Homebase was founded by the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and Belgian retailer GB-Inno-BM in 1979, as Sainsbury’s Homebase. This was to bring a supermarket style layout to the British Do It Yourself (DIY) market. The first store was in Croydon, opening on 3 March 1981, located on the Purley Way.[1]
In 1979 the Golders Green Sox won what is now known as the National University Baseball League, which has been running since 1890, so we have to assume that baseball was a sport known to the country during that period.[2]
It was “aimed at bringing a supermarket approach to the British DIY market”[3], and with a name like Sainsbury’s Homebase, there’s no reason to interpret this literally, such was the nature of shop names during this era.
It was opened as the ‘base’ of ‘home’ goods for the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s whose stake was 75% at the start. J Sainsbury’s was, after all, named after its founder, no puns involved, and there’s certainly no wit in GB-Inno-BM.
For these reasons, I’m inclined to believe that baseball did not factor into the naming of the chain.
