Baumax: seven per cent growth

Austrian DIY retailer Baumax was able to increase sales by seven per cent to € 1.5 bn last year. The increase in Austria, where the company operates 67 of its 149 stores, came to four per cent for a total of € 640 mio. Baumax sales in central and southern Europe amounted to € 860 mio, an increase of nine per cent on the year before. One store was relocated in Austria, and there were seven new openings: four in Romania for a new total of 13, one in Slovakia for a total of 15, and two stores in Turkey. Around 60 per cent of the company’s total retail space, which has risen to more than a million m², is to be found outside Austria. Entering the Turkish market is named by the company as one of its focal activities in 2010, along with the conversion of more countries, in this case Slovakia and Hungary (15 stores) to the group’s permanent low price concept. It is planning to introduce this concept in the Czech Republic (24 stores) and Slovenia (three) in 2011. In addition it has announced three more new openings in Turkey for the current year as well as new stores in Romania, Croatia (six stores at present) and Bulgaria (currently four).