Contraction of garden segment

The DIY stores in France increased their sales by 2.5 per cent to € 16.0 bn in 2008, according to Unibal. The three product categories with the highest proportion of sales were the same as last year: wood and derived products (14.2 per cent), heating/ventilation/plumbing (13.7 per cent) and decoration (12.9 per cent). The smallest shares went to tools (7.9 per cent), wall and floor coverings (8.0 per cent), and hardware (8.1 per cent). In 2008 the DIY stores achieved 11.5 per cent of their total sales in the garden segment, whereas this figure came to 12.1 per cent in 2007 and 12.4 per cent in 2006.