TIMBECON - Melbourne

[ubeaut]

Spent yesterday morning at Timbecon's first ever Melbourne Showroom/Shop. Great to see a few forum members turn up and quite a few from different woodworking clubs and Men's Sheds. Had them travel from as far away as Mansfield and Wodonga. Did a few demos and spoke to plenty of interested people.

My Impression:

• Great size showroom floor space.
• Well set out.
• Lots of machinery (lathes thicknessers, saw benches, jointers, dust extractors,etc etc.)
• Lots of turning tools and accessories
• A massive range of clamps of all types and sizes.
• Great and diverse range of finishes (as well as ours) including some new eco wood-stains I haven't seen before
• Lots of good quality hand tools
• Plenty of hoses and an array of fittings for dust extractors
• A massive range of Robertson (Sachys) square head screws and drivers.
• Great knowledge of products and their use
• Friendly and helpful staff
• Good prices
• Lots, lots, lots more I didn't get a chance to have a good look at.

Pro's:

• All the above
• Intimate knowledge of their products
• They are their own importers if machinery so not beholding to anyone else for supplies, etc. Meaning if you buy it today you will get it today or delivered as soon as you want it. No waiting for weeks or months to get it from a third party. You are dealing directly with the importer.
• Northern Suburbs

Cons:

• Northern Suburbs - I have nothing against the Northern Suburbs I just feel there could be a more central easier to access location from all of Melb
• One way street (enter from Gaffney St exit Charles St - Not shown on most maps)
• Limited parking during the week (5 off street parking in front of shop) harder to park in busy street. Saturday parking was great because most of the other businesses in the street were closed leaving the street almost empty.

I wouldn't let any of the cons above put me off visiting their showroom. It's definitely well worth the trip and a visit.

My and Pauline's congratulations to Hague for all the work he has put in to getting the showroom/shop up and running. Good to see Ross and Anne over from WA to help out with the opening

This new showroom/shop will be great for woodworkers throughout Melbourne, Victoria, Southern NSW and probably the entire east coast.
TIMBECON IS BACK and better still in Melbourne for the first time.



Cheers - Neil

[Chesand]

Good to see your appraisal, Neil.

I was not able to visit yesterday due to another commitment but will have a look in the next few days. They are just 15 minutes from me so it will be a welcome change to not have to spend two hours across town and back to Carba-tec and even longer to H & F.

[Mulgabill]

I agree with Chesand

I will certainly be visiting the Melbourne store in the coming weeks.
At least I won't have to pack a cut lunch and canteen for get to the other stores in the South East.

[Scott]

Maybe you wrote tongue in cheek however I certainly don't think being located in the Northern Suburbs is a con, especially for people like myself. Melbourne has been crying out for a northern suburbs woodwork supply place for ages. I'm looking forward to going there next Saturday, saves me travelling an hour east or west like I usually do.

Thanks Timbecon

[ubeaut]

Maybe you wrote tongue in cheek however I certainly don't think being located in the Northern Suburbs is a con, especially for people like myself. Melbourne has been crying out for a northern suburbs woodwork supply place for ages. I'm looking forward to going there next Saturday, saves me travelling an hour east or west like I usually do.

'Twas sort of tongue in cheek. I don't have a problem with it being in the Northern Suburbs as it is great for all those in and around that area. At the right time of day it's even easier to get there from Geelong than to get to Carba-Tec, Woodworkers Warehouse or Pops Shed in the South and East. But, as has been seen in the past, it isn't the best area for this kind of business. Unfortunately other businesses have been forced shut their doors over the years, or like WMS (Woodworking Machinery Specialists) have gone entirely on line after some 25 or so years in the north.

Timbecon will do extremely well where they are, partly because of their catalogue and on line presence, but I'm sure they would do much better with walk-ins in one of the inner suburbs or more to the North East towards Heidelberg West or Heidelberg. Still reasonably easy to get to from the North and North West but also from most other parts of Melb and the East where there has always been a bigger concentration of woodworkers, clubs, and money.

These opinions are purely from me looking at it as a local and from a practical business point of view.

As I said above Timbecon will do extremely well in Coburg North, and having another player in Melbourne no matter where they are can only be good for the woodies of Melbourne and surrounds.

Cheers - Neil

[I_wanna_Shed]

Its great to see Timbecon not only back, but expanding.

I bought my Sherwood drill press off them at the Sydney wood show around 10 years ago.

Good luck to the guys!

[Christos]

....I bought my Sherwood drill press off them at the Sydney wood show around 10 years ago....

Same here and still going strong.