LowBot is the name of the new colleague at eleven stores of the US DIY retailer Lowe’s in the San Francisco Bay area – a robot which is not aimed at replacing sales assistants, but easing their workload
U.S. trade sector
Comparing with others
“How does your store compare with some of the biggest chains in the U. S.?”, is the question author Bob Vereen asks in his report, while breaking down the …
Brexit
Challenging for everybody
Since the British vote to leave the EU, the question hanging in the air for the DIY and garden industry is: What will be the consequences?
France
"The customers have changed a lot"
What is the current status of the DIY industry in France? Taking stock of the situation in an interview with Frédéric Sambourg, President of the …
UK DIY market
Big bets placed - who will win?
In response to this question, our author Neil Munz-Jones of mdj2 refines the analysis of the UK DIY market that he presented at the Global DIY …
Editorial
Service and return
Dähne Statistics
Even more data again
The standard work Dähne Statistics DIY Europe has grown in size again and now provides information on the market volumes of the most important countries
Germany
The competition is catching up
The German DIY market leader Obi has maintained its figures, but Bauhaus is catching up. How the industry as a whole fared in 2015 is revealed by the…
United Kingdom
Market conditions have improved
The UK home improvement multiples market was worth around GBP 7.2bn in value terms (RSP) in 2015, following an increase of around four per cent …
City store formats - Clas Ohlson
Swedish flagship in Hamburg
German DIY store operators don’t like to venture into the city centre. Now the Swedish company Clas Ohlson is showing them how to do it
City store formats - Castorama
Two-speed store
The Castorama store in La Défense, just outside Paris, is completely geared up to various customer groups: Stressed office workers in the lunch break and saunterers…
City store formats - Europe
Big trend towards smaller spaces
The European DIY retailers are moving closer to the modern urban target groups
Jumbo
Built on historic grounds
The company opened its first DIY store more than 30 years ago. Now the second biggest DIY chain in Switzerland has built a new Maximo format store on the …
Leroy Merlin Russia
A streamlining symphony
Leroy Merlin Russia aims to optimise its warehouse management, cut warehousing costs and improve customer service by making products more readily …
Russia
A new era?
No-one wanted to speak of a crisis in the Russian DIY market at the Forum DIY in Moscow. In spite of all the setbacks and postponements, the prospects actually appear to…