Mr. DIY quietly setting up in Bangladesh

Even as officials announced that Mr. DIY was scouting Poland as a potential market, Malaysia’s top home improvement retailer was quietly preparing to enter another Asian country. DIY International has learned that Mr. DIY is now laying the groundwork for its debut in the Bangladesh market. A LinkedIn account and a Facebook page – both bearing the Mr. DIY logo of an anthropomorphised hammer – have been created for Mr. DIY Bangladesh, although at the moment both social media accounts function simply as placeholders. A website address has also been assigned to the company, but has yet to go live at the time of going to press.

Key people have already been appointed to critical posts. These include Syed Noor Anwar, who has more than 20 years of experience in the retailing sector in Dhaka and started as head of operations last July, while Umar Faruq, an engineer by training, was tapped to be warehouse manager. The company is also in the process of hiring personnel, with job vacancies being posted on LinkedIn for supervisors, cashiers and sales promoters, as well as for staff at the Mr. DIY warehouse in Tongi.

DIY International has confirmed through a source with access that the Bangladeshi company is part of the home improvement retail chain that originated in Kuala Lumpur.

With a population of 169.4 million, Bangladesh is set to become the second South Asian market for Mr. DIY after India. The retailer has been in expansion mode in the market with the world’s second-biggest population (2022): since it opened its first shop in December 2019, it has grown its store network in the Hindu country to 151 outlets, 49 of which were launched this year.

Angus Mackintosh, CrossAsean Research founder and analyst, said in an interview conducted via research platform Smartkarma that Bangladesh would be a better fit than Poland for the retailer that makes no apologies for targeting cost-conscious shoppers.

“Bangladesh would be a sensible market to target as consumers there are more price-sensitive and less quality-conscious than consumers would be in Poland,” he said.

He also said that Mr. DIY’s experience in India would be beneficial to the Bangladesh entry “in terms of understanding the market and consumer behaviour, as there are significant cultural similarities”.

Mackintosh noted that the group “seems to be rolling out its overseas business at a rapid pace”, but stressed that it is difficult to determine whether Mr. DIY’s businesses outside of Malaysia and Brunei are profitable…