European pride

One of the American industry’s legendary figures receives an international award for his life’s work. A top American manager of a major American company gives the laudatory discourse in a very “American” and emotionally charged style – and all this happens so to speak in the heart of Europe, in Brussels, the location of the European Union’s most vital institutions and the venue for a congress organised by a European industry association as a global event, even though it is mainly Europeans who leave their mark on it. Here of all places is where Pat Farrah, co-founder of the American global market leader Home Depot and the real inventor of the DIY store per se, the big box, was presented with the 1st Global DIY Lifetime Award. And that by EDRA, the European DIY Retail Association, no less. Not even the venue could have been more European: a Museum of Art and History. Something that the glittering award ceremony made clear was that Europe does not do too badly in an international industry comparison and provides momentum of its own. Although the European colleagues listened benevolently to many a presentation by overseas DIY store managers on the subject of “sustainability”, they waved it aside just as benevolently: “We’ve been doing that for ages.” And what do the figures look like? At any rate, DIY retail sales growth of 1.3 per cent for a total volume of € 209.8 bn is what the Mintel management consultancy has established for 19 countries of Europe in 2010, year one after the crisis. So it was with a certain amount of pride in their voices that the top representatives of the European DIY retailer and manufacturer associations explained at the 1st Global DIY-Summit in Brussels that those on the old continent had warded off the financial and economic crisis emanating from America. “In general, in Europe the crisis is behind us,” in the words of Adeo boss Régis Degelcke, without suppressing the fact that a number of countries are still experiencing problems. At least equally positive is the view of the European suppliers. As Wolfcraft’s owner Reinhard Wolff said, “Things developed better than we all expected.” Rainer Strnad Managing editor P.S. You can read about the other happenings at the 1st Global DIY Summit in this issue. And subscribers can follow the progress made by Europe’s DIY retailers in 2010 by reading the supplement, “A review of Europe’s DIY markets”. Download: