New top man at Arena

Michael Baumgardt is to head the international procurement cooperative Arena (Alliance of Retailers in Europe and North America) for the next two years. Until the end of 2012 Baumgardt was at the helm of the German builders merchants’ cooperative Hagebau and its retailing subsidiary Zeus with the Hagebaumarkt main distribution channel. He assumed the chair of the Arena administrative board, of which he has been a member since 2012, by rotation in June.
Hagebau and Intermarché in France established the procurement association in 2000. Around a dozen companies worldwide are now affiliated to it, including four new partners in Russia, Romania and Thailand. The company bundles international procurement and organises imports from Asia for the 2 000 or so DIY stores belonging to these.