B&Q Luton

Plus the two Lidl branches and a second Sainsburys in Luton.

Machine Mart (not quite the same market sector) opened in Luton not long ago.There's also a Tooltastic across the road from Toolstation.

What make me think they ought be selling Viagra and Calis and some other Proprietary "bonk faster" substances;?..

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Interesting, they are about to open a new one in Bedford on November

In message , Roland Perry writes

St Neots, Eaton Socon, is a quite reasonable one, as far as B&Qs go. Maybe closer than Peterborough? Plus there is a Gibbs and Dandy and a Jewsons almost next door.

Failing business model with business rates as an excuse?

Theo

So far as I can see many things are still divergent under the same roof. I wanted some roofing bolts today, just a few little 'uns. Looked at the Wickes rack first: A bag of 12 M6 x 40 ( a bit big for what I wanted) - £2.97. Over to the Toolstation counter (where I was going anyway) and the same size was £1.83 for a bag of 25.

In message , at 13:38:04 on Sat,

That's only a "mini warehouse", the same as Cambridge.

In message , Roland Perry writes

Ah ha, I must get out more then! I thought it was quite large.

So they are still selling the same products but at hugely different prices?

I imagined that all the stuff Toolsatan sell cheaper would disappear from the Wickes shelves?

/ / Hoist by their own petard, if you ask me. Since B&Q started up the 'trade only' sections I go out of my way to avoid buying there (or Screwfix).

The firm has lost its way.

Luckily Toolstation is rapidly catching Screwfix up.

I think there's a bit of prejudice being exploited there: Some people think that the 'trade-iness' of Toolstation is not right for them, sp buy from the Wickes stock. Equally, I expect some people haven't even looked. They're hardly going to turn down a bit of extra profit from people who can't be bothered to compare. Mind you, I have a garage full of things I've bought in quantity at less than the price of a small pack, partly on the basis that I'll find another use for it. Somehow never seems to happen (or I can't find it when I then need it).

On the other hand, I bought something from Wickes a few weeks ago that would have been a bit less at the TS counter, but I was buying a pile of other 'Wickes-only' stuff and couldn't be @rsed to go queue up again for

I did get a good deal at the screwfix exhibition though, Drayton TRV4's with lockshields, £15 each.

Screwfix have tried to get me to join their trade scheme a couple of times, but I never get around to it, so that business currently goes to their competitors who don't play such silly games.

Thankfully, I do get through screws, plugs, silicone, gripfil quickly enough to make bulk packs viable. Bear in mind I give small items like plugs & screws away I'm conscious of the cost.

IKWYM but its often a lot more than that.

In B&Q today, in one of their 'offer' bins were packs of 25 single thread wood screws, 5mm x 40mm for £2.45. At Toolstation they are £2.65 for 200.

I should think it's a significant component of your overhead. Of course, I'd get through packs more effectively if I ever found a few hours to organise the bloody garage! I have to admit to liking the Screwfix Turbogold screws for most things, even if they do cost a bit more than the cheapest possible, and I have them pretty well organised/accessible.

Indeed. And then it's well worth the double queue.

Small packs of screws etc must be one of the highest mark-up items in retail. I suspect that few 'casual' consumers ever realise that they could get a better deal, or maybe they just don't do enough jobs to make it worthwhile having any spare. Even in B&Q, though, they have boxes for not *too* much more than SFX or TS, if I recall (been a while since I looked).

I find they get a bit vicious, especially in the larger sizes and used with an impact driver, tending to force the pieces of wood apart, rather than pulling them tight - don't seem to have that problem with the Goldscrew Plus - they're also a tad cheaper.

The fully threaded sizes do that. The trick is to reverse it out, then drive it in again.

Advertising & fuel etc are the biggest.

I have a metal organiser box with Turbogold & another with Quicksilver. These are on special every now & again & well worth it.

Indeed.

Last time I went in, having run out of 1 x 8 Quicksilver, 200 were over a £5. Toolsatan about £1.