Market entry in anniversary year

The first Hornbach store in Switzerland, which was inaugurated in the middle of July, offered jobs to 100 local employees. Regional suppliers were able to negotiate contracts and the Littau local authority was relieved of half the cost of a local public transport link through Hornbach’s participation.
Hornbach has invested over 20 mio euro in its first Swiss outlet in Littau.
This first Swiss outlet was worth an overall investment of SFR 31.5 mio (20.9 mio euro) to the German family-run concern. On the site of about 33 000 m2 has been established a DIY, building and garden store with a retail area of 10 957 m2; of this total, over 2 397 m2 is allocated to the garden store and 1 100 m2 to an outdoor building materials yard. The high racking in the store offers a choice of 60 000 constantly available items, while a further 60 000 products can be obtained at short notice via the special order service.
As has been the case with all Hornbach stores outside Germany, management was guided by the prevailing needs and practices of the new country when putting together the product offer. The product mix is therefore interspersed with a great number of Swiss lines, and contracts have been negotiated with regional suppliers. As a result this store, divided into building materials, DIY store and garden centre, offers DIYers, garden enthusiasts and professional customers everything they could possibly need for building or renovating their homes and gardens. Hornbach concentrates its efforts solely on the core DIY store range, excluding on principle all the fringe categories such as motor accessories, bicycles or drinks. Following the premiere abroad in Krems, Austria, the new store at Littau also has an outdoor yard for storing big, bulky building materials. A drive-in system was also set up so that heavy materials can be loaded onto the vehicle straight from the yard.
Trade customers are served at a separate counter.
The in-store intention is to convey the message that DIY is not just something for specialists. Assistance is available to DIYers from the sales staff, who have expert knowledge that is highly valued by the company. The majority of them are recruited from the skilled trades. They also provide the point of contact when it comes to the customer services such as picture framing, cutting wood to size, mixing special colours of paint, hiring transport and plant, or the installation and laying services as well.
A special feature of the Littau store is its extended…