Downward tendency

The DIY market in the Netherlands is expected to have achieved a volume of around € 4.1 bn in the year 2002, which amounts to growth of 3.8 per cent. The average for the previous five years was 4.5 per cent. This information was supplied by the GfK (Consumer Research Society), whereby the exact figures for the months of November and December are not yet available. The forecast for 2003 is for a further weakening of growth to three per cent. Paint shops are the only specialist retail channel to have notched up a slight amount of growth last year. Hardware retailers, on the other hand, suffered a drop in sales. A detailed country report will be published in the next issue of our specialist magazine, DIY in Europe.