New in third place

Since 1 October the Mr. Bricolage group has made its way up to third place behind Kingfisher and Adeo in the French do-it-yourself market, where it has a 12.4 per cent share. It has just in fact acquired from Philippe Obry Le Club's central services unit (2008 pre-tax sales: € 20 mio), 16 directly-owned stores under the Les Briconautes brand name (turnover incl. all taxes 2008: approx. € 39 mio on a total floor-space in excess of 45 000 m²) and the real estate at some of these sites. The scope of the acquisition represents a consolidated 2008 turnover of around € 43 mio for an operating profit close to € 5 mio and a net return in the region of € 2.5 mio.
The whole represents some 700 sales outlets, 50 of which are located abroad, and a turnover close to € 2.2 bn (incl. all taxes) from a retail area in excess of 1 600 000 m². So, provided that the competition authorities decide in favour of the acquisition, the group of independents will henceforth end up with 178 Briconaute and Jardinaute stores (full-year turnover 2008: € 365 mio), which have just linked up with 522 Mr. Bricolage and Catena outlets (approx. turnover: € 1.9 bn). Not to forget the 200 unbranded Le Club affiliates which represent a complementary turnover of nearly € 150 mio. The new group has a total purchasing power of close to € 850 mio.
On the organisational side, the two central service units are obviously going to merge, but the Le Club site at Brive-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze) will be retained to serve the needs of the Briconaute stores. Its expertise, notably in terms of communication, will furthermore be extended to the members of Mr. Bricolage and Catena. It should be noted that, although Colibry, the central service unit shared by Le Club and Cofaq, has just been disbanded (v. box), the agreements made in 2008 between the Pollen-Baobab garden centres and Le Club still remain valid. The 16 Le Club stores will be added to the 82 sales outlets already directly owned by Mr. Bricolage SA.
Over and above reinforcing the weight carried by Mr. Bricolage in the marketplace, this event is also the expression of a real change of culture for the group's head office, which these days is affirming its willingness to adopt a less managerial tone towards its members. It must also be said that the Briconautes members are often fiercely independent, having chosen the Le Club formula for the lightness of its touch.
"We want the Mr. Bricolage group to become a benchmark for independent retailers in both…