Next stop: construction boom

This year's Global DIY Summit store tour reflected in a way what is currently happening in the country's industry: it is benefiting from the construction boom. The number of building permits and the volume of residential construction loans are currently on the rise, as are real estate prices. The background to this is a high home ownership rate of 78 percent, but also a crisis in the housing market over the past ten years, which is now to be tackled.

In any case, the fact that the store tour, once again on the eve of the actual congress, also took in some very professional retail locations fits in very well with the image of this brilliantly organized event. The seven (!) buses made five stops in the greater Lisbon area.

The participants were clearly impressed by the latest market on the tour program: Obramat Afragide opened on March 19, 2025. It is the first location in Portugal for this professional sales chain of the French Adeo Group, which has invested €18 million here. In neighboring Spain, there are already 37 locations of this distribution chain, which generates around 70 percent of its sales with professionals – craftsmen and small construction companies – and 30 percent with end consumers. Professional quality, high inventory levels, and price leadership are the most important strategic principles.

Also part of the Adeo Group and with a strong focus on building materials is the Leroy Merlin store we visited in Sintra. What makes it special is that the building materials drive-in (Leroy Merlin Construção) is located a short distance away. The entire site generated sales of €92 million in 2024, €21 million of which came from building materials. Another special feature is that the Construção building materials hall has a “store within a store” with 4,000 items that are also available in the neighboring hardware store, such as tools, workwear, and construction chemicals. Why? “Because we listen to what our customers tell us,” says the store manager. With 67 stores and a market share of 45 percent, Leroy Merlin is the market leader in Portugal.

The Brico Dépôt retail chain, part of the British Kingfisher Group, also focuses strongly on professionals. It comprises 31 locations across the Iberian Peninsula, including three in Portugal. Brico Dépôt has been operating here since 2014, and the market in Sintra was opened in 2016 and covers 7,300 m². In addition to numerous branded products, this retail chain also has a range of own brands that are used throughout the Kingfisher Group, such as Erbauer and Good Home.

Maxmat is a purely Portuguese company. Founded in 1994, it operates 33 stores on the Iberian Peninsula, 31 of which are in Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores). The company reports annual sales of €141.4 million. The format is a discount concept for building materials, bathrooms, kitchens, gardens, tools, and hardware. The store in Alverca, which opened in 2006, has a sales area of just 2,785 m² and 20 employees. Maxmat belongs to the building materials group BME (Building Materials Europe), which includes Hagebau partner Bauking in Germany and the Quester Group in Austria.

The Horto do Campo Grande garden center in Lisbon's university district provides a certain counterbalance to these four building materials-focused Storetour stops. The product range focuses on outdoor plants, but the company generates around a quarter of its sales with services for commercial customers. It also offers an exclusive range of garden furniture and its own brand of planters – and a very green atmosphere.