The new chess board after the crisis

The 1st European Home Improvement Forum 2010 will take place in Vienna on 10th and 11th June 2010. The two leading trade associations EDRA (European DIY Retail Association) and fediyma (European Federation of DIY Manu-facturers) are expecting about 400 visitors and speakers to attend Europe’s first and foremost gathering of DIY retailers, manufacturers and service providers. Lectures and discussions will focus on the issue of exploring new growth potentials within the European DIY market. To this end, the hosts have engaged the help of first-class industry insiders. Keynote speakers will include Ian Cheshire of Kingfisher plc, Sergio Giroldi of Obi AG, Reinhard Wolff of wolfcraft GmbH and president of fediyma, Régis Degelcke of Groupe Adeo and president of EDRA, Martin Goetzeler of Osram GmbH, Martin Essl of Baumax AG and Magnus Agervald of Bygg-max AB. The highlight of the event, the presentation of the European DIY Lifetime Award, will take place at the end of the first conference day. This award is in honour of a personage who has decisively influenced and shaped the European DIY sector over recent decades. This year’s laureate has already been decided upon: the prize will be awarded to Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy. The speech in his honour will be delivered by Manfred Maus, founder of OBI, and prize-winners and guests are invited to celebrate the event at the EDRA/fediyma gala dinner later in the evening. The start of the conference will be marked on 9th June with a guided study tour of interesting and innovative Viennese retailing concepts, plus a get-together at the Essl Museum of contemporary art. This year’s congress programme will be rounded off by the presentation of the fediyma DIY Consumer Study 2010. Compiled by GfK Living, this study provides sound findings on the market situation and on target groups, including their respective information and shopping behaviour, across six European countries. The 1st European Home Improvement Forum will be accompanied by an exhibition, “DIY Europe 2010”, where innovative manufacturers and service providers will be presenting their ideas and solutions relating to crucial future aspects such as novel DIY products, merchandise information systems, security technologies and customer relationship management. For more information relating to this event please either visit the website (www.conferencegroup.de/diy) or contact the Conference Group directly via phone +49 (0)69-7595-3000 or by e-mail to…