A LOCAL small business owner has defended a controversial marketing stunt directed at Swan Hill’s new hardware mega-competitor Bunnings.
Mitre 10-branded Swan Hill Hardware last week launched a new campaign called the #the-f*@%ubunningssale.
Store owner Leigh Cowling told The Guardian that his business had been “annihilated” since Bunnings opened its Beveridge Street shed at the start of May and said he planned to keep the signs as they were.
Mr Cowling argued that the controversy was based on misconception.
“Everybody that’s upset shouldn’t be, because it’s not the word that they think it is. It’s just symbols,” he said.
“To me we’re not saying anything wrong. It’s the way any individual perceives what they say on there.”
Following the controversy, sales at the hardware store have bounced back to pre-Bunnings levels, but Mr Cowling, who also owns the Mitre 10 at Sea Lake, said the resurgence has come at a cost.
“We can’t survive on the discounts we’re giving at the moment — it’s unsustainable as a business,” he said.
“And if we don’t provide the discount it’s unsustainable as well.”
Mr Cowling’s Sea Lake store is closing its doors in two weeks’ time and he believes his Swan Hill store, which has been in operation for 32 years and employs 14 staff, will follow soon after.
And according to Mr Cowling, it isn’t just retail hardware that is suffering from the ‘Bunnings effect’.
He predicts more small businesses in Swan Hill will fold, from nurseries to paint shops to glass and tile business.
But Mr Cowling is staying gracious in defeat.
“Bunnings are a sensational business, they are unbelievably good,” he said.
“And that’s why they do what they do, because people out there love going to shop at Bunnings.
“We can’t fight them. We can’t fight them at this level.
“Mitre 10 can’t fight them at a national level.
“Woolworths [Masters] can’t fight them at a national level and be successful.
“That’s how good Bunnings are.”
