Plans for tighter structure

Soyuz (“Union”) DIY, the Russian buying group founded just last year, is planning tighter consolidation. The group wants to go beyond the activities of buying organisations like Arena or Eurobuy “and come together in one big, unified structure,” in the words of director Ilja Kornjuchow at a press conference on the occasion of the organisation’s first annual general meeting. He named Hagebau, a German cooperative group and “the biggest cooperative unit in the German DIY market”, as a model. The aim is to have bundled a number of tasks and responsibilities in a joint Union central office by 2015. According to the statement, Soyuz DIY has already been able to achieve a considerable reduction of the purchase price in some product groupings. This is accompanied by a growing level of recognition in the local marketplace and abroad. Director Ilja Kornjuchow stressed the need for home-grown DIY retailers to join forces against western operators, since companies such as Obi and Leroy Merlin are now setting their sights on cities with a population of between 300 000 and 500 000. The Russian dealers there may well have a better knowledge of their regional market, but they cannot keep up with the big chains in terms of buying conditions, financial possibilities, logistics, marketing technology and IT infrastructure. Kornjuchow also commented on the short- and medium-term intentions of the buying group. “The strategy for 2013 consists mainly of consolidating our buying activities,” he said, stressing that “our combined buying potential already exceeds that of Obi.” The envisaged bundling of a number of tasks and responsibilities is also now being prepared. “We are already beginning to introduce a system of joint management for selected categories, which involves creating a uniform master range of the products for all the chains, and the Union taking over the management of these categories,” Kornjuchow explained. He stressed that the aim was not to invent a new way but to make use of the positive experience of western colleagues and existing technologies in order to arrive more quickly at a modern DIY format in the Russian market. The most significant member of Soyuz DIY is Trest SCM, operator of the Stroy Arsenal and Superstroy DIY chains. Their CEO Rinat Mukhametvaleev was “initially sceptical” about the Union, as he said in an interview with the Yekaterinburg internet portal 66.ru. “But I have changed my mind. Now I am glad that we joined. Our capital contributions…