New record high

The total number of DIY stores belonging to German trading companies reached a new record high of 4 937 at the end of 2007. As computed by Dähne Verlag, the number of outlets in Germany increased by 33 to 4 289, and abroad by 36 to 645. The trend towards DIY megastores is continuing unabated: two-thirds (66.1 per cent) of all new openings had a retail area in excess of 5 000 m² (2006: 62.9 per cent). Obi is still the best-performing German DIY retailer, having managed to increase gross sales last year by 5.1 per cent to € 5.777 bn.