Nick Mills: Less dogs and more staff at big box stores please!

Publish Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2026, 12:56pm

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Bunnings has more than doubled annual net profit in New Zealand for the second year in a row (Getty Images)

EDITORIAL:

You know I was listening Ryan Bridge this morning and he said something, and I said to myself Ryan, you are so right.

No wonder I listen to Ryan first thing in the morning, and he is very good first thing in the morning by the way.

He touched on something when he talked about his trip to Bunnings.

Now, firstly he started talking about, it was rainy and cold, so he took his dog for a walk in Bunnings.

So instead of being out in the rain he was taking his dog for a walk to get exercise.

You already know where I stand on that. It's Ryan so it's okay.

I don't think dogs belong wandering around inside retail stores, but that's a debate for another day.

The part of Ryan's story that really struck a chord with me wasn't the dog. It was the service.

Tell me honestly, when was the last time you walked into a big box store and there was great service within a couple of minutes?

Big box stores are the big boys - I'm talking about Bunnings, Mitre 10, The Warehouse, Kmart, Briscoes, Chemist Warehouse – all those huge stores where you can buy just about anything... except, sometimes, a staff member.

It drives me absolutely nuts.

You walk in looking for one simple thing.

A particular screwdriver. A specific light bulb. A certain paint sealer. Maybe a perfume or a kitchen gadget.

You don't know where it is, so naturally you go looking for someone who works there.

That's where the real challenge begins.

You wander up and down aisles, scanning for a red shirt, a blue shirt or whatever uniform they're wearing.

Eventually you find somebody, only to hear, "Sorry, that's not my department," or, "You'll have to ask someone else."

Really?

We were talking about this in the newsroom this morning, and one of my colleagues looked at me as if I was from another planet.

They said, "Why don't you just use your phone? Go onto the store's website. It'll tell you what aisle it's in."

But that's not shopping.

If I've got to stand there on my phone searching your website, checking stock levels, finding the aisle, comparing products and reading reviews, what exactly is the store staff there for there anyway?

I'm not against technology. Far from it. If I'm making a big purchase these days, I'll use AI to compare prices and work out the best deal. It's brilliant for that.

But technology should support good service, not replace it.

I remember the old days at Bunnings.

There was an older bloke at the front door, John from Lyall Bay.

He knew that store inside out.

I'd walk in and say, "John, where's this?" Bang – aisle 64.

"What about this?" Bang – aisle 53. He'd often tell you which product was actually worth buying as well.

That knowledge wasn't in an app. It was in experience.

Ryan's story was exactly the same.

He spent nearly 20 minutes trying to find a product, was told to use AI, then discovered the staff didn't even know where the product was in their own store.

Surely we've got this the wrong way around.

I'd rather see fewer dogs wandering around hardware stores and a few more knowledgeable staff who actually know the products, know the store, and can point customers in the right direction.

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