EDRA is sad to announce the sudden passing of Claude Lewin last week after a short illness. The General Director of Swiss DIY-Retailer Jumbo-Markt AG was known throughout Switzerland as a proven and respected expert of the retail business. His human qualities, his commercial acumen, his leadership and his unwavering commitment will be greatly missed.

Chile has been hit by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and associated tsunamis destroying houses, high-rise buildings, roads and infrastructure. 80% of Chile's 16m people are believed to have been affected in some way by the earthquake. Chilean home centre chain Sodimac has been impacted by the event; operations have resumed but six stores are currently still closed. Reconstruction activity for the country is anticipated to take over three years and will require investment of around US $30bn. This monumental task will consume products and building materials, which will become scarce in a very short time, requiring new sources of supply to be found. Sodimac urgently need to buy very large quantities of merchandise to support this giant reconstruction effort. Executive VP and General Merchandise Manager, Francisco Torres, has been given the responsibility of heading this new international sourcing effort. Please contact him if you might be able to assist: ftorres@sodimac.cl.

On 3rd March Austrian home centre chain bauMax celebrated the opening of its first store in the industrial and commercial city of Samsun, in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Covering 14,000m2, the new store is the first of three planned by bauMax for the country this year. In the longer term a further 30 stores and a turnover of €600m are planned in Turkey, the ninth country in which bauMax operates its total 144 stor

Rautakesko opened its 11th K-rauta store in Tula, Russia, last week. With a sales area of 13,100 m², the store carries a selection of more than 30,000 different building, home improvement and garden products. The outlet is the second store in Moscow's catchment area for the K-rauta chain, which also has nine K-rauta stores in the St. Petersburg area.

New Eurobrico President Luis Franco has confirmed the dates for Eurobrico 2010. Spain's leading DIY fair will take place on 3-5 November in Valencia and will be an innovative showcase emphasising training and information through a programme of parallel events and is hoping to attract international professionals with serious purchasing power, particularly from the European marketplace.

Leroy Merlin, the French DIY market leader, has opened its first store that produces more energy than it consumes. The company's 111th outlet reports a positive energy balance due to a range of measures including thermal insulation of the building and a photovoltaic solar power plant covering an area of 5,785 m². Of the 60,000 products the Valence store offers, 8,700 carry the company's own logo depicting their environmentally sound and energy-saving credentials. The company is planning to modify 17 stores in 2010 within this new sustainability framework.

B&Q-owner Kingfisher saw group sales decline 3% to £2.3bn like-for-like (lfl) in its fourth quarter of trading to 30 January, after a strong third quarter. UK sales were appreciably impacted by the adverse weather conditions. B&Q saw sales dip in the UK by 3.5% lfl to £836m, prior to the cold snap lfls were actually slightly up. However, gross margins are expected to be significantly up "reflecting reduced promotional activity compared to Q4 last year, better sales of higher margin products and continued shrinkage reduction and supply chain cost efficiencies," according to the trading statement. The group reports total annual sales to 30 January of £10.503bn with sales of £4.442bn for the United Kingdom and Ireland, £4.242bn for France and a combined £1.819bn for Poland, China, Spain and Russia.

EDRA, the European DIY-Retail Association, fediyma (the European Federation of DIY and Gardening Manufacturers) and the Conference Group are pleased to announce that Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy will be the first recipient of the new European Home Improvement Lifetime Award. The award will be presented during the fediyma/EDRA Forum in Vienna on 10-11 June. Sir Geoffrey joined what is now Kingfisher in 1982, first as Group Finance Director, then as Group Managing Director. During this time he was instrumental in the reorganisation and expansion of the Group and its subsequent major development in the UK and internationally, overseeing an increase in market capitalisation from £105m in 1982 to over £5bn when he stepped down in November 2002. Kingfisher has grown to be one of Europe's leading retailing groups, with annual turnover of £10.5bn from 830 outlets in 8 countries.

