Mr. DIY aggressively expands despite geopolitical, economic circumstances

Despite global economic headwinds, Mr. DIY, a home improvement retailing chain that started in Malaysia and now has a presence in ten countries in Asia and Europe, continued to expand its footprint last year. The company, which operates eponymous outlets in its markets either directly or through joint ventures, closed 2022 with 741 new stores, bringing its global store network to over 2 500 outlets.

A video presentation posted by Mr. DIY on LinkedIn states that the company opened 192 new stores in Malaysia, where it is the leading home improvement chain, 160 new outlets in Thailand, its second biggest market, 162 in Indonesia, 119 in the Philippines, 57 in India, 30 in Turkey, 15 in Spain, three in Singapore, two in Brunei and one in Cambodia.

In a number of the markets, the company breached targets set for the year. In Malaysia, where Mr. DIY is a listed company, it had earlier disclosed a target to open 180 stores across its three brands -- Mr. DIY, Mr. Toy and Mr. Dollar -- to grow its network to 1 080 outlets, while in Thailand, it had planned on opening 150 Mr. DIY stores to end 2022 with 550 branches.

Some faster than others

Information on the group’s website indicate that including outlets that were launched since the start of 2023, Mr. DIY now has 988 eponymous outlets in Malaysia, 576 in Thailand, 494 in Indonesia, 334 in the Philippines, 105 in India, 39 in Turkey, 16 in Spain, 12 in Singapore, nine in Brunei, and four in Cambodia.

In India and the Philippines, Mr. DIY celebrated having breached the 100-store and 300-store marks, respectively. “We look forward to continuing to grow and serve our communities in India through the unique and useful range of everyday products along with the quality at ‘Always Low Prices’,” Mr. DIY India CEO Maneesh Sharma was quoted in a January 2023 statement as saying.

Mr. DIY’s first year in Turkey and Spain was also characterized by relatively rapid growth. In Turkey, where the retailer wants to set up a Mr. DIY in every neighbourhood, outlets have opened at a rate of close to three per month over the course of 14 months. Store openings had slowed down in early 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, but picked up shortly after that.

The expansion in Spain, where Mr. DIY has a different slogan -- “More Variety, Best Price” rather than its standard “Always Low Prices” -- has been more prudent: the company effectively opened one outlet a month, ending its first year of operations with 15 outlets. Still, the…