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Masters Home Improvement - 50% off All Sherwin Williams Paint + More

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Unfortunately the axe has fallen and Masters will cease trading at all stores on or before 11 December 2016.

Advice from staff today highlighted the upcoming catalogue starting Thursday, 25 August is a sign of things to come, with continually improving discounts leading upto the 11 December or earlier.

Current Catalogue Deals:
50% off All Sherwin Williams Paint - https://www.masters.com.au/brands/sherwin-williams
30% off All Garage Storage
20% off BBQ accessories - https://www.masters.com.au/garden-outdoor-living/bbqs-outdoo…
20% off hozelock hoses and fittings


For information regarding the closure

Mod 25/8: The original title was 'Closing down / Fire Sale', however Masters have informed us that these offers are part of the regular catalogue, much of it covered in the previous catalogue deal post. Note that the catalogue is no longer available online and experience in store may vary, see comments.

Mod 26/8: Masters have clarified: For now the catalogue prices are still active in stores however they may not be ticketed, customers will find they still scan at the registers.

This is part of Father's Day deals for 2016.

Related Stores

Masters Home Improvement
Masters Home Improvement

closed Comments

        • +1

          IKEA is not that bad if you actually look at the back of the price tag and check the material they made from.

        • @nbn: the solid wood items tend to be $300+, even then they tend to be too light for furniture. the cheaper items aren't much better than corflute & cardboard, lol.

    • A lot more than two stores closing this time.

  • +3

    Boooo, this is bad news.

    • +4

      Boo-urns! Boo-urns!

      • +10

        Smithers, what are they saying?

        Boo-unnings sir! Boo-unnings!

  • +3

    chasing 50% off mulch

    • +8

      Then buy it from a landscape supply yard bulk and not in a bag and you will get it even cheaper.

      • Buy it from tree pruners, they'll dump more than you can handle on your front lawn for free.

    • Find out where the council dumps all the smooshed tree branches and woodchippings. Locally they dump it in a huge pile and people come and take it away. You see people filling their trailers all the time.

  • +6

    It's sad to see them go, but honestly despite living in a built up area the closest Masters was ages away. I never got the chance to go to one, and wasn't going to drive halfway across the city to try it.

    • +1

      The 100's of jobs have zero value? This is more than a new eneloop bargain.

  • +4

    I wonder if we will still be getting the money from cashrewards for masters. I have $46 pending, half that is already past it's estimated date!

    • +1

      Magic 8 ball says - outlook is doubtful.

      • That's what I was thinking. Cashback is still available on cashrewards though.I guess I can hold out hope til it all disappears.

  • +1

    sadly unsurprising. i just read through the ASX announcement and masters have sold all the store inventory to a company called "great american". they sold all the stock in circuit city when that closed in the USA, and look really similar to hilco that sold all of the dick smith stock. so not too sure if there will be any wild bargains. they say the stock was sold for $500m. i wonder what it was most recently valued at? that'll give us a clue as to what sort of % off there might be.

    • Well they have less than 4 months to sell the inventory. But it does say "underwritten" so maybe not as much pressure to liquidate everything at or below cost?

      • +2

        underwritten just mean woolies/masters are getting $500m, whether GA sell the stock for $300m or $900m, they still get $500m.

        • So does that mean GA would have a say on the amount discounted? Because masters giving huge discounts would eat into GAs stock /profit from the $500m purchase wouldn't it?

          As you may guess, I don't understand how it works. :p

        • @Name:

          They will probably start with standard % off discounts and keep the % amount as the weeks go by. Most people will be happy with between 10-40% so by 50% off most stock will be gone.

          Similar to Dickies however Masters will have better quality and more interesting stuff as it's only been around for 5 years.

        • @Name:

          That's correct they will dictate the prices and was confirmed today in store

  • Hope they have the Weber 2100 on there soon.

    • +1

      I'm monitoring all the Weber items too. I want a Weber Performer, maybe even a new Weber OTS.

      Almost tempted to go down and 'layby' one and then cancel it when they go on sale, no idea if they do layby though.

  • Damn, excludes Weber products

  • +1

    Any specific white paint for our fence similar to this?

    https://www.google.com.au/search?q=green+iron+fence&client=m…

    • +4

      Yes, Green paint.

      • ..or at least black. Actually blends into the background better in most cases for some reason.

