Premiere in Slovakia

The Ružinov district of Bratislava is  where Hornbach opened its first DIY and garden superstore in Slovakia on 4 August. This is currently the company’s largest store in Europe with a weighted retail area of 15 954 m².
The biggest Hornbach DIY and garden store so far has opened in Bratislava.
Hornbach reports an enormous onslaught of visitors on the opening day. Even the total of 520 parking spaces were far from enough as masses of families, DIYers and tradesmen flocked into the new store.
This store of superlatives has been created on a site covering 65 000 m² in the Bratislava district of Ružinov after three years of endeavour and a construction period lasting less than six months. The outlet also includes a drive-in builder centre, which has an area of 8 100 m² at its disposal, making it the biggest of its kind. The same is true of the 4 351 m² garden centre, which corresponds in size to a stand-alone garden centre. A sum of more than € 18 mio has been invested in this outlet.
The garden centre has a dedicated area of 5 700 m².
The team of 145 trained employees is headed by a seasoned operator, store manager Ladislav Hružkár. He has already gained a great deal of experience in Czechia, most recently as the manager of the Prague store in the district of Řepy.
The assortment of around 70 000 products offered in the store is the standard Hornbach range. However, the company has taken into account the special characteristics of this new country and the needs of the Slovakian DIYer as well, as it already does in other countries. What is more, one of Hornbach’s basic principles is to integrate with the local economy. And so the proportion of Slovakian suppliers in this store’s product offer comes to 20 per cent.
20 per cent of the product range is sourced from Slovakian suppliers.
The new store in Bratislava is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. Tradesmen in particular will be able to benefit from the early opening times. On Sundays, too, customers can stock up with goods for their building or renovation projects from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
It is planned to continue with expansion in Slovakia after this start: a combined DIY and garden store is expected to be completed in Koschice in the spring of 2005, and a further outlet in Bratislava is already at the planning stage. Hornbach would like to operate five or six stores in Slovakia altogether.
The builder centre features a drive-in.
This entry into the Slovakian market means that Hornbach now has a presence in eight…