type subsidiary industry retail home improvement founded 2011 defunct december 11 2016 2016 12 11 1 number of locations 62 area served australia key people grant o brien woolworths limited ceo matt tyson managing director home improvement melinda smith director masters revenue a 1.1 billion 2016 2 operating income a 234 million 2016 2 parent woolworths limited website www.masters.com.au masters home improvement is the trading name of an australian home improvement chain operated by retailer woolworths limited . 3 masters was created as a way for woolworths limited to enter the hardware retail space which has been historically dominated by bunnings warehouse owned by rival wesfarmers . the two companies already compete with each other with groceries liquor fuel and general merchandise . the first masters outlet was opened in victoria in september 2011 . in january 2016 woolworths announced they would exit the hardware business selling or closing the masters home improvement chain . on 24 august 2016 it was announced all stores would close by mid december that year . 4 the subsidary is being sold in three phases a number of stores are being sold to rival bunnings warehouse the remaining stores are being sold to various companies including chemist warehouse and remaining stock is being sold to a private equity . contents 1 history 1.1 sale or windup 2 operating results 3 references 4 external links history edit masters was initially conceived as a joint venture between australian retailer woolworths limited and u.s. based hardware chain lowe s. 3 the brand name was announced on 2 may 2011 5 coinciding with the launch of a website at masters.com.au . 6 hans hulsbosch who has designed brand identities for woolworths and qantas designed the masters brand and logo . 7 the first outlet located in braybrook victoria opened to tradesmen on 31 august 2011 and the general public on 1 september 2011 . 5 in the sydney morning herald ceo don stallings is attributed as saying that staff will be trained for at least 100 hours and the stores will offer over 35 000 products . 8 ways in which masters will differentiate from its competitors include stores which are more brightly lit more colourful with polished concrete large colour signage and store displays it aims to place more emphasis on attracting female shoppers . buzzers scattered around the store which when pressed will send a nearby staff member to that location to help out a customer pagers handed to customers which enables them to continue shopping while their paint is tinted selling more non hardware lines such as whitegoods as well as having mcdonald s restaurants and mccaf s in selected stores . in june 2012 masters launched their transactional website that offers more than 30 000 products nationwide . this gave masters home improvement the title of australia s first online hardware and home improvement retailer . the first masters store in south australia opened in mount gambier in august 2012 followed by adelaide airport in december 2014 . 9 two more were then built in noarlunga centre & parafield but both never opened . sale or windup edit on 18 january 2016 woolworths announced that it intended to either sell or wind up all its home improvement area including the masters hardware chain . chairman gordon cairns said that it would take years to become profitable and that the ongoing losses could not be sustained . 10 the windup will involve woolworths buying back a 33.3 per cent interest in the venture held by the lowe s subsidiary wdr delaware corporation . 11 big box international retailers are now assessing whether masters stores are adequate for their use . 12 operating results edit a masters home improvement store in canberra australian capital territory . according to woolworths limited annual reports 13 masters results were financial year sales a millions or % prior year ebit a millions stores open at end of fy 2011 2012 146 na 117.4 15 2012 2013 529 262 % 156.6 31 2013 2014 752 42 % 176.0 49 2014 2015 930 24 % 227.4 62 references edit masters news . masters . 2016 08 28 . retrieved 5 september 2016 . a b sales report . full year results financial year 2015 page 21 pdf . retrieved 16 november 2015 . a b masters plan for diy market . melbourne theage.com.au . 3 may 2011 . retrieved 18 may 2011 . letts stephen ; morgan elissa 2016 08 24 . woolworths to shut masters by year end metcash buys home timber and hardware . abc news . retrieved 25 august 2016 . a b speedy blair 3 may 2011 . woolworths reveals plans for hardware venture . theaustralian.com.au . retrieved 18 may 2011 . masters website . masters home improvement . retrieved 18 may 2011 . billion dollar battle for diy . australiancreative.com.au . retrieved 18 may 2011 . woolies aims to master hardware . smh.com.au . 3 may 2011 . retrieved 18 may 2011 . 80m shopping complex opens . borderwatch.com.au . 10 aug 2012 . woolies winds up masters . courier mail . news corp. 17 january 2016 . retrieved 17 january 2016 . ryan peter ; janda michael 17 january 2016 . woolworths to exit doomed masters hardware venture . abc news . retrieved 11 july 2016 . low catie 9 october 2015 . woolworths could unlock treasure chest by dumping masters . sydney morning herald . fairfax . retrieved 11 july 2016 . woolworthslimited.com.au external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to masters home improvement . official website v t e woolworths limited supermarkets progressive enterprises nz countdown freshchoice supervalue thomas dux grocer woolworths supermarkets liquor bws cellarmasters dan murphy s langton s woolworths safeway liquor hospitality australian leisure and hospitality group petrol caltex woolworths caltex safeway general merchandise big w home improvement danks home timber and hardware plants plus thrifty link hardware masters home improvement former divisions big fresh dick smith flemings food for less foodtown georgie pie price chopper new zealand rockmans safeway australia tandy australia woolworths new zealand related 2006 progressive enterprises dispute langton s classification of australian wine list of woolworths limited companies woolworths rewards retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title masters home improvement & oldid 738682162 categories building materials companies of australiahome improvement companies of australiawoolworths limited2011 establishments in australiaretail companies established in 2011retail companies disestablished in 20162016 disestablishments in australiahidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages simple english edit links this page was last modified on 10 september 2016 at 13 05 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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