Hardware chain Magnet Mart was bought by a Woolworths-backed conglomerate in 2010, and this month its stores in Gungahlin, Phillip, Queanbeyan and Goulburn have been rebranded 'Magnet Mart Home Timber & Hardware,' along with that brand's distinctive teal-coloured merchandising.

That means the Marget Mart man, well known to Canberrans for his enthusiastic television commercials, is no more.

Actor Brendan Sloane starred in hundreds of Magnet Mart commercials over a decade and now works in London in the finance sector and makes his own YouTube comedy skits.

He had been flying back to Australia every five months to shoot the advertisements, but confirmed he had shot his last.

"Magnet Mart are re branding under new owners, Danks so it's a natural progression that they have decided to go with a different campaign. The guys at Magnet Mart and Danks have always treated me well," he said.

Paul Donaghue opened the first Magnet Mart in 1972, and until he was bought out more than two years ago it was of the longest lasting Canberra brands, but he said he wasn't feeling sentimental about the rebranding.

"Never get excited about what you've done, always get excited about what you're doing and you're going to do," he said.

And for those wondering, the Magnet Mart name had nothing to do with the hardware stores' supply of magnets.

In the 1960s Mr Donaghue worked in Victoria for James McEwan, the owner of Magnet hardware stores.

The stores eventually closed, but Mr Donaghue liked the name, so he bought it and changed it to Magnet Mart because he thought it sounded better.

"It's not a bad name actually, it rolls off the tongue," he said.

Why those early Victorian stores owned by Mr McEwan were called "Magnet" remains unclear, although Mr Donaghue suggested it may have been copied from a UK furniture company.