Tighter structure planned

Soyuz (“Union”) DIY, the Russian buying group founded just last year, is planning tighter consolidation. The group wants to go beyond the activities of buying organisations like Arena Eurobuy “and come together in one big, unified structure,” in the words of director Ilja Kornjuchow at a press conference on the occasion of the first annual general meeting. He named Hagebau, a German cooperative group, as a model. The aim is to have bundled a number of tasks and responsibilities in a joint Union headquarters by 2015. According to the statement, Soyuz DIY has already been able to achieve a considerable reduction of the purchase price in some product groupings. Director Ilja Kornjuchow stressed the need for local DIY retailers to join forces against western operators, since companies such as Obi and Leroy Merlin are now setting their sights on cities with a population of 300 000 – 500 000. The Russian DIY dealers there may well have a better knowledge of their regional market, but they cannot keep up with the big chains in terms of buying conditions, financial possibilities, logistics, marketing technology and IT infrastructure.