Austrian DIY stores lose out

In 2013 Austria’s DIY and home improvement stores reported total gross sales of € 2.24 bn and a nominal sales decline of 1.6 per cent. In like-for-like terms the DIY and home improvement stores achieved sales 1.4 per cent down on the previous year. The BHB, an industry association, names the adverse weather in the first quarter, when temperatures were too low and too much rain fell, as the main reason for the downward development. Sales in January were 3.4 per cent below the comparable figure for the previous year, in February the comparative figure was -9.3 per cent, and in March -19.8 per cent. The DIY retailers were unable to make up these shortfalls entirely over the course of the rest of the financial year, despite strong sales results in the months that followed: April showed a plus figure of 4.1 per cent, May managed +2.4 per cent, and July +7.6 per cent. The garden section was especially hard hit here: looking at the year as a whole, losses were recorded by live plants (-4.9 per cent), garden furniture (-2.8 per cent), and garden equipment/watering and drainage (-1.5 per cent). Other categories were affected as well: home and decoration (-8.2 per cent), building components (-6.6 per cent) and walls/floors (-5.7 per cent). By contrast there was positive development in 2013 for the automotive category (+2.2 per cent), tools/machines/tool accessories (+1.2 per cent) and sundries (+10.4 per cent).