Increasing popularity of DIY

How has the Spanish DIY and home improvement market developed over the past ten years?Traditionally Spaniards have hired professionals to make minor home improvements, especially carrying out repairs or painting a room. This is because home improvement tasks are perceived as tedious or burdensome, and also because professional services for undertaking such tasks cost less in Spain than in other European countries. However, the expansion of international home improvement retailers such as the French Groupe Adeo chain and Kingfisher, a British company, has helped popularise DIY among consumers. This trend has also been accelerated by the economic recession the country is going through. The fall in Spanish consumers' disposable income has forced them to reduce unnecessary spending and increasingly take home improvement tasks into their own hands.Despite the growing popularity of DIY among consumers, the extent and magnitude of the economic recession has had a very negative effect on the DIY and home improvement market. Euromonitor International figures showed a 26 per cent CAGR fall in sales between 2008 and 2013 in constant value terms. The high unemployment rate (27 per cent in 2013) put a large proportion of consumers in a critical situation, with just enough money to make it until the end of the month, so unable to invest in improving or beautifying their homes. These facts, along with shrinking real estate prices in Spain, have dissuaded consumers from investing in home improvement, as this would have little impact on the selling price of their property.

There are different players in the Spanish and Portuguese markets, international groups as well as regional cooperatives and local hardware stores. What are their characteristics?Geographical proximity means French companies have managed to develop a strong presence in both Spain and Portugal. Groupe Adeo is clearly the leading specialist retailer in both Spain and Portugal. It is also interesting to note that, in both markets, the company operates not only with its widely known Leroy Merlin brand, but also with its local Aki brand. ITM Entreprises SA, a subsidiary of Les Mousquetaires, is the second-largest retailer in Portugal with its Bricomarché brand. In…