Market in France downward

In the first half-year the DIY stores in France recorded sales 2.5 per cent down on the results for the first six months of 2012. The sales decline amounted to four per cent in like-for-like terms, as reported by Fediyma and Unibal, European and French manufacturers’ associations respectively. According to these statistics, the builders’ merchants forfeited only 1.1 per cent of their DIY sales over the same period, while the food retailers were 9.1 per cent down.