Visions against uncertainty

The appeal of the Global DIY-Summit, the world congress of the home improvement industry, continues unabated: More than 1 000 participants from 55 countries came to Berlin in mid-June to exchange and discuss ideas. The congress motto made it more than clear how important this is, especially in difficult times: "Visions of DIY in the age of uncertainty".

The congress was opened by John Herbert and Piet de Coninck, the managing directors of the international industry associations Edra/Ghin and Hima, which organise the annual meeting of the global home improvement industry. They also used the stage to present the new Home Improvement Report Retail Worldwide, which the editorial team of DIY International from Dähne Verlag is publishing for the first time this year together with the associations. Iñaki Maillard, who with his team was responsible for the perfect organisation of the event, also took over part of the moderation.

Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher and President of the European DIY trade association Edra/Ghin, named three trends that are giving the industry a tailwind: working from home, the young generation of DIYers and the topic of energy efficiency. He also presented the new Scope 3 initiative in this context (see box and the detailed interview in this issue).

An overview of the state of the global economy with its impact on the industry was given by Ira Kalish from the consultancy Deloitte. The outlook, as he predicts, is not that bad: inflation has already fallen sharply in the USA and is also declining in Europe, and the economies in both regions have proven resilient; in contrast, growth in China remains rather weak.