    • Yeah you're looking for green paint

  • +3

    Will be interesting to keep an eye on these sales for anything worthwhile. My suspicion is that this will be a bit like the last month or 2 of DSE where the actual bargains were few and far between.
    You would imagine that a lot of the more valuable stock could go back to the distributors so even if they take a hit of say 30% by doing that it's still better than selling it to the public for 50, 60, 70 % off etc just to get rid of it.
    Even if some other company comes in and takes (as an example) all the plumbing stuff for 20% off you would think that would happen before it gets sold of to the public at much higher discounts and only the bits that are left make it into the hands of the public??

  • +7

    Such a shame. There were so many Masters bashers since it came out. I actually preferred actually getting some service at Masters and the prices were comparable. I spent so many hours in line at the Bunnings paint station then I care for. Unfortunately for me Masters only opened up within a 45 min drive early this year. Everyone will now complain when Bunnings jack up their prices. Mitre10 and Home have always been far inferior on price, will reserve judgement for the combined forces but I dont have my hopes up.

  • Inventory divestment specialist GA Australia will manage the sale of Masters' stock which is expected to fetch $500 million.

    • +2

      it'll fetch woolworths $500m
      it'll fetch GA a lot more than that

  • +7

    I'm really annoyed that the only choice we have now is bunnings.

    • +1

      Yet Bunnings only has about 20% of the AU "hardware" market. Bunnings is just a jack of all trades where you go for convenience, not service, range or even price. Think of any hardware category and you could name a competitor who would beat Bunnings on service, range and price.

      Bunnings is only perceived as being the place to go for hardware as their stores are huge and everywhere convenient.

      • You're not wrong. For example, I find plumbing supplies to be cheaper at Reece's…

        • +1

          Yes true and for major categories such as tools (especially), building supplies, landscaping supplies, lighting, electrical, nursery, kitchen, floor coverings, gardening, etc, etc, etc Bunnings doesn't cut it compared to specialist retailers.

        • +5

          I find plumbing supplies to be cheaper at Reece's…

          You must have a trade account. Their "retail" is a joke.

        • @abc:

          Where do you buy tools from?

          I have bought a few and found them to be the cheapest.

        • @manic: No trade account. Tried buying the plastic pipes that connect water filters to fridges before? Check the pricing at bunnings and then try Reece. Other bits and bobs like adaptors and fittings I found were also cheaper.

        • @Munki:

          https://www.bunnings.com.au/aquaport-1-4-x-3m-tubing_p509012…

          Seems ok. And $10 for a packet of connectors. How much at Reece?

        • @manic: I bought 12 metres for that price… Also, sorry can't give you examples for connectors as I've forgotten how much they were. I just know they were cheaper when I was looking for some…

        • @Munki:
          You have a very big kitchen.

        • @manic: Nah..kitchen didn't have the piping for fridges that dispense water (oldish house), so I had to wire it all the way from the laundry. Didn't want to add a splitter under the kitchen sink either…

      • Maybe help break this perception by giving a quick list?

        I literally go to bunnings cause that's all I know. And maybe Mitre 10, but that never has what I want.

      • Think of any hardware category and you could name a competitor who would beat Bunnings on service, range and price.

        Dunno, in terms of electrical supplies my leccie reckoned some prices were better at bunnies than they could get from their specialist electrical supplier. Apparently you only get significant discounts in volume purchasing. For individual and out-of-town contractors this may not be possible.

  • +31

    I would normally be excited about a sale. But some how masters closing down brings a certain sadness instead of joy. really liked Masters.

    • +4

      I did a full renovation of the family home in the past year and used masters a lot. I've power sockets, pendant lights, paint, flooring and all manner of things from them including a lot of my tools. These things will be a reminder of their existence for many years to come. I was hoping Woolies would reverse the decision to exit the business and instead change business strategy. It's a sad day.

      • I agree. There were a few encouraging signs that both anocotally and comments from staff had suggested the business had begun to improve after the initial news. This was even quoted in The Australian.

        It will eventually come back to bite Woolworths. Once the supermarkets are repaired shareholders will wonder where the next growth will come from. It will be nigh on impossible to get a network of land to start another venture like this plus 15 sites will end up strengthening Bunnings which is counterintuitive given ot will give the competition a leg up

  • Woolies do the books for these other businesses they run,
    then bill them a fortune to do it, to boost Woolworths profits
    Just counter intuitive to successful business

  • +5

    Can we all have a minute silence for Woolworths?

    *Masters out
    *Dicks out

    What next the good guys?

    "#DicksOut4Woolworths"
    "#MastersOut4Woolworths"

    • Big W.

