DIY megastore and garden center with building material drive-in opens in Pader-born tomorrow / Euro 42 million invested / Existing site in Schloss Neuhaus to close / Team enlarged from 71 to 122 staff / Fantastic highlights on opening day
Paderborn / Bornheim, February 1, 2022. Just over 15 months after the ground-breaking ceremony at Wilfried-Finke-Allee, at 7 a.m. tomorrow Hornbach will open the doors of its new DIY store and garden center in Paderborn. Highlights awaiting customers on sales areas of around 18,600 square meters* include an enormous garden center with a large aquarium unit, an inspiring bathroom show and a drive-in facility where customers can drive their cars directly to the shelves, making it easy to load heavy and bulky construction materials. In all, the company has invested Euro 42 million in land, building and fittings while expanding the team from its existing location in Schloss Neuhaus from 71 to 122 employees, including five trainees.
“Our clear aim was to offer people in Paderborn all the product ranges, specialist departments and services that Hornbach has developed in recent years and for which the old location sadly did not offer enough space. That is why we decided to build a significantly larger new store. You could say that the new store is ‘state of the art’. It reflects our latest standards in terms of our product range and location development and offers the utmost inspiration, convenience and service”, explains Susanne Jäger, a member of the Board of Management of Hornbach Baumarkt AG, at today’s media conference. In the presence of City Mayor Michael Dreier, Enrico Gaffrey, District Director at Hornbach, adds: “This new store is not just the largest, but also the most up-to-date of our 18 locations in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). It is our new flagship in the region and well beyond. Here, we can act as the perfect hosts and optimally support people with projects in their houses, apartments, and gardens.”
Numerous modern specialist departments under one roof
One immediately striking highlight of the new store is the drive-in facility for building materials. Hornbach introduced this concept to the European DIY store sector back in 2003. It is hugely popular with DIY enthusiasts, and especially professional customers, as it makes it quick and easy for them to collect building materials, also in larger quantities. Customers just drive directly to the shelves and load the desired goods. Anyone without a suitable vehicle can simply hire a transporter from Hornbach or, if preferred, have materials delivered by truck and crane directly to their homes or building sites.
The new garden center is significantly larger than its predecessor at Schloss Neuhaus. Alongside countless plants, herbs, fruit trees, soils, and fertilizers, it for the first time also includes a garden workshop where new machines can be put into operation and older appliances inspected, maintained, and repaired. The next novelty is just around the corner: a huge aquarium unit with numerous ornamental fish and aquarium plants, as well as a large selection of fodder, lighting technology, and other accessories.
Further key focuses at the store include the picture and framing gallery, the paint competence center, a new lighting studio, generous presentations of flooring, an order center with a striking range of doors and windows on show, and the “Bathroom House”, where Hornbach presents bathroom design ideas in a variety of sample booths. Anyone wishing to modernize or renovate their bathroom will find all the products they need, as well as a full range of services – from planning carried out by specially qualified expert advisors to assembly performed by the tradespeople service.
Collection station and e-charging points in forecourt
The forecourt is also home to novelties. In front of the store entrance, there is a large collection station where customers can pick up goods previously reserved online by entering a code in the relevant compartment door. That is even possible outside store opening hours. Alternatively, customers who plan to shop at the store and wish to charge their electric vehicle at the same time should head for the clearly visible charging points in the car park. These are powered by 100 percent green electricity offered by Pfalzwerke Aktiengesellschaft under then 123energie brand. Up to four vehicles can be charged simultaneously at the two stations: The hyper-chargers even provide a range of 300 kilometers in just 20 minutes. An Alfen Eve double wall box provides further charging points.
Energy also played a key role in planning the new building. Thanks to a heat pump and 2,000 solar collectors on its roof, the store on Wilfried-Finke-Allee is Hornbach’s first location in Germany whose operations are largely energy neutral.
122 employees guarantee competent advice
Notwithstanding all these novelties, customers can rest assured that one factor at the Hornbach megastore will remain unchanged. The 71-strong team at the Schloss Neuhaus location, which will close its doors at 8 p.m. today, will still be available to support customers with great specialist expertise and enormous dedication. They will be assisted by 51 colleagues newly hired over the past year. “Together, we have all made intense preparations for the numerous new tasks and put in a huge effort in recent weeks”, says Hornbach’s store manager, Jens Northemann, when he recalls the work involved in adding final touches to the new store while maintaining parallel operations at the existing site. “Now, the whole team cannot wait to offer the right specialist advice to customers in the new departments and inspire them with the wide range of services on offer here from tomorrow onwards.”
Fantastic highlights on opening day
It will be worth getting up early on February 2: “We will be offering several product highlights at exceptional value for money. Priced at Euro 399, our single-axle trailer including tarpaulin is expected to be in huge demand”, explains Jens Northemann. “Anyone wishing to take home a souvenir of the opening day for themselves or their nearest and dearest can have any new tools they buy individually engraved, and that free of charge all day long.” Northemann expects the first customers to arrive at the store at 7 a.m. already. A team from Radio Hochstift will offer music to make any time spent waiting pass more quickly. Not only that: Visitors to the store will have the chance to win SC Paderborn soccer shirts and have their photograph taken with Holli, the team mascot. Finally, there will be opportunities throughout the day to take a ride through the store with the miniature train familiar to Hornbach fans from the company’s TV commercials.
The Hornbach store in Paderborn is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays.
* Weighted by BHB sector association standard: around 12,700 square meters
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