B&Q further down the pan?

Certainly selection on their website

david lang wrote:

There're probably some new building regulations coming out concerning hinges.

Ah, so I'm not the only one who now finds B&Q somewhat less useful than it used to be. Ever since my local store was revamped and everything moved frpm it's customary place, not only do I now have a problem locating the right section of the store, which is most likely due to senility on my part, but when I do find the section I want I increasingly find that they don't have what I want.

New Regs due out begining of April

BS-EN / Bl41R / B0110X

'for safety reasons all hinges must now be sold without holes [these to be bought separately] Addendum; hinges must be incapable of moving more than 1 degree...ends

They all do it. Wickes has got more and more "style" rather than "decorating" stuff.

What I think happens is that someone at head office looks at the profit per foot for each part of the shop, and changes things based on that. Forgetting that it's when we've gone in to buy 3 number 17 froglet screws for 7p each that we make the impulse buys of a new toolbox, router and all the wood for those shelves we were going to put up.

B&Q are opening a series of stores called "Trade Depot" which will deal with the more basic stuff. They'll also be opening a load of Screwfix stores.

B&Q will concentrate on the more "frilly" stuff.

sponix

Maybe B&Q got fed up of half the hinges being nicked. Go down my local B&Q or Wickes and anything small has been pulled out of the packet and pocketed. Not so much a problem when you're marking the product up 10 times but now they're trying to keep prices close to Screwfix ones.

Maybe B&Q got fed up of half the hinges being nicked. Go down my local B&Q or Wickes and anything small has been pulled out of the packet and pocketed. Not so much a problem when you're marking the product up 10 times but now they're trying to keep prices close to Screwfix ones.

Was it ever any good?

Buy a box of each and every possible hinge from Screwfix, and you'll still pay less than a couple of plastic bag packs of the same items from B&Q.

In article , Nick Atty writes

Not sure what Wickes's excuse is. I did read somewhere not so long ago that B&Q were having a "re-think". Apparently an increasing number of their customers are ladies, so they are altering their ranges to better appeal to them, so out go the boring things like hardware (or at least the stock range is scaled down).

Adrian

Don't B&Q own Screwfix with the original Screwfix founders now running something else in competition ?

Jon

Adrian Simpson wrote: I did read somewhere not so long

Tried to buy some brick ties the other week.......................................

Then I wanted a pickaxe......................................

Sigh.

Dave

There are evening courses on bricklaying... No need to go to those extremes ;-)

That explains why the original poster couldn't find his stuff because of the steam irons and cushions, right...?

I tried to buy a pickaxe from B&Q in Edinburgh because I had to dig postholes and a trench in my ex-wasteland garden. They said they had stopped selling them because of safety reasons - apparently people here in Scotland are known to smack each other in the heads with pickaxes! Good heavens! That they still seemed to be carrying the Stanley knives used by the Sep 11 hijackers...

Almost - B&Q and Screwfix are both part of the Kingfisher group.

The Screwfix founders went on to form Toolstation.

Mathew

Gracious me.

I thought the Executive's work in promoting sports in schools had made baseball bats the weapon of choice.

Or perhaps that's a West Coast phenomenon.

Owain