Six buses, six hours, six stops

An incredible six stops were worked through by the participants of the store tour, which the organisers of the 7th Global DIY Summit offered in the Irish capital of Dublin on the eve of the congress. The rush for this preliminary event has been great for years. Six buses were on the move for six hours with 330 participants - more were simply not possible despite the excellent organisation and meticulous adherence to the time schedule, because nobody wanted to overtax the hospitality of the companies being visited.
Of course, the Irish top dog Woodie's couldn't go amiss on the tour. The company sees itself as being excellently positioned, mainly in the "soft" sector and here, in particular, in the decorative and gardening categories, as was also emphasised by commercial director Damian Dwyer when welcoming the group to the store at Blanchardstown. In addition, he pointed out the Dulux paint installation as one of the store's unique features. Something which also highlights the "soft" alignment is the "Party Factory" department where there is everything you need for celebrations, from greetings cards to balloons.
In particular the store tour participants from the industry sector were especially interested in the guided tour through the B&Q store at Liffey Valley. The main topic was namely the own brand politics of the British parent company Kingfisher under the heading "unique and unified range" and, in particular, the new own brand GoodHome which has been established throughout the group and which also serves as retail brand for a new store concept. There are GoodHome products, for example, in the area of bathroom furniture or paint. Erbauer for power tools, Magnusson for tools or Site for work clothes were presented, among others, as further own brands.
The third big box visited on the tour, the Homebase store in Dublin Santry, was eagerly anticipated: this chain has a varied past behind it after its luckless takeover by Wesfarmers/Bunnings and the sale to the investment company Hilco Capital. Marcus Mallon, head of Irish Business, also stated decorating and gardening as the company's strengths. In addition, large showroom areas are reserved for the big ticket lines such as kitchens or bathrooms.
As the Irish home improvement and hardware store continues to be strongly influenced by traditional specialist trade, this distribution channel was represented with three stops on the store tour. Grange Builders Providers Homevalue Hardware belongs to the…