelaide Masters again today. I went once when they were trading and found they didn't stock even the most basic stuff so never went back.

Last weekend I was at Ikea and dropped by for a look ..... Very busy on a Saturday.

I dropped in again today as I had to go to the airport. There still seems to be a fair bit of stock but in my case nothing that I would want/need. A bit like my first visit there seemed to be a lot of stuff that I didn't need (unlike Bunnings). I asked the staff for a few basic things that would be a regular range at Bunnings and was told that they never stocked them.

I did have a laugh at the large sign advertising the free tradies breakfast .... Somebody had written "byo" at the top!

Unfortunately Masters never struck the right chord with me.

LOL
BYO
Now that's funny!

I like to think that Masters would have replaced and expanded most of the Lowes stuff with other suppliers in time. They would have learnt what sells and where to source it from. One key mistake they made was relying on an American company for stock and stock choices.
This probably came from their faulty strategy. A more modest number of stores would have limited their losses while they learnt a new business in a new market.
This became fairly obvious fairly quickly. They lacked the corporate climate to switch strategies.
Better management would have pressed for becoming more profitable and more appeal before continuing to expand.
Lack of agility.

I enquired about the American Red Oak Masters ( sells at $80+ per 2.4 metre length ) on a luthiers forum I belong to and was told by a number of USA members that it's cheap as chips in that country - about the standard of pine. In the Mornington (Vic) store I don't think more than a few metres has moved since they opened. At one stage last year they had 2 packs of random length 238 x 19 reduced to sell but was insanely priced still. They claimed it was wrongly ordered by a customer ... yeah, right!!😏
Last time I looked it was discounted by 50% but still overpriced. Their problem was that they tried to be everything for everybody with such a huge diversity of stock types and high prices instead of concentrating on the humble D.I.Y.er.

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Originally Posted by Shedhand

Their problem was that they tried to be everything for everybody with such a huge diversity of stock types and high prices instead of concentrating on the humble D.I.Y.er.

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As a big box store, they did want to have a huge range and appeal to many people. So I don't fault them for starting somewhere. What they failed to do was have a plan to learn, adapt and reduce prices before losses got unsustainable. They also failed to have a corporate structure to listen to what many people must have been saying outside the boardroom.

These large companies get run by folk with MBAs, who often have no experience in the industry they are operating in. They do some "modelling" to set some targets and then they make it clear that they only want to be told what they want to hear. Anyone that tells them that they are dreaming in their "modelling" is going to quietly end up without a job. Better to say Yes Sir and look for work elsewhere than tell them what they don't want to hear. In this case, even shareholders were not listened to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shedhand

I enquired about the American Red Oak Masters ( sells at $80+ per 2.4 metre length ) on a luthiers forum I belong to and was told by a number of USA members that it's cheap as chips in that country - about the standard of pine. In the Mornington (Vic) store I don't think more than a few metres has moved since they opened. At one stage last year they had 2 packs of random length 238 x 19 reduced to sell but was insanely priced still. They claimed it was wrongly ordered by a customer ... yeah, right!!
Last time I looked it was discounted by 50% but still overpriced. Their problem was that they tried to be everything for everybody with such a huge diversity of stock types and high prices instead of concentrating on the humble D.I.Y.er.

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Correct me if I am wrong, but I think American Red Oak is a plantation timber, so comparing cost in US to AUS is probably not a valid comparison. Beside the point really, not sure what the local plantation version of oak is but I would be interested in comparing the costs v pine. I am hoping to source something similar to the 238*19 boards in silky oak soon. I am going to start chasing prices over the next few weeks. Knowing my luck the masters stuff on sale will be cheaper and probably gone by the time I get around to it.

How to loose a customer.

Have a trade card that gives 0% discount.
Have a sales point that takes cash but does not acknowledge it. (Waste time getting a supervisor for a refund.)
Not stock an item that was reasonably expected. Spend 30 minutes trying to get said item only to be told it is not stocked. Go to competitor, walk in, pay and walk out.

Why waste time being disappointed?

I heard that last Friday afternoon, the permanent staff were offered new jobs elsewhere or redundancy [I suspect it's been a long difficult 2months for them all], not sure about the casual/part timers.....

Called in the Pakenham store this arvo. Place was fairly crowded. Spent 197 bucks but discounted to $113 which was pretty good. All stuff I wanted. Got a 2 x 2 pint tins of Minwax Wipe-on Poly, 1 each of gloss and satin at half price. Also a new 150mm sanding pad for the Bosch Pro ROS. $22.00. My mate paid 70 the last time he got Bunnings to order 1 for him.
still some bargains to be had.

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Originally Posted by crowie

I heard that last Friday afternoon, the permanent staff were offered new jobs elsewhere or redundancy [I suspect it's been a long difficult 2months for them all], not sure about the casual/part timers.....

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The bloke I know who works there is a chippie. He said they have all be offered jobs in fruit and veg. Part of the problem was the joint was run by your local promoted woolies deli operator, knows several varieties of ham, but not hardware.

Anyway, my mate has knocked back the offers of being a checkout chick, and is going back on the tools despite his stuffed back. He has told me a lot of stories about poor in store management, and I totally understand why the venture was a complete failure.

