Mr. Bricolage sales down

Last year the Mr. Bricolage stores, which totalled 446 at year’s end, recorded gross sales of € 1.7034 bn, or 3.9 per cent less than the previous year. The French group also includes 55 stores under the Catena banner, where the final sales figure came to € 71.4 mio, as well as 153 outlets under the Briconautes banner, with sales of € 282.34 mio. In France Mr. Bricolage lost 0.4 per cent like-for-like, Catena 4.3 per cent and Briconautes 0.9 per cent. The 52 Mr. Bricolage stores abroad improved their sales by 0.7 per cent to € 192.5 mio. The situation remained difficult in eastern Europe, where there was a sales decline of 14.1 per cent in the second half of the year. The group is planning the opening of 24 Mr. Bricolage stores in 2011, including 13 conversions of Catena and Briconautes outlets, three openings under the Briconautes logo and one pilot store of the new L’Entrepôt du Bricolage format (see separate report).