The industry is growing in Italy

GfK Retail and Technology estimates the volume of the Italian DIY market in 2010 at € 18.2 bn. This figure includes the sales of DIY stores with a floorspace in excess of 800 m² and of traditional specialist dealers. The GfK puts a figure of 6.3 per cent on the sales growth achieved by the DIY stores compared to 2009. Since 2007 their number has risen from 580 to 690 outlets. In December they recorded sales of € 3.1 bn, or 15.5 per cent higher than in December 2007, when the GfK began to collate such data. The market researchers believe that the industry is strongly shaped by regionally active chains. In their estimation the large-format stores are not the most popular. The bureaucratic hurdles that have to be overcome by retailers prior to the opening of such new stores must be taken into consideration. But the GfK analysts believe that stores of between 1 000 m² and 2 000 m² in size seem to be the best answer to the requirements of customers. They expect that the number of retailers will continue to increase still further in 2011.