European DIY retailers close ranks

The European DIY Retail Association, or EDRA for short, was founded in Berlin yesterday on the eve of the fourth international BHB DIY Store Congress. This working partnership of the European building, DIY and garden stores has set itself the goal of intensifying international cooperation in the DIY sector. This involves first of all the harmonisation of environmental issues and market research in order to achieve comparability of data. In addition to the BHB (Federal Association of German DIY, Building and Garden Stores) and the French FMB (Fédération des Magasins de Bricolage), companies from five different countries signed the basic guidelines. These were B&Q and Homebase from the United Kingdom, Baumax from Austria, Migros and Jumbo from Switzerland, Kesko from Finland and Silvan Kæden from Denmark. Further groups from Italy and the Netherlands intend to follow suit, and Focu has also announced its intention to join.