Careful merchandising

It is the third outlet to be operated by the French Bricostore Group in Croatia, but for Hubert Thiebault it was the 106th DIY store opening that he had made the preparations for during his career as a merchandising specialist: on the 16th of May came the opening of the new Bricostore in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Over an area of 10 000 m² this store provides an exemplary display of the Bricostore expertise in terms of layout, merchandising and the presentation of goods. Thiebault is international head of merchandising and, at the same time, Bricostore’s managing director for Croatia. The store concept is based on two principles. Firstly customers are guided to all product categories along two big main axes at right angles to the entrance. Se­condly, both the main aisles and the side ones are designed as integrated product worlds, which always run towards a vanishing-point. When it comes to customer guidance Thiebault rejects the Ikea style that forces people to follow a certain route. However, in order to lead them through as many different ranges as possible, the product categories most in demand for major projects undertaken by builder-owners, renovators, tradesmen or DIYers are located at the back of the store. A customer making his way in their direction cannot avoid passing ranges that are more suitable for impulse buying. As Thiebault puts it succinctly: “The customer goes from the decorative things to the useful ones.” Bricostore has developed definite strengths in the décor ranges. Here the aim is to attract women in particular, as well as couples who are tackling a home improvement project. One example of this is the offer of made-to-measure curtains. The design of the display areas for the different product worlds, such as the bathroom display or the unusually large tiling section, is strikingly in-depth. Parquet and laminate flooring, for instance, is presented by colour gradations. Yet another means of differentiation is through universal friendliness: there is a barrier-free entrance and a staff of 90 who are markedly communicative. The company has invested specifically in their training; the style of behaviour projected to the outside world is also evident throughout the hierarchy: the country boss is able to address every store employee by name (even if he is still working on mastering the Croatian language). Some way of standing out from the competition is certainly a matter of some urgency: the Austrian Baumax chain and Bauhaus from…