Brunei's GoodHome to beef up gardening category

Bruneian home improvement company GoodHome is beefing up its gardening category to cater to a growing segment in the country. David Lau, general manager of GoodHome operator Townview Sdn Bhd, told DIY International that plans are underway to expand the home improvement retailer's horticultural supplies selection in time for the launch of its third outlet, scheduled for 2023.

GoodHome's third branch in Jerudong – an area of Brunei known for being the stomping ground of the country's elite – will take up seven units of a three-storey facility that is currently under construction. It will be GoodHome's first branch that is not mall-based, and the retailer's biggest yet, at 1 486.45 m².

“Gardening will be the one area we will focus on after the hardware and household category,” Lau said. “We see that the gardening category is a good potential market in Brunei because most Bruneian houses have big compounds.”

The company has started adding options for quality gardening products – among those reported to be arriving soon are tree pruners, grafting tools, fruit pickers, garden hoses, transplanters, sprayers, compost tumblers and pot stands. Lau added that GoodHome continues to look for suppliers of gardening or farming watering systems, pots made of PVC or cement, all sizes of garden walk-in greenhouses, gardening recycling tanks, sprayers and other garden-related products.

GoodHome first looked at boosting its gardening tools category in 2017, but this was postponed due to the limited number of stores. The company had three branches in operation prior to the Jerudong store, but one – the first and the smallest – closed in 2020.

“Now, we are looking into it (gardening tools) again,” Lau said. “At the moment, with two branches operating, it is quite hard for us to get special prices on large quantities, but hopefully, after opening the third branch, we can bring quality products with the lowest prices to the Brunei market.”

According to research firm Statista, Brunei's DIY and gardening segment is expected to hit USD 5.08 mio this year and projected to grow to USD 5.25 mio by 2025. Meanwhile, the average spend per user for the segments, estimated at USD 91.05 this year, is forecast to decline to USD 74.82 by 2025…