Romania

Bright prospects

A high level of home ownership, a large DIY-savvy rural population and rising salaries are driving the Romanian home improvement market. It will also continue in …

Pricing

Trillions of data points

Andreas Gruß, Managing Director of Obi Poland, on price transparency and price trustworthiness

Pricing

The best price

Trade needs to master pricing. Today, that means software instead of gut instinct, demonstrated by the examples of The Home Depot Mexico and Obi Poland

Menards

Taking on the giants

With more than 280 stores, the US American DIY store chain Menards shows the giants Home Depot and Lowe’s what it’s made of. New product categories, cleaner …

CEE countries

DIY retailers gain market share

Foreign and domestic DIY store operators, as yet, lay claim to not quite half of the market in Romania, which has been through a rough period. …

True Value

Going global

True Value expands internationally. The company is focused on implementing its strategy, not just within the U.S. domestic market, but also overseas

Editorial

Taking smart home improvement by the horns!

France

Grown with their customers

French manufacturers have adapted to globalisation, says Jean-Éric Riche, President of the Unibal association in this interview

France

Very European French

The online marketplace Mano Mano is expanding from France to its neighbouring countries. Is it what they have been waiting for? A conversation with the …

France

Growing enthusiasm

Angéline Le Ménach analyses the French market at Euro­monitor International and is convinced that French consumers have embraced DIY

France

DIY chains strengthen their position

Growth rates in the French market as a whole remained at less than one per cent in 2015, but the DIY chains are outperforming the rest

Lowe’s

Robots in Silicon Valley

LowBot is the name of the new colleague at eleven stores of the US DIY retailer Lowe’s in the San Francisco Bay area – a robot which is not aimed at …

U.S. trade sector

Comparing with others

“How does your store compare with some of the biggest chains in the U. S.?”, is the question author Bob Vereen asks in his report, while breaking down the …

Brexit

Challenging for everybody

Since the British vote to leave the EU, the question hanging in the air for the DIY and garden industry is: What will be the consequences?