Welcome to the club

At the end of April the Bricorama group introduced a new sales concept in Clermont-Ferrand, a novelty in the French DIY market, as the replacement for a former Bricorama store. This outlet, with a covered area of 2 900 m² and 1 500 m² outside, was developed under the Brico/Usine banner and is being presented as the first DIY superstore to offer permanently low prices.Brico/Usine was introduced in Clermont-Ferrand, where it replaced a Bricorama store in difficulty.For all that, though, it is not a low-cost model. The fittings are indeed similar to those of a standard high-street DIY superstore. On the other hand, working on the notion of a “club”, Brico/Usine is offering the holders of a card, for which it makes a charge, the possibility of benefiting from services and above all of saving an average of 30 per cent on 20 000 items. The product range is more limited than that carried by a conventional DIY store. As a rule Bricorama stocks a range of 30 000 items on a floorspace of 2 990 m²…Furthermore, Brico/Usine does not display any building materials and is basically geared to branded products. “We haven’t retained any products with a margin close to zero because they don’t contribute anything to a concept like this one, which is based on the sale of a card to obtain price advantages,” explains Eric Haegmann, CEO of Bricorama. “Likewise we have limited the number of entry-level products. Brico/Usine picks up a linear margin in the region of 10 per cent on all the products stocked. So it doesn’t make sense to list a product with a questionable margin.” This is nothing like a traditional sales concept where the margins vary according to the product lines and levels of quality. It is not the low-end pricing that makes consumers come into a Brico/Usine store and shop there but rather the guarantee of obtaining a quality product at a minimum price. The range essentially consists of high-class products and distributors’ brand names that can also be found in Bricorama outlets. “We reckon that a certain section of our customers is prepared to pay for a card seeing that it assures them of an excellent price for a quality product. The customer chooses how long his period of membership will be according to the project he is involved in. The aim is not to economize on the operation of a store to bring about low prices but to secure enough members to compensate for the low prices.”Brico/Usine has nothing to do with a low-cost concept. It is a high-street store with the focus on home improvement.The group’s objective is for Brico/Usine’s turnover to come to at least twice the amount earned by a traditional DIY store. “The concept will be a success if we manage to treble the turnover.” If the validity of the concept is confirmed, certain of the less profitable Bricorama stores (as was the case in Clermont-Ferrand) may be transformed. But that’s not all…This concept could be developed in all the major cities where Bricorama has no presence so far, cities where the DIY market is already fully structured with Brico Dépôt, Castorama, Leroy Merlin… Moreover, according to the success of Brico/Usine, thought will be given in early 2011 to the future of the Batkor brand, which today is based on just four stores, very profitable ones at that. Likewise this concept could be established abroad, perhaps in Spain for example. The Brico/Usine concept
Brico/Usine offers 20 000 SKUs on an area of 2 900 m² covered and 1 500 m² outside. 
The differences in price range from - 15 % to - 60 % due to a linear margin system in the region of 10 %. 
This concept is based on the idea of a club: the consumer can benefit from price advantages by acquiring a card, the rates for which are flexible and charged according to the period chosen: € 19 for 7 days, € 25 for 30 days, € 49 for 90 days and € 149 for 365 days. 
This store also offers service (the traditional DIY store services) and advice (a team of 33 employees).