The 'Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World' list was announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The annual project, initiated by Corporate Knights, ranked EDRA members Kesko 33 and Kingfisher 46 based on a set of Key Performance Indicators calculated using environmental, social, governance and financial data

Lowe's Cos Inc, the second largest US home improvement chain, has opened its first store in Mexico in the northern industrial city of Monterrey, as it expands from its core market to gain new revenue sources. With an investment of $100 million, Lowe's plans to open five stores in the Monterrey area over the next few years and will compete against larger rival Home Depot Inc, which has more than 70 stores in Mexico. As economic growth in consumption-driven economies like the United States remains sluggish, US retailers are looking abroad for growth opportunities. Lowe's has operations in Canada and recently teamed with the Woolworths Ltd chain in Australia.

A new year and new management for the BHB (German DIY Retail Association). Dr Peter Wüst has replaced John W. Herbert as managing director with immediate effect. Dr Wüst was previously MD of the German Home Improvement Manufacturers Association (Bau + DIY) and was also responsible for the administration of Fediyma, the European Federation of DIY Manufacturers. He will be supported by Stefan Michell, who has been promoted to director for trade fairs, events and PR.

Last year the Finnish Kesko Group recorded sales in the building materials and DIY retail division 22.3 per cent down on 2008. The division overall recorded sales amounting to € 2.3514 bn, of which € 1.0717 bn came from the group's business in Finland (-21.0 per cent) and € 1.2797 bn was generated by the division abroad.

A B&Q spokesperson has categorically denied that there are any plans to open smaller-format stores in the UK, despite recent reports to the contrary. The Kingfisher-owner DIY chain plans to maximise the space it already has and has announced a multi-million pound investment in its garden sector, including plans to revamp 78 of its garden centres by Easter, in addition to a partnership deal with UK garden icon and TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh. Titchmarsh will provide regular tips and advice through in-store communication and on the B&Q website. B&Q hopes the revamps, which will carry over to the rest of its stores in the future, will up its 12 per cent share of the garden centre market, which is currently worth more than £ 5 bn (€ 5.75 bn).

Frank Loncar, buying director at Lowe's, the No. 2 DIY retailer in the United States, will be in Germany not only for the duration of the Hardware Fair but for an entire week. Altogether the eight-member team will be on a buying and inspection tour from 23 February to 3 March.

The first EDRA/FEDIYMA Forum is to take place in Vienna, Austria, on 10 and 11 June. The Forum, entitled 'The New Chessboard after the Crisis', will include presentations from industry leaders as well as discussion panels. The presentation of the European Lifetime Award will be a particular highlight of the event.

EDRA congratulates Karl-Heinz Dähne on his 80th birthday on 13 January. In 1977, when there were only 400 home centres in Germany, Herr Dähne had the vision to create a trade magazine. Now, 33 years later, diy Fachmagazin is one of the leading trade magazines in Germany.

EDRA, the European DIY Retail Association, which was administered by the French FMB and the German BHB in the past, became an independent body on Wednesday 2 December. At a meeting held in Berlin the new articles of the association were unanimously agreed upon by all the members of EDRA. The EDRA board was appointed for the next three years and John W Herbert was confirmed as the general secretary of the association. As EDRA's President Régis Degelcke of Groupe Adeo stated: This momentous occasion reinforces the spirit of EDRA, which is to establish unity across the European home improvement industry in order to create a strong voice and representation for its members. The first priority for EDRA is to open a lobby office in Brussels with the sole aim of pursuing the interests of the home centre industry in Europe, which is currently estimated to be worth around € 80 bn. The other objectives of EDRA are to develop its international network and communication between members. EDRA membership currently includes five trade associations and 13 direct European members. A further five members will form the new Global Home Improvement Network, which will allow retailers outside Europe to become associate members and to benefit from their affiliation with the EDRA network. In total EDRA now has members from 18 countries who are responsible for operations in 38 countries. Photo: EDRA's new board, from left to right: Martin Essl (bauMax AG), Ray Colman (Woodie's DIY), Sergio Giroldi (OBI AG), John Herbert (EDRA), Régis Degelcke (Groupe Adeo), Ian Cheshire (Kingfisher), Nick Wilkinson (Maxeda B.V.). Carl Otto Løvenskiold of Løvenskiold-Vækerø AS was also confirmed on the board as well as Rinat Muhametvaleev of Trust SKM, who will represent the new Global Home Improvement Network.

