By Sarah Falson
VICTORIA: The Betta Electrical superstore at the newly-renovated Cranbourne Homemaker Centre in Victoria is the first of a line of Betta stores to trial a “selective supply” process, stocking only a portion of the brands offered in existing Betta outlets.
Betta Electrical Cranbourne proprietor, Chris Hocking, told Current.com.au that he and his younger brother, Dane Hocking, both former mechanical engineers, were partners in the design and layout of the new store, which opened in November 2006.
“The store is the first of its kind and other Betta Electrical stores will follow suit shortly,” said Chris.
“The layout is very open and spacious, so customers can really see the products on display. We have six separate home theatre display rooms, and a dedicated kitchen area. Our dedicated supply areas allow us to only stock the higher end, better brands.”
The Cranbourne Homemaker Centre, which is also home to a Harvey Norman store, has recently leased its last few vacant stores in stage two of the development, and will begin the third and final stage of development this year.
According to Hocking, the entire Homemaker Centre will be involved in a grand opening sale over two weekends this month – 16 and 17 February and 23 and 24 February.
“We are 150 metres away from Harvey Norman, and we’re actually twice the size of their electrical department. Our showroom is 1,336 square metres, with a 200 square metre warehouse on top of that.”
Hocking said that he understands Retravision Vic-Tas has shown interest in leasing one of the newly-developed store locations, once the development has concluded.
Hocking told Current.com.au that he welcomes the competition from other electrical and appliance retailers, should they decide to take up residence in the centre.
According to Hocking, the upmarket selection of products on his showroom floor mean hold his store in good stead, should healthy competition arise.
“We buy pretty,” he said.