Back to basics for Castorama

The three new Castorama stores no longer have anything in common with the “Casto L’Entrepôt” warehouse concept launched in the year 2000. Kingfisher has presumably now accepted the fact that the DIY scene in France is not comparable with the United Kingdom, particularly in regard to the influence of the other participants in the market.
The Castorama trading format, which has been number two in France behind Leroy Merlin since 2002, really seems to want to go back to its roots.
Customers can view all the product areas from the central aisle.
The French retailer introduced its new approach in three stores (at Hénin-Beaumont, La Seyne-sur-Mer and Chalons sur Saône) at the end of the summer break, with the help of British know-how and having spent three years testing a variety of concepts under the working name of “format avancé”.
Great choice
The store in Hénin-Beaumont offers around 48 000 articles in all price categories, including the upper segment, on a retail area of 12 500 m². And this is just the first step. Castorama had to accept the technical handicap that these three stores had been planned according to the “format avancé”, which was based on no more than 30 000 articles. So Castorama’s “really new sales concept”, which is to be implemented in all the company’s stores, will have to be enhanced by the addition of bigger floorspaces.
Product worlds are linked together by service desks.
However, the new stores are setting new standards, even if they cannot display the ideal format. First impressions suggest that Castorama has not completely rejected all the experience gained by the British, since the “warehouse” concept has been retained. But the 4.5 metre high racking alternates with traditional gondolas and display areas, so that the store conveys the impression of open space and brightness. The full breadth of the product range is segmented into four major, colour-coded departments: garden, decoration/fittings, technical DIY products and building materials. Each major sector is divided into different product worlds, most of which are interconnected by a customer service point. As store manager Tanguy Dewavrin explains, “We wanted to create stores within the store, 17 of them in total. A customer must find all the products he requires in this environment, once he has decided to tackle a project. Which is why our training programme is so important in bringing home to our personnel just how broad the product offer is. A member of staff with responsibility…