Austria's DIY stores remain in the black in the first half of the year

DIY store sales in Austria fell only moderately in the second quarter. Austrian DIY stores turned over around EUR 940 mio, 1.4 per cent less than in the same period last year. Due to the more positive first quarter (+2.8 per cent), half-year sales of EUR 1.59 billion were slightly up on the previous year at 0.3 per cent. These figures from the GfK Total Store Report DACH were published by BHB.

Unlike in Germany, there was apparently so much pent-up demand in the opening months that the garden furniture segment recorded the largest increase at +14.2 per cent. Garden chemicals/soil/seeds also sold very well (+10.2 per cent). Products from the construction elements product group fell (-18.1 per cent), and Austrians also found far less use for tiles (-16.3 per cent).