Hardwarehouse

Hardwarehouse was an Australian home improvement retail chain that originated from BBC Hardware, which was owned by Burns Philp and later acquired by Howard Smith Limited in 1994. The chain rebranded as Hardwarehouse following the acquisition and expanded rapidly across Australia and New Zealand, opening up to 14 stores annually. By 2001, it had grown to become the largest corporately owned home improvement retailer in the region with 62 stores and over 5,000 employees.

Hardwarehouse first opened a store in Sydney's Bankstown in 1992, followed by expansions into other locations such as Rockdale, Thornleigh, and Caringbah. The chain later expanded to cities like Melbourne, Perth, Queensland, and New Zealand, primarily Auckland. In 2001, Howard Smith Limited was acquired by Wesfarmers (now Bunnings), leading to the closure of three stores and the reformulation of others into Bunnings retail outlets.

Hardwarehouse operated a total of 62 stores across Australia and New Zealand, with significant presence in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and smaller operations in the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia, and New Zealand's Auckland region.