6.3 per cent increase for DIY stores in Austria in the second quarter

In Austria, DIY retail ended the second quarter with a significant increase in sales, more than offsetting the losses from the first quarter by the middle of the year. From April to June, sales rose by 6.3 per cent year-on-year to EUR 1.0 bn. This represents a turnover volume of EUR 1.63 bn for the first half of the year as a whole, an increase of 2.9 per cent. These figures from the GfK Total Store Report were published by the German DIY trade association BHB.

The technology/office/entertainment segment made the biggest leap with growth of 16.7 per cent. This was followed by gardening tools/watering and drainage (+10 per cent) and garden equipment (+8.6 per cent). By contrast, the other products (-11 per cent) and household goods (-7.2 per cent) segments suffered heavy losses in the first half of the year.