Growth solely through new stores

The Swedish DIY retailer Byggmax increased sales in the first six months of 2011 to SEK 1.269 bn, or 7.5 per cent on the same period last year. The plus of 5.0 per cent in the second quarter was founded exclusively on the five new openings, while the existing stores reported sales losses. The opening of five more outlets is planned for the third quarter. Altogether Byggmax will have opened 13 stores this year, six of them in Sweden, three in Norway and four in Finland.