| 3 BUSINESS T TKaren Phelps 50 years of success CEO Andrea Scown – Mitre 10 is a real ‘feel good’ business to be in. Mitre 10 NZ Limited: 50th Anniversary Mitre 10 has played an important part in Kiwi lives for decades and 2024 marks the brand’s 50th anniversary. CEO Andrea Scown says Mitre 10 is a real “feel good” business to be in. “The Mitre 10 brand is part of New Zealand’s DIY DNA. Many New Zealanders have grown up with Mitre 10 and trust the brand so much so that it has been awarded the most trusted brand in New Zealand in home improvement retailing 13 times. “We love helping Kiwis love where they live and it’s a privilege to be an important part of the fabric of New Zealand for such a long time.” She says Mitre 10 has changed and adapted over the years to meet the needs of customers from its beginnings in 1974. “The cooperative was established by a group of independent hardware merchants who came together as a buying group. Theories swirl around where name came from but the most popular one is that they were meeting at the Mitre pub in Melbourne and there were 10 in the original group,” says Andrea. Milestones over the years include the opening of the first garden centre in 1991 and in 2004 the introduction of first big box large format MEGA store – Mitre 10 MEGA in Hastings, which included a garden centre, café, trade drive through and the ability to stock a significant core range. Around half of the 84 stores New Zealand wide are now the big box format. In 2008 Mitre 10 opened a global sourcing office in China and in 2015 was the first home improvement business in New Zealand to go online offering ecommerce, home delivery and click and collect (called ‘collect in store’ at the time). Andrea says the most recent big milestone was in 2020 when the cooperative’s digital transformation commenced, which is still underway. “This has included significant changes to the operating model, doing more from our support centre. It’s been about centralising what makes sense and investment in end-toend systems. “For our customers that means a better experience as trade customers will have one account where they can shop anywhere, any time and enjoy a similar experience instead of separate accounts at each store. It will also free up team members so they can spend more time helping customers,” explains Andrea. She says the fact that each Mitre 10 is locally owned and operated has been a key to the longevity and success of the brand. “It’s based on local people with skin in the game who are hiring locals and dealing with local supply partners. This means they know their customers and teams well and are very active in making their communities a better place.” Giving back has been a huge part of the Mitre 10 model and each store gives in ways that are meaningful to their local community. On a national level in 2021 Helping Hands Project Playground was launched. Andrea says that Mitre 10 is committed to building better spaces for communities as play is vital to children’s physical, social and cognitive development and builds better, stronger, more resilient Kiwi kids. The project has delivered 13 schools new playgrounds with three more in progress and Mitre 10 has also gifted $10,000 gift cards to three further schools to help with maintenance and improvements to their play spaces. Sustainability is another important aspect of the Mitre 10 brand. This has included working with trade customers on new ways to reduce construction site waste and build more efficiently. Mitre 10 is undertaking sustainability and waste reduction trials in cross sector partnerships to make meaningful change at scale. In its stores, it offers a full circular recycling scheme for plastic garden pots with supply partner Zealandia Horticulture and so far over two million pots have been recycled. It also offers lightbulb recycling in partnership with Interwaste and polystyrene recycling with EXPOL. Andrea says with 30 stores participating, so much polystyrene has been recycled that it would cover both the North Island and South Island. Andrea says Mitre 10 will continue to do more in this space. As Mitre 10 heads into the future, more stores are planned to enable Mitre 10 to bring inspiration and choice to Kiwi to an even greater extent. “Making home improvement available to more and more New Zealanders is our goal, by providing value, great help, advice and solutions. Fifty years is a wonderful thing to celebrate and we look forward to the future.” “We love helping Kiwis love where they live and it’s a privilege to be an important part of the fabric of New Zealand for such a long time.” Endless possibilities. 0800 224 759 / sales@bbi.net.nz www.bbi.net.nz Plywood + Decking Solutions – bbi supply quality plywood and hardwood decking solutions to the New Zealand market including: bbi PlyBrace™ / RedLine® BlondeLine® / QuikDeck® 027 229 8565 2 Milward St, Washdyke wayne@heartlandprenail.co.nz Proudly supporting Mitre 10 NZ Limited
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=