Cross-border expertise

The cooperation between Dehner, a German family-run business and Europe’s biggest operator of garden centres, and Coop Bau+Hobby, a Swiss DIY chain, has achieved its first visible expression: in Kreuzlingen on Lake Constance and in Töss, Winterthur, came the reopening in mid-March of two Coop Bau+Hobby stores which had been undergoing a makeover since December. The aim of the Swiss side was clear. They want to grow the share of sales attributable to the garden category, and to plants in particular, to a significant degree. They also want to implement a concept which they have worked out in cooperation with their new German partner. “We couldn’t have made it alone in such a short time,” is how Dr Christoph Theler, director of category management at Coop+ Hobby, explains the reasons for the cross-border teamwork with Dehner. For the distribution channel – number one in the national DIY market with recent sales of CHF 742 mio – has great plans, which include having 18 stores featuring the new concept in working order by 2015, with six of them ready as soon as next year. They will each have a minimum garden sales area of 1 500 m², which will generally be divided roughly into thirds allocated to hothouse, coldhouse and outdoor yard. The plan envisages the refurbishment of twelve existing outlets altogether and the building of six completely new stores designed in accordance with the agreed concept. Even though Dehner has been present in Austria since 1996, and now has eight stores there, the company would find it extremely difficult to get a foothold in this neighbouring country to the south as well. Communicating and establishing a new brand in this market would probably be too expensive. And obtaining and developing enough attractive retail sites of the necessary size would be a still more lengthy process. Nevertheless Dehner will have a massive presence in the Swiss marketplace through the cooperative agreement signed in the autumn: the company will in future supply its wholesale customer Bau+Hobby with a considerably higher volume of products. The intention of Bau+Hobby is to increase the share of garden sales (live plants and garden hardware) to 30 – 40 per cent depending on the individual store. The greatest help here is expected from the growth in sales of live plants, a considerable share of which will be procured through Dehner, with variations according to the required assortment. The handwriting of the German garden centre specialist is visible in…