Building materials and hardware supplier Buco has opened a new convenience store in Strijdom Park, Randburg.

The store, which had a soft opening about two months ago, was officially declared open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 6.

Buco has several large merchant stores around Gauteng focused on selling supplies to building contractors and developers, but the new Strijdom Park store is the company’s first consumer-focused convenience retail location in Gauteng.

The new store sells a range of tools, paints, general hardware and gardening supplies. It also offers value-added services, such as home delivery and project management services.

Speaking to Engineering News at the launch, Buco Honeydew branch manager Gavin Vorster said the new store is part of a larger strategic drive within the company to capture market share in the Gauteng retail hardware and building supplies market.

The company already has a large presence in the Eastern and Western Cape, with 22 and 24 stores in each province respectively. However, there are only eight stores in Gauteng.

“We’re busy with two or three business proposals for a few more new stores in the Gauteng area, and that's probably going to kick off in the next couple of months. But the main aim is not just to do convenience stores.

“The aim is to expand the footprint. If a new merchant store is best for a particular area, then that’s what we will do. It all depends on what the information from our analysis tells us,” Vorster explained.

He said the Strijdom Park location was chosen for the new convenience store owing to the high living standards measure of the area, indicating that there were more people in area engaged in home improvement projects and renovations who would be in need of the products that the store sells.

Vorster emphasised Buco’s preference for sourcing its products and materials from local suppliers, which contributed to competitive pricing and improved availability of stock.

He noted, however, that, amid Gauteng’s competitive building materials and hardware supply sector – with well-known brands such as Cashbuild, Builder’s Warehouse, Chamberlains and Leroy Merlin already having a well-established presence – superior customer service would be the defining competitive advantage.

“But it’s not just about price. It’s also about how we run our stores, the culture that we encourage, the way we manage our staff and the customer service orientation that we have. If you build good relationships with your staff, that plays out immediately to the clients.

“I think, with a lot of independent and large corporatised hardware and building materials retailers, they've lost their touch when it comes to servicing the public,” he said.

Strijdom said a major marketing drive was currently being planned for 2025, which would be geared towards increased brand awareness in Gauteng first, with the rest of the country to follow soon after.

“The overall brand awareness of Buco in Gauteng has been lacking. But they’re working on it. Pretty soon we will start expanding the marketing in not only Gauteng but across the country as well.

Once the Gauteng market has been successfully penetrated, Buco has longer term plans to roll out more stores nationwide.