Garden ranges fuelling growth

Product sales by French DIY stores totalled € 12.15 bn in 2004. The latest study from Unibal shows that sales of DIY ranges increased by 5.5 per cent to € 10.36 bn, while sales of garden product assortments grew by 8.4 per cent to € 1.79 bn. Of the DIY ranges, Unibal reports that the biggest sales increases were in the electrical/lighting and timber and sundry goods categories at 6.7 per cent respectively, followed by plumbing (+ 6.0 per cent), building materials (+ 5.9 per cent), hardware (+ 5.1 per cent), decoration (+ 4.6 per cent), floor coverings (+ 4.1 per cent) and tools at 2.1 per cent.