Business booms for regional chain

TWO of Western Victoria’s Mitre 10 hardware businesses will band together from the start of next month.

Beginning on Tuesday 1 August, the move will see Fagg’s Mitre 10 in Geelong merge with Ballarat’s G. Gay and Co. Mitre 10, which includes the Bacchus Marsh-based Wilsons store.

general manager of Fagg’s Group, Andrew Pitman, said the merger will provide a crossover benefit for customers.

“With the combined stores, it gives customers the opportunity particularly for builders to shop more broadly across what is an aligned geographical area,” he said.

“It’s a really good union and partnership. Getting bigger means you’re far more resilient and robust going forward.

“There’ll be some efficiencies. For Ballarat builders down in Geelong, we can turn around deliveries at a quicker time since we’ll be doing deliveries from out that way, and the same for Geelong builders working in Ballarat.”

The combined business network will incorporate eight stores, about 20 delivery vehicles, and 400 staff with about 160 based in the Ballarat region.

Part of the merger will see offerings previously exclusive to individual stores potentially incorporated across the businesses.

“The Ballarat group have their plastering business that we don’t necessarily have,” Mr Pitman said.

“In Geelong, we have Design 10, our bespoke showroom for builders which focus on kitchens, bathrooms, and laundries as well as timber cladding and floors.

“We see opportunities to provide those services into Ballarat and the plaster business into Geelong.”

Mr Pitman said the merger will also uphold the local store’s legacy with each location retaining its current name.

“We’re introducing a new brand masthead for the business,” he said. “It’s a new business that we’ll all hang under.

“There’s three distinct family businesses that have been running for years, we’ll certainly be recognising the heritage of those family names.

“They’ve significantly contributed to their own communities over that time. We don’t want to dismiss that.”