In the Eternal City

The programme takes as its theme the dramatic changes in the DIY sector. Will multichannel retailing be the revolution of the current decade? Many prominent speakers plan to make a statement on the subject at the 2nd Global DIY Summit and present their particular strategies. This is certainly the topic that will leave the biggest mark on the congress in Rome next June, apart from the recipient of the Lifetime Award, who is one of the sector’s global pioneers. Yes, this year the award is going to Manfred Maus, co-founder and long-standing boss of the German market leader Obi. The organisers have engaged the 2010 winner of the prize to deliver the laudatory address: Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy found himself the subject of Manfred Maus’s eulogy back then in Vienna. The awarding of the prize within the context of a formal dinner in the Villa Maini on the evening of the first day of the congress will be one of the highlights of the event. The congress pro­gramme is a reflection of the themes that the sector is getting to grips with. It currently seems that all roads lead to the customer through the internet. Topping every agenda, clear across continents and industry segments, is the subject of multichannel. “Multichannel – the changing face of home improvement retailing” is the official motto of the conference. Due to speak on this subject are Ian Cheshire of Kingfisher, Sergio Giroldi of Obi, Carlos Wulf of Easy and Renzo Taal of Philips. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, will report on its global DIY activities. Alastair Bruce, director of Google, is expected to provide the overall view of things. Richard Wolff, COO of Javelin, a management consultancy specialising in e-commerce and multi­channel that works for several leading European DIY retailers among other clients, will report on “The digital-driven retail revolution”. A great number of talks apart from this keynote theme promise to provide insights into various markets and companies. Damien Deleplanque, CEO of Groupe Adeo, and Paul Loft, CEO of Homebase, will introduce their companies, while Rinat Mukhametvaleev of Stroy Arsenal will speak about the Russian market. James C. Stephen, CEO of Weber Stephen Grill, is to speak on the growing significance of innovations in the digital age. The venue for the 2nd Global DIY Summit on 6 and 7 June 2013 will be the Sheraton Roma hotel. A tour of interesting DIY stores in the region around Rome will be offered on the day before the congress opens. Once again…