HOBSON'S CHOICE

 

My favourite hardware store is Mitre 10 in Whangarei. It is a very large store and generally has the products and brands I want at a reasonable price. It is conveniently located. I avoid going to Bunnings because I've always perceived this brand as being an usurper and is Australian owned and controlled. It's also further away than Mitre 10. There is a Hammer Hardware store closer to us which I also use. It is smaller with a more limited range but seems to be family owned so I like to support it.

There are other branded stores - Placemakers, Toolshed and Farmlands for example but these have a limited range of the products that I want. There are also specialty stores like the NZ Safety Shop where I bought some overalls, knee pads and gaiters recently. Hey! Here's a pic to remind you:

Here's a snapshot of who owns which of these stores:

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand

Australia

OK - no surprises there. Apart from Bunnings which is Australian owned the others are New Zealand franchises along the Foodstuffs model (Pak n Save, New World, 4 Square). They are corporately run though regardless of the individual 'family' ownership. This becomes more evident with the larger format stores. The smaller ones, if they are local and you shop frequently enough can offer a more personalised service. This is why I use Hammer Hardware in Onerahi and, when I lived in Auckland used Hammer Hardware in Point Chevalier. 

Although I like the Mitre 10 Mega store I feel conflicted because, during the mandatory mask-wearing period of this pandemic, Mitre 10 corporate ran a series of odious television ads featuring a gormless D.I.Y. guy latching on to a 'manly' Mitre 10 employee who helped him make his choices. I have no problem with the message as I find Mitre 10 employees very helpful when dealing with me - a D.I.Y. schlemiel, but I do object to the fact that the actors didn't wear masks even when the gormless guy hugged the employee.

I understand how TV advertising works having been involved in creation of these in the past and accept that this ad was likely created before the mask mandates came into force but ........ I think that it is reprehensible for Mitre 10 corporate to show the ad during the mandate period and shows a disregard for rules and social responsibility. Corporate greed at its worst.

I've been getting my supplies from Hammer Hardware recently.

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Supermarkets have been in the news lately but not in a good way. During the pandemic they have reported massive profits which seemingly suggests that while costs have increased markedly due to supply channel difficulties, the supermarkets have continued with their normal mark-ups and haven't shared the pain. The price increases of staple items, especially vegetables is causing people to look elsewhere and will likely create another demand for independent operators as an alternative.*

Alternatives can be like farmers markets, co-op vegetable markets or the mega big boys like Costco which recently opened to much fanfare and stupid consumer response. Letting outfits like Costco (and Amazon and IKEA) into New Zealand is like inviting a fox into the henhouse or Satan into Heaven to provide some entertainment for the bored residents.

They will take your money as fast as they can, loading people up with more stuff than they need or want and meanwhile drive out any local opposition, particularly the small, owner-operated businesses. It isn't a good long term model. This is how the current supermarkets have operated.

I try to support smaller and independent operators like Bin Inn where I buy my bread-making supplies and various other baking ingredients from. If there were any decent independent vegetable suppliers and meat suppliers I'd use these but the supermarkets have pretty much put them out of business. I do go to farmers markets from time to time. I prefer to shop Foodstuffs (Pak n Save and New World) before Woolworth's (Countdown) because Woolworths is Australian owned and, in the past when I was having to deal with supermarkets Woolworths were the worst to deal with. They were greedy bullies. Foodstuffs is a New Zealand owned co-operative.

New Zealand

Australia

Foodstuffs though is becoming more and more corporately run with stocking, pricing and marketing strategies not much different from Woolworths/Countdown.

I do shop at Countdown however because the large Whangarei store is closer to where I live than the large New World store. When doing a big fortnightly shop I go to Pak n Save because over all the products are cheaper and due to high turnover the fruit and vegetables and meat and fish products are fresher. I tend to use Countdown to buy the more 'specialty' items that Pak n Save doesn't stock. We have a smaller New World in Onerahi and and even smaller 4 Square store in Parua Bay which I use for top up items like milk, cheese, cereals etc. so you can see that 90% or more of my grocery shopping is with the two main players.

It's a Hobson choice really.

* This happens from time to time until the independents get too big and the big players (Foodstuffs and Woolworths) drive them out of business or take them over.