Hardware store

A hardware store is usually a large supermarket, which specializes in materials for home improvement. Hardware stores were conceptually taken from the United States, where they are known under the name of "Hardware Store". In the business context, often of the " DIY sector " ( acronym for: Do it yourself ) is spoken.

You got earlier example, tools and nails exclusively from the ironmonger, paint and wallpaper from the specialist paint shop, wood from the timber merchants and building materials in the building materials trade, so you can get in a hardware store almost everything in one place today.

Developments

In particular, hardware stores were among the first companies that triggered the trend for the settlement of large-scale retail on the outskirts ( "green- field" ).

Due to increasing competition, many hardware stores trying to profile a number of ways:

• More new openings (market occupation, 's deductible initial losses )
• Surface growth
• Exodus from the inner cities ( parking )
• Inclusion of additional yield stronger assortments ( garden centers, Zooabteilung, craft and ambient products, food, clothing, bicycles, car accessories, toys, kitchenware, consumer electronics, ...). So today represent Germany in the classic DIY goods groups building materials, construction chemicals, tiles and tools / machines only about 2 /3 of the retail space.
• Shop-in -shop concepts, franchise system (eg Obi )
• Reducing the number of suppliers
• Building block concept ( in composition and presentation of standardized sub-range )
• Personnel cuts
• Expansion of the value chain (contract artisans, private labels, manufactured homes, rental units )
• Service reinforcement (delivery to construction site, drive-in - construction warehouse, setting up on-site consulting, ...), Value Added Service
• Discountbaumärkte without consulting ( eg B1, special price hardware store)
• Development of new distribution channels ( online shipping, such as direct hardware store as a joint venture by otto group and hagebau )
• Spin-off of part assortments in its own distribution lines (eg Lafiora garden centers in Hornbach, clover garden centers at Rewe )
• Internationalization ( new markets )
• Permanent low price ( Hornbach, Bauhaus )
• 20 % - to - everything - except - Animal Nutrition Actions ( Practitioner )
• Shopping experience ( demonstrations, create atmosphere, evoke emotion, child care)

Customer satisfaction

When Kundenmonitor Germany, the customer asked about their satisfaction with the service quality in various industries, 2010 reached the investigated building and home improvement markets, on average, a relatively mediocre index of 2.48. In the major providers are globe and Max Bahr with a satisfaction index of 2.31 before Hornbach (2.32 ), Bauhaus (2.38 ), hagebaumarkt (2.46 ), Hellweg (2.50), OBI (2, 53), toom DIY stores (2.56 ) as well as practitioners (2.60). Smaller hardware stores were not evaluated because the number of respondents was not representative.

In a representative study by the trade magazine " do-it -yourself " in cooperation with the market research company " concept & Market " world construction market in 2011 is chosen with a success index of 2318 for the 5th time in a row for customer-friendly DIY companies in Germany. Obi is a success index of 2276 2nd place, followed by hagebaumarkt ( 2264 ), Hornbach ( 2261 ), Hellweg ( 2241 ), Max Bahr ( 2222 ), Bauhaus ( 2218 ), practitioners ( 2136 ) and toom ( 2129 ).

Facts and Figures

History

The first German DIY store was Bauhaus. The company was founded in 1960 by Heinz G. construction in a garage in Mannheim. 1968 was opened by Otmar Hornbach, Bornheim ( Palatinate ), the first combined construction and garden center in Germany. In 1970, the first Obi- market in Hamburg- Poppenbuettel opened.

Market situation today

2005 104 new DIY stores were opened according to the industry magazine " diy " in Germany. The number of construction and home improvement stores increased to 4,392. According to the definition of the industry association BHB ( Federal Association of German DIY, Building and Garden Stores Association) has a hardware store, however, provide at least 1,000 square feet of retail and have a specific classification of goods in order to be recognized as such by BHB. According to this definition, there were 2005 Germany 2,520 hardware stores.

Obi is now the market leader in Europe. This is part of the Kingfisher Group Castorama is the market leader in France, Italy and Poland.