Manfred Maus, the founder of OBI, former EDRA president and honorary president of BHB, the German DIY Retailers' Association, has been presented with this year's BHB DIY Lifetime Award. Dr David Bosshart, CEO of the Gottfried Duttweiler Institute for Economy and Society, awarded the accolade to Mr Maus at the 10th International DIY Retail Congress in Berlin in December. He attributed Mr Maus's success to his ability to identify trends and developments in the areas of retailing, franchising and product assortments.

President Victor Yushchenko of Ukraine, together with Alexandr Gerega, chairman of EpicentrK, opened the world's largest home improvement and DIY store in Ukraine on Saturday. The new store employs 1 000 people and within its 56 000 m2 sales area boasts 74 main check-outs, with a further 24 check-outs situated within the store. Although no figures were given, EDRA estimates that annual sales are expected to be over € 150 mio. EpicentrK has 23 stores and total sales estimated at € 1.4 bn.

The Swedish EU Presidency finally struck a deal with the European Parliament on a new energy label for household appliances which will add more classes to the closed A−G format. As most products today are in the 'A' class, the EU executive proposed a new scale that would "go beyond A". After months of wrangling over the format, EU lawmakers have now settled on an energy label to which further 'A' classes can be added, on top of the traditional best−performing 'A' category. The highest possible class will now be A+++. The agreement also extends energy labelling to all energy−related products, like windows and outer doors that help to save energy. Energy−consuming commercial and industrial products like cold storage rooms or vending machines will also come with an energy label in future. EU ministers must formally approve the compromise agreement before the parliament can sign it off at the beginning of next year.

In the first three quarters of 2009 Baumax generated sales of € 91.5 mio in Upper Austria. This amounts to a 3 per cent improvement on last year. What is more, the Baumax Group has succeeded in bucking the general trend and increasing sales during the first three quarters of 2009 in Austria as a whole by more than 3 per cent to € 473 mio. The company attributes this above all to gains in the areas of gardening and thermal refurbishment, as well as to the introduction of new product ranges. The new items in the product offer include a great choice of premium quality shade and heating systems, new products in the plumbing and tool departments, prefabricated garages and solar installations, plus brand−name windows and doors.

The most modern Leroy Merlin DIY and garden store in Poland so far opened in the industrial city of Katowice in Upper Silesia on 4 November. With a combined retail area of 6 800 m², the store is presented as a ‘Five Worlds’ concept with the emphasis on bathrooms and plumbing, building materials, garden, interior décor and technical products. This new addition means that the French Adeo Group now operates a total of 34 DIY and building stores in the Leroy Merlin format and two Bricoman DIY discounters in Poland.

Werner Moser, 41, has taken over as international buying director for the Technology world at Baumax. Mr Moser, who has been with the company for more than 20 years, has been responsible for buying activities in the Living sector for the past seven. Ulrike Katschnig, 34, will with immediate effect take on responsibility for international buying in the Living world. She has worked for the Austrian market leader for nine years, with responsibility since 2005 for international buying activities in the field of interior decoration.

Praktiker opened its first Albanian DIY superstore in Tirana, the capital of the country, on 30 October 2009. Along with the normal DIY store ranges customers can also find furniture, kitchens, housewares, white and brown goods, plus electronic articles, all displayed on an overall floorspace of around 8 800 m². If the trial phase passes off successfully Praktiker intends to rapidly expand its presence in Albania, especially in Tirana and in Durres, a seaport situated about 30 km away.

