Oversaturated

The DIY stores in Austria increased their sales in 2005 by 2.3 per cent to € 2.282 bn. At any rate, these are the figures supplied by Regioplan Consulting of Vienna. Retail area is given as 1.3 mio m² (up by 290 000 m²). However, industry analysts put a question mark against this data, partly because of the problem of distinguishing the stores against other channels of distribution. As Regioplan reports, the DIY store density in Austria is one of the highest anywhere in the world at 11 000 inhabitants per store, the market is oversaturated. Expansion is now taking place almost exclusively in eastern Europe.