Growth for garden tools

In 2005 the European market for electric garden tools experienced growth in both volume and value, as ascertained by Bosch Research

Recovering window market in eastern Europe

Since 2004 the window market in eastern Europe has begun to recover. The latest study by the Interconnection Consulting Group reveals …

Looking good on the internet

It makes sense to have a website, even for smaller retailers (single units or chains). The following article suggests what must be taken into …

Growth resulting from new stores

Although the French DIY market is reporting sales growth of 4.4 per cent for 2005, this increase was generated solely by new openings of …

Store modifications

The Praxis stores in the Netherlands cannot be said to have been given a totally new concept, but improvements are being made in certain important areas of …

Home Depot continues to experiment

Under the latest diversification efforts of CEO Bob Nardelli, Home Depot is testing the possibility of converting unused parking spaces into …

The Top 30 in Europe und North America

Radically customer-responsive

Toom, the German DIY retail chain that is part of the Rewe group of companies, has geared its latest store entirely to the customer. A development t…

Slower rhythm

Agnès RichardDIY in Europe, FranceEditor-in-chief, Univers HebdoWill 2006 be the year when the French are won over to do-it-yourself? That is open to question. DIY …

Growth for Belgium’s DIY market

In comparison with the neighbouring Netherlands and the majority of the DIY markets in western Europe, the world of  DIY retailing is still in…

Service calls for financial support

Multimate, the Dutch DIY retail chain, now numbers more than 60 outlets. Everything revolves around service in these stores. And there is also a…

Quality competition invigorates the market

In the course of a DIY seminar organised by the Dutch specialist magazine, Mix, Albrecht Hornbach, chairman of Hornbach Holding AG, spoke…

Market conditions are getting tougher

For the first time in years, the DIY retail trade in the Netherlands had to take a sales decrease of nearly two per cent in 2005

First Platform store in Germany

Saint Gobain has opened a first specialist store in the “Platform Building Materials” format, a distribution concept that is positioned …