HOMEBASE rationlization in UK

5rtytry56

Do you patronize homebase? Are/ Were you a loyal customer? UK organisation was taken over by Hillco, who closed down HMV

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45119606

cletus

Heard that this morning. Doesn't seem to be affecting Irish stores yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

red sean

Homebase Ireland was taken over by the Australian Co too so you can be sure the axe will fall on some of them.

colm_mcm

Bit more info on Hilco here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilco

I rarely bought things in Homebase, and even though I don’t like Woodies, it is the default second try store if B&Q don’t have what I’m looking for for the right money.

Graham

red sean wrote: »

Homebase Ireland was taken over by the Australian Co too so you can be sure the axe will fall on some of them.

The Australian crowd Wesfarmers (Bunnings) bailed out a few weeks back after driving Homebase into the ground and completely losing their shirt. Hillco only recently bought Homebase for £1

Wesfarmers managed to generate a A$1.4billion loss on the venture.

Harry Palmr

red sean wrote: »

Homebase Ireland was taken over by the Australian Co too so you can be sure the axe will fall on some of them.

Depends on how discreet the Irish market is I'd say, I use HB quite a lot as it's handy for me. If they are paying their way here they could be spun off for a quick profit and purchased by someone like Ogalas while the UK is rationalised.

I read about the Aussie owners and how terrible they were, no idea even about seasonal and climatic differences between down under and up top.

my3cents

Never liked Homebase and I can remember when Sainsbury owned them in the UK in the early 1980's.

That said I bought a load of stuff when they changed ownership a while back and dumped loads of stock. The new stock is at Rip Off Ireland prices so no chance of me using them till the next big sale.

Purgative

We lost our Homebase when the big thing happened.

It was OK, though I'd have preferred a B&Q.

Now the site is a TK Maxx - ffs da missus loves it.

I don't mind Homebase. One thing I don't really understand about them is why they don't turn into a Dublin Providers type of business.

DPL in Drogheda is constantly going. Pop up any morning and there's a queue of vans outside waiting to get in. There might not be a housing boom (perhaps there is) but people are spending money on their houses. Extensions and gardens are being installed and done up like it's no one's business.

I can't grasp why Homebase don't use their bulk buying power, easy retail park access, multiple locations across the country, etc. and go down the trade-supply route instead. Like with halfords having their Trade Card, Homebase could have similar, and perhaps a discount card for the regular Joe Soap.

tradesman

I bought a bbq in homebase priced at €472 for only €80 (A piece was missing) simple fix it needed an L shaped rail bought in bnq for €12! However, same bbq in homebase uk website selling for £250 sterling! Whats going on? Why such a big difference in price?

the_pen_turner

if all those stores homebase is the best. they sell proper branded stuff as well as the usual crap that the rest sell.
it is very expensive though.

Mulbert

Homebase is grand but in he last few months I've had to querry every receipt I've been handed as it didn't match the prices displayed. And the same with Woodies. Dpl is the job my way, far better prices but no ****e like picture frames or cushions or furniture or decorations or balloons etc, Anon.

red sean

Mulbert wrote: »

Homebase is grand but in he last few months I've had to querry every receipt I've been handed as it didn't match the prices displayed. And the same with Woodies. Dpl is the job my way, far better prices but no ****e like picture frames or cushions or furniture or decorations or balloons etc, Anon.

I had the same problem with Homebase and prices different at the till three times in the last year or so. I stopped going there altogether.
In the last case, the service assistant rang the manager and was left hanging on for a 2/3 minutes. He told her to go back to the shelf with me so I could show her the 'wrong'price. The manager then appeared and insisted I picked the product up from a wrong shelf it had probably been left down on by a customer.
However, I had learnt from the previous time and produced a pic on my phone as I knew this price way below rrp. (€15.99 instead of €27.99)
Red faced manager then grunted to give it at the low price and stormed off!
Someone obviously changed the display price while the phone call was left hanging.

cletus

https://m.independent.ie/business/irish/three-homebase-stores-in-ireland-to-close-costing-dozens-of-jobs-37215086.html

Three stores to close in Ireland. Two in Dublin, including the one on the Naas road, and the Limerick store

Spook_ie

cletus wrote: »

https://m.independent.ie/business/irish/three-homebase-stores-in-ireland-to-close-costing-dozens-of-jobs-37215086.html

Three stores to close in Ireland. Two in Dublin, including the one on the Naas road, and the Limerick store

Doubt they'll be the only ones, Homebase in Gulliver's Retail Park never seems to have many customers

Fonthill is practically around the corner from big B&Q, huge population in the area though.

I always feel its a bit lost or understocked or something when I'm in there.