Slight fall

The French DIY chain Mr Bricolage saw its sales decline to € 411 mio in the first quarter of 2008, 0.7 per cent down on the same period last year. In the Mr Bricolage outlets, sales fell by 0.3 per cent to € 384.2 mio, while the group's Catena stores experienced a decline in sales of 5.5 per cent to € 26.8 mio. The number of Mr Bricolage stores increased in the first quarter by eight (five in France, two in Belgium and one in Romania) to 411, with an increase of 33 500 m² in retail area to over 1.202 mio m². 115 stores were operating under the Catena logo, with a retail area of around 102 000 m².