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Originally Posted by Pearo

The bloke I know who works there is a chippie. He said they have all be offered jobs in fruit and veg.

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Bad management alright. You'd think they would at least be (battered) savvy enough to offer him a job in take away food.

Walked ito the Everton park branch the other day fishing for bits for a kitchen in my home. Nothing useful in cabinets, and nothing left of interest in carousels for corner cupboards. Had a look at the gas hobs as that is the only appliance I don't have. Picked up one for $220.00. 4 burner with flame failure. I'm happy, but unlikely to darken their doors again.

Cheers

Anyone know if masters is open in Vic today or not?

Website says 8 - 6

Tools

ta. it was open.

Only a week to go and discounting is now at 70 - 90%. Pickings are slim as they have moved a lot of stock in recent weeks butt there are some good prices if there is anything there to tickle your fancy.

Tools

HeadsUp!
Just be careful.
A lot of the left overs are missing bits n pieces.
Have a really good look at what you're buying.

I bought 4 $60 each mini floresent lights for <$60 total.
One didn't work.
The sign says "... No returns. No exchanges. ..."
Frak!
But manufacturers warranty applies.
On my way out I did heard Masters tells a customer trying to charm her: "No Exchanges! Receivers don't want the paper work!"

Blinds were 75% off today.
Many be more tomorrow.
Thats pretty good for outdoor blinds.
Just make sure the package has NOT been opened.

I grabbed some stainless cabinet handles this morning at Northland for less than $2 each, originally about $21

Tools

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Originally Posted by Tools

I grabbed some stainless cabinet handles this morning at Northland for less than $2 each, originally about $21

Tools

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Last week I also got some stainless cabinet handles for about $2 because I bought more than 20. But I had to hunt to find that many in the same style.
There isn't much other stuff left. There did seem to be a lot of paint still. Also shelves.
I went there because I wanted some more storage fluid for my airless sprayer but all that stuff has gone.

Dave.


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Will I miss Masters - probably not. I wasted time visiting the store on a couple of occasions. Did not have what I went in for, one item was not even stocked, although other hardware stores carried the item.
Strange how they are not running their "when their gone, they are gone" ads..

Good bye old friend.
Rest well.

Turned put not to be such a good friend in the end - left without even saying goodbye. I was in Preston on Saturday morning so dropped in to the Northland store to find that it had unceremoniously closed on the Friday. Dropped in to Hawthorn on Sunday morning to find it had already closed as well. Looking at their website they showed being closed from Monday onward but still had opening hours right up until Sunday. And I wasn't the only one at both stores either.


Tools

Well, Bunnings Fyshwick Canberra has pulled the foot RIGHT OFF the accelerator since Masters has closed.

This morning I had to wait 40 minutes for a forklift driver. Three visits to the trade desk, 4 open mike pages and 2 seperate discussions with "assistants" to get the grumpiest nasty cuss to help me out.

You'd think I was asking for a kidney donation or asking for charity rather than do their job.

One hour to buy a piece of ply.

Zero competition now. Expect even worse service and even higher prices.

What an outcome.

Bunnings already had bad service around here. Masters made them pull their socks up bit. I avoided Bunnings and always went to Masters.....now gone. now it will get worse.

Ladies and gents, while Masters has gone, the only way to get Bunnings to pull there socks up is to use there Feed Back - Complaints page on there website.

If enough people continually bombard them with negative customer experiences they will eventually fix the service.

Also Social Media is a great way of spreading the word about both good and poor service experiences...

It's now up to us the consumer, the customer to put the right pressure to bare on the Bunnings Management to force a culture charge for the better and good of the hardware industry....

Just my 2bobs worth.... Cheers, crowie

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Originally Posted by crowie

If enough people continually bombard them with negative customer experiences they will eventually fix the service.

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Maaaaate, I wouldn't even waste the pixels because it will make zip difference. They are in a virtual monopoly, and clearly don't give a toss. Certain individuals do, like Grumpy John for example, but as a company they just don't care. Their responsibility is to their shareholders to give them a dividend, at our expense of course.

My understanding is that construction of Bunnings Katoomba will start in January - diagonally across the road from the pretty lacklustre Home Hardware (maybe that will change with Metcash ownership.....). Now from Bunnings Katoomba I will expect pretty good service....for a while.....until HH closes down. Then it will all turn to crud again, but at least the range on offer will be bigger.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crowie

Ladies and gents, while Masters has gone, the only way to get Bunnings to pull there socks up is to use there Feed Back - Complaints page on there website.

If enough people continually bombard them with negative customer experiences they will eventually fix the service.

Also Social Media is a great way of spreading the word about both good and poor service experiences...

It's now up to us the consumer, the customer to put the right pressure to bare on the Bunnings Management to force a culture charge for the better and good of the hardware industry....

Just my 2bobs worth.... Cheers, crowie

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Good idea crowie.
They, the staff, are very inclined to disappear as soon as there are few customers about. Let's give them an earful as soon as the service does not come up to a reasonable standard.
Cheers, Fred

Social media is the best bet for complaints, a lot of companies are very proactive about responding to FB and Twitter complaints due to the public nature of the platforms. On the other hand there are some companies that don't give a toss and will delete posts that don't give glowing reviews.