Standing ovations for John Herbert – appeals for "Make It Zero"

Many participants at this year’s Global DIY Summit in Amsterdam have praised the quality of the presentations and their practical relevance to the current challenges facing the home improvement sector.

This was particularly true, for example, of the insights into his company shared by Dan Starr from the USA. The CEO of the US cooperative Do it Best reported on how the cooperative is continuing to run True Value, a competitor it acquired in 2024. The challenge: to maintain True Value’s high brand awareness of 74 per cent whilst simultaneously making the brand attractive to younger target groups.

The presentation by China expert Ed Sander on “what Temu will do next” – namely, launching typical home improvement products onto the market – gave the audience plenty to think about. Anyone who thinks Temu is an online retailer with no connection to the DIY…