and Lea Penrose, Cooyar
May 29, 2019
South Burnett tradies enjoyed a sneak peek behind-the-scenes at the new Bunnings Warehouse in Kingaroy on Wednesday afternoon.
Store manager Chris Carter said 450 tradespeople had booked in for the Tradies Night from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.
The new store will be officially opened on June 4 but there will be a “soft” opening ahead of this, possibly as early as this Friday.
Chris told southburnett.com.au the total Bunnings team in Kingaroy would be 68 people, and 59 of these had been hired locally.
The store is divided into three main departments: “Builders” (which includes timber, hardware and tools), “In The Home” (which covers plumbing fixtures, kitchens, lighting, cleaning, paint etc) and “Lifestyles” (including outdoor living and the garden centre).
Chris said that there would be two to three staff members attending to each department, as well as staff at the checkouts, special orders desk and cafe.
“There will be a minimum of 15-20 people in the store at any one time,” he said.
“The thing we do the best is customer service. We aim to make this our point of difference to any opposition.”
The Kingaroy Bunnings is classified by the company as a “warehouse” which means it carries a full variety of items.
It will carry about 45,000 product lines but another 60,000 or so can be ordered in.
It is larger than the Dalby outlet which is a small format store.
The Kingaroy store covers about 8000sq m but is still small in comparison with the some of Bunnings’ metro stores, the largest of which is about 18,000sq m.
The timber yard consists of five lanes – two inside and three outside – as well as a cut-shop where timber can be cut to size.
Tradies can drive in and park their vehicles in the outside lanes to facilitate loading.
The Kingaroy outlet also includes a children’s playground, cafe and outdoor living display.
UPDATE: It’s now official. the Kingaroy Bunnings store will be open for business at 6:00am on Friday.
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What’s Happening
Friday, June 7
- 5:00pm-8:00pm: Jumping castle, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, slushies, fairy floss, photo booth, animal farm and Paw Patrol Show
- 8:00pm: Fireworks display
Saturday, June 8
- 9:00am-2:00pm: Jumping castle, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, slushies, fairy floss, photo booth and animal farm
- 11:00am–2:00pm: Sesame Street Meet and Greet (Zoe and Elmo)
Sunday, June 9
- 9:00am-2:00pm: Jumping castle, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, slushies, fairy floss, photo booth and animal farm
Saturday, June 15
- 9:00am–1:00pm: Jumping castle, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, slushies, fairy floss, photo booth and animal farm
- 11:00am–2:00pm: PJ Masks Meet and Greet
Sunday, June 16
- 9:00am–1:00pm: Jumping castle, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, slushies, fairy floss, photo booth and animal farm
Chris said free DIY workshops for both adults and children would be held every weekend.
[UPDATED: Sesame Street is now on June 8, not June 9]
Do you mean Bunnings will open Friday 31st May
Yes, the doors will open to shoppers at 6:00am this Friday. This is the “soft” opening. The “official” opening is June 4.