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B&Q to close

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    #122
    sandin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,594 ✭✭✭sandin


    Jamie2k9 wrote: »
    I think they opened here in 2004, Waterford was the fifth store after the 3 in Dublin and 1 in Limerick. The boom time for Homebase stared in 2005/6 after the Waterford store when they announced 6 or 7 new locations.



    Its the home grown retailers who got carried away by spending millions on expanding ie Woodies etc. Homebase have remained the same.

    Woodies are now profitable again. - Many of their stores were opened long long before we even heard of the word boom.
    they have also started to refurbish all their stores and the new look is an awful lot better than the old look.

    On homebase, if you look at the figures, their cost of rent (before rates and service charges is 23% of their turnover, a ridiculously high amount. A "big box" retailer should have rent at circa 10% of turnover. Carlow is an absolute joke and I woudl say if rent was free it wold still colse - same with castlebar. Fonthill is very near their store on long mile road.

    B&Q were similar - no matter what rent they were offered in waterford, it was not going to work for them. The rate bill alone would have been about 100k+ and in addition in a relatively small city with limited hinterland (Kilkenny, Dungarvan & wexford have their own diy stores) the local population just was not there to support a B&Q mega store along with woodies, homebase & morrises.


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