Nomi, the Polish DIY chain founded in 1993, opened a new DIY store complete with garden centre on 2 November. Located in the south−east Polish town of Debica (pop. 47 000), this outlet brings the total number of Nomi stores operating in Poland to 31. Last year saw the DIY retail company, which is headquartered in Kielce and integrated into the Bricoalliance organisation on an international level, realized gross sales of € 125 mio.

This month Slovenian retailer Merkur opened its largest sales centre in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The new store will employ 101 people and comprise an indoor area in excess of 28 000 m² spread over three floors. So far this is the second Merkur sales centre in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and the Merkur Group’s most substantial investment in 2009.

Home improvement retailer B&Q, and parent company Kingfisher, have joined the 10:10 climate change campaign, pledging to cut carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010. The company aims to have reduced its carbon emissions by 90 per cent in 2023 and has highlighted lighting, transport and packaging as key areas where it sees opportunities to make changes to meet the targets. All displays already use energy−efficient lighting, but B&Q is now looking at ways to utilise natural light to reduce the dependence on artificial lighting. A fleet of 60 double−decker lorries was introduced earlier this year, saving the retailer 4 800 miles and 4 600 kg of emissions a day, while B&Q has also committed to a 15 per cent reduction in packaging weight by 2012.

The 3rd International Garden Expo Tokyo (GARDEX) and 1st International Exterior Expo Tokyo (EXTEPO) will be held from Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 November 2009 at Makuhari Messe in Japan. GARDEX is Japan’s largest trade show focusing on garden products and will comprise nearly 300 exhibitors from 18 countries. EXTEPO is brand new this year and will include outdoor living and building products.

A new voice-recognition product location service that helps shoppers find products on store shelves faster and easier is being tried out in an Ace Hardware store. A customer searching for a product in the store can call the service, 'Aisle411', free of charge from their mobile and will immediately receive the product location both by voice message over the phone and via a text message. Aisle411 will also offer coupons via text message that can be used immediately in the store. According to Aisle411, more than 22 per cent of shoppers give up while looking for hard-to-find items in a store.

Subject to approval by the competition authorities the French DIY retailer Mr. Bricolage is taking over the Les Briconautes and Les Jardinautes sales channels with their 178 outlets (332 000 m²) and sales of € 365 mio. This acquisition will result in the Mr. Bricolage Group becoming the third-largest DIY retailer in France with some 700 stores (50 of them abroad), a retail area in excess of 1.6 mio m² and a sales volume of € 2.2 bn.

Visa has announced its 'card scheme fees' will increase by as much as 142 per cent, adding around £ 20 mio to UK retailer costs and potentially driving up prices. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has called on Visa to justify its charges, which are non-negotiable fees paid by retailers' banks and card processors, in order to be part of the Visa card network. Visa's interchange fee, another of its fees paid by the retailer, is currently under investigation by the European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading.

Spiros A. Doukas has taken over as manager of Migros Do it + Garden. He has also taken over responsibility for the OBI stores for Migros in Switzerland with effect from 1 October 2009. A significant synergy effect is expected from bringing the two businesses together under one manager. Mr Doukas reports directly to the director of Migros' specialised stores.

Statistics compiled by KMU-Forschung Austria show that DIY retailing in Austria experienced better progress in the first six months of 2009 than in the same period last year. The survey reveals that the DIY stores recorded a sales increase of 1.1 per cent in the period January to July 2008. This contrasts with the increase of just 0.4 per cent reported by the Austrian retail sector as a whole. Looking at the month of July alone, the DIY retail segment can point to an increase of as much as 3.7 per cent on the same month last year, while retailing as a whole was able to grow by no more than 2.4 per cent over the same period.

