Further consolidation

In the United Kingdom hardly a year has been characterised by such tremendous upheavals in the DIY retail sector as the year 2000. Focus Do It All took over two DIY chains: in September the group acquired Wickes’ more than 130 stores and in December took over Great Mills with its 98 stores. As a result the new Focus Do It All group advanced to second place ahead of Homebase. The acquisition of Great Mills and Wickes by Focus Do It All has led to a further consolidation of the market. There was a change of ownership for Homebase before the end of the year. The parent company, Sainsbury, sold off a large part of its Homebase stores to an investment firm, Schroder Ventures, while 28 projected DIY store sites went to B&Q and the property company British Land acquired 22 outlets. Sainsbury intends to sell the 22 Homebase stores it still retains within the next two years. Meanwhile Schroder Ventures has sold on five Homebase Megastores to the Castorama subsidiary B&Q, four of which are being converted to B&Q Warehouses. B&Q is continuing to maintain its market leadership. Its DIY stores are considered to be the best in the country, with the best range of products and the best prices. Recently launched by B&Q onto the competitive field is “The DIY Store”, which offers a product mix to a certain degree totally new to B&Q on a floorspace of just on 5 000 m². What is more, B&Q is the sole British DIY multiple that is involved abroad, with two DIY stores in China and eight in Taiwan. There is no question but that B&Q will continue to consolidate its outstanding position still further. For Kingfisher, the British majority shareholder in Castorama, will be concentrating still harder on its DIY business following the sale of Superdrug, and will continue to pursue its policy of expansion in Europe and overseas. Significant growth Last year saw the DIY multiples in the UK increase their sales by 9.2 per cent to 10.6 bn euro (£ 6.8 bn), according to figures computed by GfK Marketing Services of Surrey. The last three months did, however, see a slowdown. This the market researchers at GfK attribute to the exceptionally bad weather, which made it more attractive for consumers to shop in the high street rather than in out-of-town DIY sheds. The latest market summary from AMA Research of Cheltenham reports that the DIY multiples achieved sales growth last year especially in the areas of garden and leisure. The researchers predict that structural…