Holz-Dammers thinks big in Rostov

October saw the opening by the German HDM Group and its subsidiary Holz-Dammers of the region’s biggest builders’ merchant business on the outskirts of the city of Rostov-on-Don. This information comes from a spokeswoman for HDM-Jug, in which HDM has a 60 per cent stake. “Mir Remonta” (“Renovation World”) encompasses an area of more than 24 000 m² spread over two floors, 90 per cent of which is occupied by HDM-Jug. The mall also houses two other tenants, who offer home fashions, soft furnishings and décor items. Since 1996 HDM has had a presence in Rostov, where it previously operated a smaller store of 3 500 m². The current outlet is located right next to a branch of Ikea and no more than two km away from a Leroy Merlin store. According too HDM-Jug, however, the company does not intend to compete with the major DIY multiples but to find a niche of its own. Industry analysts estimate the annual volume of the Rostov DIY market at US $ 300 to US $ 350 mio and believe that it is not yet saturated. However, this region has seen the closure of two big DIY stores (Klondike 14 000 m² and Maxidom 20 000 m²) since the summer of 2009.