A Masters hardware store planned for Albion Park Rail will dwarf its already sizeable competitors.
The 13,531sqm store will be 144 per cent larger than the nearby Mitre 10, 75 per cent bigger than Bunnings in Shellharbour and 50 per cent larger than Bunnings in Wollongong.
There will be 40,000 products, 340 parking spots, 330 construction jobs, 150 ongoing jobs, a cafe and, just in case the gigantic big-box building doesn't capture your attention, a four-storey illuminated sign.
The Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) is expected to approve the $16 million development later this year.
And in a sign of things to come, retail consultants Hill PDA have suggested the Illawarra could actually support two Masters stores, based on forecast population growth.
The same consultants have conceded the entry of Masters into the Illawarra retail sector will have an impact on other operators, especially Bunnings.
The store's "primary target trade area" focuses on Shellharbour, Kiama and Wollongong's southern suburbs.
There is a Bunnings in Shellharbour (7762sqm), Wollongong (9000sqm) and Warrawong (11,800sqm).
"It is [also] likely that there will be some trade diversion from the existing Mitre 10 store in Albion Park Rail in particular ... however the impact upon any individual trader which may result from a proposed new development is not a planning concern," Hill PDA wrote in the planning documents.
Mitre 10 manager Mark Hogan has previously said Masters would have little impact on his store's trading because it served different markets.
Masters, a joint venture between Woolworths and American hardware giant Lowe's, opened its first store in Melbourne last September. There are plans to open 150 across the country by 2015.
Assuming the JRPP approves the plans, construction could begin early next year.
The development will generate about $46 million in economic activity during the construction process.
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