Growth in France

The French DIY market recorded growth of 1.7 per cent to € 22.5 bn in 2008, according to the latest survey from Unibal, a French manufacturers’ association. The DIY stores achieved the best result with sales up by 2.5 per cent to € 16.0 bn. The builders’ merchants attained retail sales of € 4.47 bn, which corresponds to growth of 1.5 per cent. By contrast, DIY sales in the food sector were down in 2008. Here the total of € 1.25 bn amounted to 4.3 per cent less than the previous year. The specialist dealers with sales down 3.0 per cent to € 780 mio were also on the losing side.