Considerable changes

Heidi Biehl, DIY in Europe, Austria
For Austria the year 2005 marks exactly ten years as a member of the EU. Years that have brought considerable changes to the DIY retail sector. Today if you asked shoppers in local DIY stores what has changed in these outlets since 1995, the majority would answer that the DIY stores have become much bigger, there is more choice, the assortment is broader and more varied, and the pricing has got much more reasonable on the whole – with endless price-based campaigns all over the show. Some have acquired a new name (e.g. Obi instead of Bauwelt), though the company still has the same owner. This last statement definitely holds true: Of the 369 DIY stores at the end of 2004, only 44 (12 per cent) are part of foreign DIY groups, but 232 DIY stores belong to Austrian companies with a foreign franchisor (Obi, Hagebau, Baywa and EMV-Profi). A further 93 outlets belong to Austrian companies (Baumax, Quester) that cooperate with German partners in various ways.
But shoppers answering your question would also voice some criticism, and understandably so. They would often find fault with the technical competence, the advisory capacity and the friendliness of store personnel, some of them mentioning a decline in the quality of many articles (goods from Asia!).
The Austrian operators of DIY stores frequently see the development as less satisfactory. The increases in floorspace were very costly, but the broad and deep ranges of the new franchise partners required substantially more merchandising space. Frequently a new merchandise information system and new logistics were also required. And, specially since 2002, sales are no longer rising to the extent that was necessary after the expansion of the floorspace stock. And so space productivity and profitability have gone down – with the fall in prices caused by the tougher competition intensifying the problems. Many a location has felt the influence of one of the 40 large-format DIY superstores, which have almost without exception only been opened since 1995. Everything, or at least very many things, have become more difficult. But it must not be forgotten, either, that sales have doubled in these same ten years, from the equivalent of € 1.1 bn to € 2.2 bn.