DIY stores in Austria slightly below strong previous year in the first quarter

DIY stores in Austria ended the first quarter with a slight decline in sales of 0.9 per cent to EUR 625.2 mio as compared with the same period last year. The downturn can be explained by the good figures in the first quarter of 2021, however, when there was no longer a lockdown in Austria, in contrast to Germany, for example. This explanation was given by the German industry association BHB, which published the figures.

The sanitary/heating product ranges (+15.3 per cent) and construction chemicals/building materials (+10.6 per cent) recorded significant growth. Garden furniture, on the other hand, was down by 37.7 per cent.