    • I read a discussion on I think abc news the other day about target verse kmart. By the sound of the article it could be one of them. Either thay or they'll be undergoing a big rebranding.

      (edit:found the article)
      http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/kmart-ate-target-st…

    • So this week we learnt in Victoria the taxi industry will be no more. Masters is now going too. Once Amazon is here many more businesses will close. Technology changes seem to be accelerating the collapse of inefficient businesses.

    • Kmart have somehow hit the motherload, they've convinced people that cheap crap is actually cool.

  • +2

    Sad to see masters go

  • I'm calling dibs for the huge MASTERS shop sign. On a serious note, I'm very worried for DEBCO now.
    I think I read somewhere that Debco used to supply to Bunnings but when they found out they supplied to Masters too, Bunnings cut all ties with them. I wonder what they're gonna do now. Knock on Bunnings' door and beg?

    It's kinda depressing to think about the butterfly effect of big stores closing down…

    PS - I prefer Debco's potting mix than Bunnings.

  • It's gonna be a tough scoop. Well at least in my local masters. Staff are getting the first draw. A few times already i was first customer during a sale and staff have set aside high priced item for themselves. And when i query them, the guy said they get priority over the public.

    • +5

      So they should…

    • +5

      To be honest, I'm not overly fussed by this. Why? Because they will be out of a job leading into Christmas and any extra they can buy, good on em. Hence I'm feeling sympathetic for them. Job market is not looking good, spending is decreasing, quiet period for non retail leading into Christmas etc.

    • Yeah. Thats why i said to em fair enough. Wasnt too fussed over it.

    • +3

      Masters staff have always been super nice. They deserve it. It'll be a tough Christmas for many of them.

    • The thing is that I think it's different to say what happened with Dick Smith. When DSE did the sale that the staff were taking the best part this was when the company was still solvent and widely advertised sale. With these staff here they have done the right thing and remained with the business post the announcement. If a couple of items end up going to them so be it I'm not offended at all

  • +1

    Shame the Woolworths strategy team and executives were not more useful!

    • Perhaps the fire-sale revenue will redeem Masters management in the eyes of Woolworths (they can't be too bright after-all)

      From today's press release:
      GA Australia is part of the Great American Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of B.Riley Financial Inc., one world’s largest inventory divestment specialists.

      Masters stores will cease trading on or before 11 December 2016. Until then, Masters staff will support GA Australia to manage the sale of Masters inventory. GA Australia has provided an underwritten recovery for the value of the Masters Home Improvement (Masters) inventory and has been appointed to manage the sell-down of Masters inventory. The underwritten recovery is subject to certain adjustments and is estimated to deliver gross proceeds of approximately $500 million. Sell-down of Masters inventory to be conducted over the coming months

      So GA will run some dodgy campaigns and send everything it can back to the suppliers. Will there be any real bargains? Certainly none will be on the Masters website, they are closing it to orders and probably inventory. Perhaps the website cost more than the shops to run?

  • Liked Masters but had a Bunnings really close so always went there.

  • +2

    Here in Coffs Harbour we have a Masters and a Bunnings within 2 mins drive of each other.

    I have found Masters to be better on some prices but the staff is what kept me going back. There was always someone available to ask and the store was always neat and tidy and well laid out.

    Bunnings on the other hand has always been a shambles. Trying to get help there is nearly impossible.

    Will be sad to see Masters go.

    • Bunnings used to be very well staffed, and now it's like finding a needle in a haystack. Last time I was there customers were getting narky with each other over getting help.

  • +4

    I dislike Bunnings, from their stupid ads that cater to the ignorant, to the door greeter that would be of more use helping customers…

    Sad to see the competition narrow!

    • +1

      Their ads half the time don't even talk about specials. Some of those lines are regular products at normal prices.

      In saying that it's actually not Bunnings fault about Masters closure. By all metrics there is still a significant market that the combination of the two businesses still miss. This is a short term vision from WOW management and shareholders

  • +1

    Really sad to see Masters go. Now Bunnings gonna rip us off, and we will have no say of it!

    Judging by the closing date, guess I should stock up soon for Christmas/NY renovation

    • +4

      Bunnings have been ripping you off since before Masters. They have all their own products, or products of familiar brands have slightly different makeup so they can have a different PLU and they don't have to price match it. ie. Makita drills, you won't find the product code of any of their Makita drills anywhere else except Bunnings, therefore they don't have to price match.

