To Libya and in the Sudan

There's a lot happening right now in the Egyptian building materials trade: the CMB group (Chemicals for Modern Building) is expanding massively with its retail sales channel CMB. The group was originally a major manufacturer in the field of building products and chemical solutions for the construction industry. Since 1997 however, it has also been operating a DIY store in Cairo under the brand Dary Building and Decoration Centre with a retail space of 5 000 m².
But it has now committed itself to expansion through the smaller store format CMB. There are currently 408 of these stores in Egypt. Their retail spaces vary from between 50 and 400 m², on average they are approximately 100 m² per location. Here, the entire product range is offered in the areas of paints and mortar, epoxides, floor coatings, insulation materials and construction boards, adhesives for construction, sealants for buildings, roofs and joints, as well as fire and corrosion protection. More than 90 per cent of the products are produced by the CMB group itself.
CMB store customers are consumers, tradesmen and construction companies. "CMB aims at providing assistance and inspiration," explains Karim Mostafa, member of the owner family and active in management. That's why CMB opened its CMB Academy last year, in order to familiarise tradesmen and construction companies with the correct use of its products.
The number of CMB stores is currently growing rapidly. Most of them are operated as franchises, only 28 belong to the company itself. 100 new stores were opened last year alone, namely in Egypt and the western neighbouring country Libya. There are already five CMB franchise stores there. A total of 200 new stores are planned for 2020 and 2021. "We are hoping to be able to open 20 franchise locations in Libya and in the Sudan," says Karim Mostafa.
At the same time, CMB is also focussed on expansion as major building materials manufacturer, for example in the sanitary field. "Africa is also a very important export market for us," reports Mostafa. "We are currently exporting to twelve African countries."
But also outside of Africa the CMB group is, as it says itself, very successful in exporting, in particular to France. The group supplies both the DIY stores as well as the tile trade with barrier-free shower trays made from natural stone and artificial stone made from mineral casting sheets with linear drainage or point drainage under its product brand Marmox.
The Marmox shower trays from natural…