ut we’re saying, ‘Touch, feel, smell, look. Let us be your partner through the whole journey’,” Matt Haymes, one of the grandchildren of Haymes Paint founder Henry Haymes and a director of the business, told Inside Retail.  Since the new showroom opened in April, Haymes Paint has seen an increase in both sales and basket sizes in Ballarat, and it’s now looking to roll out elements of the store concept to other locations in its network.  “We’re learning heaps and I know there’s lots of areas to improve, but two months in, I couldn’t have asked for more,” Matt said.  Over 350 locations Founded in 1935, Haymes Paint is the largest locally owned and made paint brand in Australia. It manufactures products at a plant in Ballarat, which is currently undergoing its third upgrade since it was built in 1990.  The family made a decision some years ago not to stock the brand in corporate hardware chains, such as Bunnings, which Matt said is responsible for 78 per cent of all paint sales in Australia, but rather to support other family businesses. Today, Haymes Paint is sold in approximately 250 independent hardware stores, such as Mitre 10 and Hardware & Building Traders, and around 100 company-owned, franchise and cooperative stores operating under the Haymes Paint and PaintRight banners. The business has nearly 9 per cent market share in the $2 billion paint and surface coatings category, which translates to approximately $180 million in annual revenue. And rising demand for Australian-made products is driving strong growth. “What we saw over Covid was a lot of trade saying, ‘I’m going to support a local company’, and a lot of consumers saying to trade, ‘We want you to support a local company.’ That’s been incredibly beneficial,” Matt said. While the business has capped its growth at 20 per cent a year, it “could probably grow at double that rate,” he said, “we just can’t handle it.” Haymes Paint is opening around five new stores a month, and is booked up through Christmas. Competing with corporate hardware Going forward, Haymes Paint aims to convince more customers that it provides the same quality, value and service as the industry giants, if not better. Matt believes this message is crucial to capitalise on the support for locally owned and made businesses, and it’s starting to break through. “Corporate hardware spends a lot of money advertising lowest prices, but I think the trade actually knows that’s not the case,” he said.  “It’s surprising how many people are now starting to come through our network going, ‘Holy cow, this is really great value’.” However, he acknowledged one area where it will be tough to compete with the major players.  “The one thing that corporate hardware has over competitors like ourselves and others is that they’re open a lot and it’s very convenient,” he said. “When people choose to come to our store [in Ballarat], it’s more of a destination shop.” He’s banking on Haymes Paint’s more personalised customer service offering to make up for this.  “People want to go somewhere where they’re not just a number, where [sales staff] actually want to learn about who they are, what they’re trying to create and be their partner on that project.”