Slowdown in first six months

In the first six months of 2013 the German DIY and home improvement stores suffered a sales drop of 5.2 per cent on the same period last year. Their sales came to € 9.101 bn. As reported by the BHB retailers’ association, the decline amounted to 5.1 per cent in like-for-like terms. Crucial to the half-yearly balance were the figures from the first quarter and most particularly from March. Sales here were nominally 24.1 per cent down on last year’s result, and 24.3 per cent down like-for-like. Not until April did total sales see positive development for the first time, when they came to 2.4 per cent above the corresponding period last year. In June the sector achieved total sales of € 1.69 bn, an increase of 0.6 per cent. There was increased demand for certain product categories, especially in the field of garden and leisure products: garden hardware (plus 7.5 per cent), garden furniture/garden decoration (plus 12.2 per cent), as well as leisure items, toys and camping equipment (plus 19.4 per cent). An ad hoc survey by the BHB also shows a positive trend for the months of July and August.