Market share of the three leading DIY trading companies (DIY = Do It Yourself) in six European countries (as of 1998):

• Germany: Obi, Praktiker, Bauhaus - together 21.7%
• France: Castorama / Brico Deposit, Leroy Merlin ( Auchan ), Domaxel - together 39.2 %
• United Kingdom: B & Q ( Kingfisher / Castorama without ), Homebase (owned since 2002 Argos Retail Group, a branch of GUS plc, London. ) Wickes - together, 60.1 %
• Italy: Bricocenter ( Rinascente, including 4 Leroy Merlin outlets ), Obi ( Tengelmann, D), of Castorama (F) - together 5.1%
• Netherlands: Inter Gamma, practice, HDB - together 56.6 %
• Spain: Leroy Merlin ( Auchan, F), AKI (GIB, B), ATB ( Franchise ) - together 57.2 %

After the " Dähne information service " are the ten largest construction markets in Germany Obi, Praktiker ( with extra and top construction), Bauhaus, Hornbach, ZEUS ( hagebaumarkt, worker WORLD, Flora country), REWE Group ( toom, B1 ), market purchase, globe, Max Bahr and I & M Interbaustoff (end- 2005). This sector accounted for around 17.7 billion euro in sales, almost 80 percent of total industry sales in 2005.

In 2007, the Rewe chain all Marktkauf DIY stores and converted them into Toom or B1 hardware stores. Overall, the sector employs around a quarter million employees.

With over 30,000 m² of retail space, the Bauhaus is in Frechen near Cologne currently (as of October 2010) of the largest construction market in Europe.

In Austria bauMax, warehouse, Obi, Bauhaus and Hornbach together have almost 90 % market share. There are around 870 sites with approximately 1.57 million square meters of retail space.

The U.S. The Home Depot Inc., headquartered in Atlanta claims to be the largest home improvement retailer to be the world.

The poor financial situation of many hardware stores, a lack of market positioning and the strong price war to place the industry under pressure. A study by the accounting firm Ernst & Young predicted in 2005 that, at best, seven, only three companies were left over from the current 14 major DIY chains in 2015, depending on the choice of their future strategy in the worst case. Given the insolvency of the DIY Group Therapy in 2013 and the associated near-simultaneous disappearance of three DIY chains ( practitioners, Max Bahr and extra Bau Hobby), it currently seems as if will come in this forecast.

Great DIY chains

• ACE Hardware Corporation (USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Americanisch Samoa, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, French Polynesia, Grenada, Iceland, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Palau, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom, U.S. Virgin Islands, Western Samoa, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, UAE)
• Bauhaus ( Switzerland, Germany and 13 more)
• BauMax ( Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey)
• BayWa building and garden centers ( Germany ), including WLZ Raiffeisen markets
• Coop Bau Hobby ( Switzerland )
• Euro building material than 1,000 dealers locations in Europe ( brands: I & M Building Centre, Interbaustoff )
• Globus hardware store, since July 2007, including Hela (formerly belonging to Distributa )
• ZEUS group, with hagebaumarkt and worker WORLD and Floraland
• Hellweg
• The Home Depot Inc. (USA)
• Hornbach ( Kingfisher holds 12.5 % plus one share of the voting share capital of Hornbach Holding AG)
• Jumbo Markt AG ( Maus Frères Holding, Switzerland )
• Kingfisher Group ( UK), to include: B & Q, Castorama
• Knauber
• Warehouse - Raiffeisen Ware Austria ( Austria )
• Groupe ADEO, including, but Leroy Merlin ( France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, China, Brazil, Turkey ), Bricoman, Bricocenter, Aki, Weldom, KBane, Zodio; Groupe ADEO is owned by the Association Familiale Mulliez
• Do it Garden Migros ( Switzerland )
• OBI DIY and leisure needs Handels GmbH & Co. KG, franchise business, Tengelmann group ( in Switzerland Migros franchisee of OBI)
• Toom DIY (former Stinnes hardware store ), incl B1 Value hardware store (formerly Zack ). Since June 2007, this also includes the - one of the two sales divisions renamed - previous " market purchase hardware store " - and " Baudepot " markets of the AVA Group (then part of the Edeka Group ). Toom DIY part of the Rewe Group.
• EMC Professional

There are also more independent garden centers and timber markets, incidentally, also the hardware store items. Some of them belong to other shopping and marketing associations.