The fate of some of the empty Masters Home Improvement buildings in WA has finally been revealed, with Bunnings seeking planning approval to rebrand four of the stores, while another looks set to become a new retail district.
The failed Woolworths hardware chain closed 63 of its big blue buildings across Australia by December 11, and it didn't take long for its former competitor to swoop on some of its WA locations.
Bunnings has received local council approval to modify four of the nine ex-Masters buildings in Baldivis, Landsdale, Bayswater and Mandurah.
The City of Rockingham in late January approved a planning application lodged by the hardware giant to modify the former Baldivis Masters store on Safety Bay Road.
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Works at the site are expected to commence in February.
Meanwhile, further north, the City of Bayswater granted planning approval for its Bayswater Masters site to be transformed into a Bunnings Warehouse in December.
That same month, the City of Wanneroo also granted the hardware giant approval to fit out its old Masters store in Landsdale with works expected to be completed in 2018.
And the City of Mandurah has approved its Masters building to be modified, which WAtoday understands will also be turned into a Bunnings Warehouse.
The suburb's current Bunnings has reportedly been touted to be converted into a residential development.
Bunnings property general manager Andrew Marks said the WA stores were four of 15 old Masters stores it was interested in acquiring nationally.
"The conversion of these sites into Bunnings Warehouses is pending the Home Consortium agreement with Woolworths Limited which is subject to the consent of Lowe's Companies, Inc," he said.
The first of the abandoned big blue buildings to be transformed into something other than a hardware store will likely be the former Masters on Injune Way in Joondalup.
The lot has been approved by the City of Joondalup to be converted into a multi-tenancy large retail format complex comprising lots of different tenancies.
It is not clear who the developer was that lodged the application.
The fate of the remaining four old Masters stores remains unknown, with local councils for the Bibra Lake, Ellenbrook and Butler stores yet to receive any planning applications.
The City of Armadale did not respond to WAtoday's query about the Masters' Forrestdale store.