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Hubo has become the major national DIY retail group in Belgium through acquisition of the DIY stores belonging to the French Bricomarché group
Hubo Belgium can look back on an eventful year. The company set foot on the French-speaking part of the Belgian DIY market through a takeover of the five Bricomarché stores in the south of the country in April 2002. At the same time this marked the disappearance of the second French chain – after Bricorama – from the market. As a result, Hubo is now the most significant Belgian DIY retail group after Brico and Gamma, which are both owned by groups from the Netherlands.
The newest Hubo outlet is located at Hamme.
Also signed, sealed and delivered in 2002 was the purchase of the five Selfmade outlets by Hubo, which became effective on 1 January 2003. This means an increase in Hubo’s sales volume of a further 27 mio euro. Also effective on 1 January was the handing over by Max Scheirs of his responsibilities as executive director to Erwin Van Osta.
30 years of Hubo
Hubo was established in Belgium in 1972. Its Belgian activities were taken over by Max Scheirs, Erwin Van Osta and Carl Liekens in October 1992. This developed into a franchise organisation with 62 outlets throughout Belgium and sales of approx. 132 mio euro in 2002. According to figures from A.C. Nielsen, this results in a market share of 13 per cent. Sales of 175 mio euro are expected for 2003. The spring of 2002 saw Hubo take over the five Bricomarché stores, which were not very successful up to that time. Erwin Van Osta explained the problems involved, “Those in charge simply underestimated the difficulties involved in expanding and worked too quickly together with foreign cooperatives without adapting to the market situation.” The sales figure for the stores doubled in July under Hubo management.
Erwin Van Osta has been director of Hubo Belgium since January.
A new product assortment was put together, advertising was improved and customer frequency increased. What is more, in a parallel development a new store opened at Gembloux, the group’s sixth outlet in Wallonia.
Selfmade to Hubo
Also last spring came the opening of discussions between Hubo management and Johan De Bie of Selfmade, who had called on independent dealers to “join forces and defend their position”. His aim was to build up a strong and autonomous group that would be capable of better protecting the market shares of the independents against both national and foreign chains.
Hubo wants to trial an expansion of the product range by adding seasonal articles.
Once it became obvious that only a very few independents would heed the call of Johan de Bie, the discussions led to Hubo’s 100 per cent takeover of Selfmade with effect from 1 January 2003. Selfmade is highly competent in the field of seasonal articles and has an excellent range of garden products that is showing strong growth. Its experience in the Far East and direct imports from that area were also vital factors in the deal.
Local marketing
Conversion of the Selfmade outlets at Grimbergen and Heffen has already begun, the old store at Merelbeke is being demolished for replacement by a new Hubo, and Edegem is being completely rebuilt as a Hubo store. The biggest challenge will be the store at Schilde, which is 8 500 m² in size. This will continue to operate as a Selfmade outlet, alongside a Hubo store. “We have decided in favour of a step-by-step transfer of both name and range of products,” in the words of Erwin Van Osta. Since Selfmade is very strong where seasonal articles such as garden ornaments and Christmas decorations are concerned, the aim is now to test whether such product categories can also be transferred to other locations.
The intention is to concentrate on regional marketing above all.
This is to be done with great care, because as Erwin Van Osta stresses, “We want to concentrate above all on local marketing. In our opinion, it is not possible simply to stipulate one uniform range of products for the entire group, since there really are very marked regional differences between Flanders and Wallonia. We must consequently follow a policy of differentiation. The store in Schilde is pre-determining the direction that we intend to follow.”
The newest Hubo outlet is located at Hamme.
Also signed, sealed and delivered in 2002 was the purchase of the five Selfmade outlets by Hubo, which became effective on 1 January 2003. This means an increase in Hubo’s sales volume of a further 27 mio euro. Also effective on 1 January was the handing over by Max Scheirs of his responsibilities as executive director to Erwin Van Osta.
30 years of Hubo
Hubo was established in Belgium in 1972. Its Belgian activities were taken over by Max Scheirs, Erwin Van Osta and Carl Liekens in October 1992. This developed into a franchise organisation with 62 outlets throughout Belgium and sales of approx. 132 mio euro in 2002. According to figures from A.C. Nielsen, this results in a market share of 13 per cent. Sales of 175 mio euro are expected for 2003. The spring of 2002 saw Hubo take over the five Bricomarché stores, which were not very successful up to that time. Erwin Van Osta explained the problems involved, “Those in charge simply underestimated the difficulties involved in expanding and worked too quickly together with foreign cooperatives without adapting to the market situation.” The sales figure for the stores doubled in July under Hubo management.
Erwin Van Osta has been director of Hubo Belgium since January.
A new product assortment was put together, advertising was improved and customer frequency increased. What is more, in a parallel development a new store opened at Gembloux, the group’s sixth outlet in Wallonia.
Selfmade to Hubo
Also last spring came the opening of discussions between Hubo management and Johan De Bie of Selfmade, who had called on independent dealers to “join forces and defend their position”. His aim was to build up a strong and autonomous group that would be capable of better protecting the market shares of the independents against both national and foreign chains.
Hubo wants to trial an expansion of the product range by adding seasonal articles.
Once it became obvious that only a very few independents would heed the call of Johan de Bie, the discussions led to Hubo’s 100 per cent takeover of Selfmade with effect from 1 January 2003. Selfmade is highly competent in the field of seasonal articles and has an excellent range of garden products that is showing strong growth. Its experience in the Far East and direct imports from that area were also vital factors in the deal.
Local marketing
Conversion of the Selfmade outlets at Grimbergen and Heffen has already begun, the old store at Merelbeke is being demolished for replacement by a new Hubo, and Edegem is being completely rebuilt as a Hubo store. The biggest challenge will be the store at Schilde, which is 8 500 m² in size. This will continue to operate as a Selfmade outlet, alongside a Hubo store. “We have decided in favour of a step-by-step transfer of both name and range of products,” in the words of Erwin Van Osta. Since Selfmade is very strong where seasonal articles such as garden ornaments and Christmas decorations are concerned, the aim is now to test whether such product categories can also be transferred to other locations.
The intention is to concentrate on regional marketing above all.
This is to be done with great care, because as Erwin Van Osta stresses, “We want to concentrate above all on local marketing. In our opinion, it is not possible simply to stipulate one uniform range of products for the entire group, since there really are very marked regional differences between Flanders and Wallonia. We must consequently follow a policy of differentiation. The store in Schilde is pre-determining the direction that we intend to follow.”
