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Agnès Richard, DIY in Europe France, Editor in chief of Univers Hebdo.
Just a few months have seen an increase in the level of concentration of the French DIY market. This development, which has been heralded for the past ten years, has so far been on a relatively small scale, apart from Kingfisher acquiring a stake in Castorama’s capital at the end of 1998, or the acquisition of the odd store here and there as at the end of 2000, when Bricorama took over the eight Bricostore outlets, or the integration of the Bricojem (Decaup) stores into the Briconautes marketing channel (Le Club).
The real kick-off took place at the start of 2002, when Leroy Merlin acquired the stores of the Belgian GIB Group (via Vendex of the Netherlands). That set the domino effect in motion. Several months later, in the middle of May, Kingfisher announced its decision to take overall control of the Castorama Group. The end of June is when Mr. Bricolage and the Tabur Group, fourth- and sixth-placed in France respectively, announced their merger. Now Domaxel (Weldom) is also on the lookout for an alliance, within France or elsewhere in Europe. Its main shareholder, Bolloré, seems prepared to withdraw its support.
Despite the many corporate strategies, the DIY market can only point to mediocre growth during the first six months of the current business year. Whereas the rate of growth was never below 2.5 per cent during the previous decade, even at the worst of times….Perhaps this indicates a certain market saturation, even if the summer months were very positive. It must be realised that even reducing the working week had no real influence on the do-it-yourself scene, though customer visits to the stores are now less concentrated on the weekend. Faced with a stagnant economy, the retailers must find other sources of growth.
DIY in Europe 9-10/2002
Just a few months have seen an increase in the level of concentration of the French DIY market. This development, which has been heralded for the past ten years, has so far been on a relatively small scale, apart from Kingfisher acquiring a stake in Castorama’s capital at the end of 1998, or the acquisition of the odd store here and there as at the end of 2000, when Bricorama took over the eight Bricostore outlets, or the integration of the Bricojem (Decaup) stores into the Briconautes marketing channel (Le Club).
The real kick-off took place at the start of 2002, when Leroy Merlin acquired the stores of the Belgian GIB Group (via Vendex of the Netherlands). That set the domino effect in motion. Several months later, in the middle of May, Kingfisher announced its decision to take overall control of the Castorama Group. The end of June is when Mr. Bricolage and the Tabur Group, fourth- and sixth-placed in France respectively, announced their merger. Now Domaxel (Weldom) is also on the lookout for an alliance, within France or elsewhere in Europe. Its main shareholder, Bolloré, seems prepared to withdraw its support.
Despite the many corporate strategies, the DIY market can only point to mediocre growth during the first six months of the current business year. Whereas the rate of growth was never below 2.5 per cent during the previous decade, even at the worst of times….Perhaps this indicates a certain market saturation, even if the summer months were very positive. It must be realised that even reducing the working week had no real influence on the do-it-yourself scene, though customer visits to the stores are now less concentrated on the weekend. Faced with a stagnant economy, the retailers must find other sources of growth.
DIY in Europe 9-10/2002
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