      • We all knew the price matching just their BS marketing scam..actually for both Masters & Bunnings

  • +2

    I wonder how long has the exe management has been thinking about closing Masters down. I mean, look at the new store on Ferry Rd. in Southport, GC. It was only opened last year! The whole store was built from scratch! What a waste!

    • Same with the one in Marsden Park NSW. Brand New.

      There is a Bunnings right next door, too, but you have to pass the Bunnings to get to the Masters…

      • +1

        My local Bunnings and Masters are within a stones throw of each other.

  • +3

    only been to a masters once as it's far. i loved how clean & spacious it was compared to bunnings. they stocked a greater range of products too.

    the people who decided on the locations didn't think it through. in the areas where there's a high turnover of property sales and where renovating is like putting out the christmas decorations they don't have any stores.

    yet they have all these stores close to each other in lower income areas.

    • Another indicated that they were outgunned by an experienced bunnings management team. A better strategy would be to find gaps in bunnings locations and work from there first before going head to head. That way cash flow would've been easier.

      • They did give Bunnings two years notice too. This was announced in 2009 and opened first store in 2011. By the time the Network was established it was most likely 3-4 years which allowed them to refine their offer

  • What happens to warranty after they close?

  • Never been to a Masters. Do they sell floors?

    • +1

      You can now get the whole store if you want. Including floors.

  • so sad. i got many great buys from them. dremel stuff, maglites, bonsais, tools and ENELOOPS!

    screw Bunnings…with a splintered broom handle :(

  • +5

    As far as I know these deals are just normal catalogue deals. This catalogue was written up for Father's Day sales around a week ago.
    We were told at the same time as the press release, maybe 2 or 3 minutes earlier. not many people knew the decision that was going to be made, I'm assuming including marketing team.

    TL;DR: if there's going to be sales they're most likely going to be different to all these sales and I'm not sure when they'll start but I'll keep you posted

    • That looks right with the catalogue being a normal sale.

      Expect once 'Great America' take stock to see those genetic signs seen at Borders, Dick Smith that look tacky and offer minimal value. Surely Masters could have done a better job than they could in liquidating the stock

    • +1

      Hope you get to find a new job soon TivX2 - sorry to hear about what's happening to your jobs :/

      • Cheers

    • +2

      Just an update: You won't see any of the catalogue deals advertised in store, but they will scan up on the register.

      • Good to know, thanks.

        • And yes, all the best with your job prospects.
      • It is strange that do not have the catalogue on the website either. Staff were unhelpful as usual..more so now as there is no performance pressure. But anyway scan the price for each item as no one knows what is reduced and what is not. It is a complete mess. They have taken off all the reduced markings or most of them and you just find out price at the check out. No auto checkout at the store either. Helps.

        Not talking about the whole group but a lot of the staff there have not idea of most things you ask!

        • +4

          Just FYI. We were ready to have signage etc for this catalogue. Got cancelled and signage not to be put up. Please Don't take it out on the store staff. Most of them have enough stressing ATM and don't make these decisions anyway.

        • Feom what I was told when I went in store they staff were told that the catalogue was not to be honored as Masters did not own the stock anymore. As mentioned here the items did go through at the discount however I can sympathize it would be hard given they only found out when the market did

        • +1

          @TivTiv: I know what you are saying I have gone through a much worse process. At least the staff here have time, we were given 30 mins! But as I said most staff at Masters have always come across as very ignorant and very weak on subject matters. Anyway always sad to see less competition. Amongst all the comments you will find that no one has said anything great About Bunnings as well. So does not mean criticism of one brand is a positive for another one. Hope you all find work sooner.

    • will they still take back returns? I bought the wrong size timber last week and planning to take it back to get it exchanged for something else. Is payment via gift cards going to cease soon too?

      • AFAIK, returns as per normal. Gift cards as per normal and usable at woolworths group after ceasing business

  • +2

    It's disappointing they were not able to find another buyer for the business. Surely Woolworths would have almost been better keeping the property assets and then moving it in years later.

    The business never got a true chance to succeed. The media was negative towards the business since launch, reporting all the mistakes the business made and not about the potential and market opportunity for this business. I am sure if given time this would be a major contributor to Woolworths profit yet instead goes for a fire sale price

    • +3

      I live in an area where my 3-4 nearest Masters stores are directly across the road from bunnings. I consistently went to masters first on every occasion but always noticed the bunnings carpark to be 2-3 time more full than Masters. I felt sad to see this everytime and always asked myself why. I guess when it's own management says the business is failing then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

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