On 14 April, DIY store chain Bauhaus will open its second Dutch store in Twente. Its 15,000 sqm store will be located in the Westermaat business park in Hengelo.
National coverage to be achieved soon
Bauhaus Netherlands opened its first DIY center in Groningen in the fall of 2015 and its first Bauhaus Cafe was also located here. The Swiss chain aims to have a nationwide coverage thanks to fifteen stores, but it is meeting resistance from Hornbach, which protested its arrival in Arnhem last year.
Its newest DIY center is allegedly fifteen specialty stores in one location, from construction materials to parquet, sanitation and more. According to Bauhaus, it will have 120,000 items on sale. To better assist its customers, Bauhaus hired 140 skilled employees with knowledge about everything the chain sells.
The center will have dedicated divisions, like Stadstuin (urban garden), Badkamerland (bathroom land) and a drive-in for construction materials. A customer can then drive his car or van to the shelf and grab the required materials right then and there. The cash register will then scan and bill the items without the need for the customer to get out of the car. An artisan worker can therefore quickly stock up on supplies and continue his work.
Professional products
The store chain’s Prof Depot division will house a product range, services and advice catered towards professionals. It will open its doors at seven in the morning and has everything from scaffolding to isolation materials.
“Bauhaus is a new type of DIY center. The market is changing and the consumer decides where it goes. We not only have a varied product range, but we also offer advice and services you previously could only find with a specialist. Our employees have plenty of experience dealing with the materials they are selling”, Bauhaus Hengelo’s location manager, Jeroen Christenhusz, said
Bauhaus Nederland CV is Interbauhaus AG’s subsidiary, a Swiss company active in nineteen European countries.