By Claire Reilly

Masters unveiled its newest store this week, opening the doors on a warehouse in Canberra’s Majura Park retail precinct. The area is already home to several other stores from the Woolworths Limited family – including Big W and Dick Smith – as well as one of Australia’s three Costco warehouses.

Following the opening of the store, Melinda Smith, chief operating officer for Masters Home Improvement, spoke about the new Canberra shopfront and Masters’ appliance offering.

“Masters Home Improvement offers a large range of home appliances including cooking, laundry, floor care and seasonal heating and cooling appliances,” said Smith. “The range offers a variety of products from big brands including Bosch, Electrolux, Westinghouse, Fisher & Paykel, Whirlpool, Samsung and Panasonic.

“There are more than 400 appliances on display in-store and we continue to offer customers the best value on these products and more. In addition to this, we also offer a huge range of affordable and quality DIY electricals and power tools from brands including Hitachi, Bosch, Panasonic, Worx and 909.”

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According to Smith, there will be over 150 staff employed at the store, with 7 service desks and 32 customer service call buttons to assist consumers.

Speaking about the direct competition with Costco in the appliance and electrical categories, Smith would not respond specifically to comments from Costco country manager, Patrick Noone, saying that Costco’s prices are “better and sharper”.

However, like Noone, she spoke positively about ‘competition’.

“Due to their paid membership and bulk buying proposition, they [Costco] have a very different offer when compared to the convenience, value and range of Masters,” said Smith. “We are very confident that we are price competitive across our store.

“Majura Park is Canberra's newest shopping destination and with anchor tenants like Big W and Woolworths the location represents a great opportunity for Masters Home Improvement to bring choice and competition to shoppers.

“We are confident that the growing number of shoppers who regularly visit Majura Park will embrace Masters the same way they have welcomed other retailers in the area.”