Global DIY Summit

The home improvement and garden sector meets in Berlin

Sergio Giroldi, new President of Edra/Ghin, and Reinhard Wolf, running president of fediyma, welcome the attendees at the DIY Summit 2017 in Berlin.
Sergio Giroldi, new President of Edra/Ghin, and Reinhard Wolf, running president of fediyma, welcome the attendees at the DIY Summit 2017 in Berlin.
08.06.2017

The 5th Global DIY Summit opened today in Berlin with a record attendance of more than 1 000 delegates. "A new era - a glimpse into the future of home improvement" is the title of the event, at which CEOs and top executives from DIY store operators and manufacturing companies across the world get together to exchange news and views over the two days of the summit. Speakers from a host of organisations including Facebook and Google will inject ideas from outside the DIY and garden sector. Brexit and the Trump presidency are also expected to bring economic and political issues more to the fore at this year's gathering than in previous years. Close to 30 percent of attendees at the DIY Summit are from the retail area while nearly one quarter are women.
In his welcome address, Sergio Giroldi, CEO of Obi and new president of the international DIY retail trade association Edra/Ghin, called on distributors and manufacturers to work closer together. His following remarks shed light on future's business model of the home improvement sector, starting with the assessment, that Amazon has become the biggest retailer so far. However, while Amazon only delivers products, the business modell of the home improvement sector must be completely different, he said: "Not only delivering goods, but delivering solutions."
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