A further sixteen new jobs will be available for Dubbo residents as a result of strong sales since the store opened in May.

The 16 new employees will join a team of 100 local team members.

“We are very pleased with results at Bunnings warehouse Dubbo to date - sales are tracking extremely well and we are very happy to be there. Bunnings is focused on providing Dubbo and the surrounding area with the widest range at the lowest prices, giving back to the local community and creating employment,” Bunnings chief operating officer Peter Davis, who was in Dubbo to open the store in May, said .

“We are really pleased to have opened the doors to our Dubbo warehouse and be part of such a great regional community. Bunnings always looks for ways to contribute to local causes and we look forward to making an ongoing contribution here in Dubbo,” he said.

Bunnings Dubbo has already thrown its support behind local community groups, including the Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW and Dubbo Base Hospital Auxiliary.

Since the store opened, regular community barbecues have taken place on the weekends, with various groups participating including schools, netball clubs and the local Rotary club to raise funds for their organisation.

The Dubbo team’s first Community Blitz has been planned, to provide some help to a local school in need of some much-needed garden restoration and landscaping work. Bunnings team members will be on hand with materials and the man power to complete the work needed.

Bunnings will continue its roll-out of stores across Australia and New Zealand, with 14 planned for this year.

Forty per cent of these new stores will be in regional Australia. In addition to its Dubbo warehouse, Bunnings warehouse has recently opened its doors in other regional parts of New South Wales at Ulladulla and Mittagong, and these stores are also trading very well. Bunnings has also secured an additional site at Armidale and with others in the pipeline.

The 12,500 square metre Bunnings Warehouse Dubbo, built at a cost of $24.6 million, has parking for 280 cars.

belinda.galloway@ruralpress.com