Kingfisher-owned B&Q has announced its biggest-ever price campaign, including the launch of its first Autumn Privilege Card. The card was received by customers spending more than £ 50 during the last weekend in September and entitled them to an additional 10 per cent discount on all products until the end of October, both online and in-store. Tradesmen also received a 10 per cent discount during the weekend. The campaign comes in time for customers getting their homes and gardens ready for winter.

Michael Baumgardt, managing director of Zeus, is the new president of the German Association of DIY Retailers and Garden Centres (BHB). His colleagues on the board elected him unanimously to the top spot in the industry association, where he will serve for a period of three years. In his capacity as BHB president, Michael Baumgardt is responsible for the communications and PR portfolio as well as for industry figures and statistics and personnel development.

Lowe's has appointed Alan Huggins as the new president of its Lowe's Canada division. With more than 25 years of retail experience, Huggins succeeds Don Stallings, who is moving to Australia to represent Lowe's in the company's new joint venture with Woolworths.

Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer, has announced that it expects to report adjusted pre-tax profits in the range of £ 285 mio to £ 290 mio for the six months to 1 August 2009. The release comes more than a week earlier than scheduled due to an administrative error.

The president of EDRA, Régis Degelcke, is pleased to announce that Ian Cheshire, Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher, will join the EDRA board with immediate effect. The rest of the EDRA board is composed of Ray Coleman (Woodies), Martin Essl (Baumax AG), Sergio Giroldi (Obi AG), Carl Otto Lovenskiold (Lovenskiold AS) and Nick Wilkinson (Maxeda BV).

EDRA is pleased to announce the appointment of Catherine Morgan as administration/research assistant with immediate effect. This is a newly created position to cope with the many requests from members, now in 17 countries and representing almost 80 per cent of the total European home centre sales.

The German home improvement manufacturing association Bau + DIY has appointed Ralf Rahmede as its new managing director. Rahmede was previously a senior manager with Tesa. He takes over from Dr. Peter Wüst, who is leaving to become the managing director of BHB.

B&Q, part of Kingfisher plc, has announced that Liz Bell and Nick Folland will be joining the board of B&Q with immediate effect. Bell has been responsible for the B&Q HR function for the last nine months and has been part of the leadership team for four years, after joining from Rubicon where she was HR Director for Principles. Kingfisher company secretary Nick Folland, who has been working with the B&Q board in addition to his continuing Kingfisher responsibilities, also formally joins the board as legal director. He will be leading the legal team and Corporate Social Responsibility plans.

The 14th Annual Hardlines Conference will take place in Toronto, Ontario, on 22 and 23 October 2009. Entitled 'Connecting the Home Improvement Industry', the two-day information and networking event will incorporate business-building tips and trends on the future of the industry.

DIY retailing in Germany grew again in the first six months of 2009, when gross sales of € 9.15 bn revealed a slight 0.2 per cent increase on last year. This means that the current BHB/GfK Report confirms the initial assessment of the German DIY Retailers' Association, according to which there were clear signs that ground had been made up in the second quarter. However, the race to catch up hasn't so far led to the sales trend turning positive in like-for-like terms as well. Though it must be said that, with a cumulative minus of 1.1 per cent after six months, the position of the DIY superstores is a clear improvement on where they stood at the end of March.

The founder of IKEA has warned that the Swedish retailer must lose more jobs to deal with the tough economic climate. Speaking to a Swedish newspaper, Ingvar Kamprad, who founded the company in the forties, made it clear that he did not believe the 5 000 jobs the company has already shed globally would be enough.

Since the UK's largest garden centre chain, Wyevale, changed its name to The Garden Centre Group by 21 July, it has reported strong sales for the half year to June 30, with like-for-like sales up 6 per cent. The company has invested in re-establishing five nurseries to increase production for supplying its own centres, and more are planned. It has also earmarked £ 30 mio over the next three years to improve restaurants, plant more areas and expand space within existing centres. This is part of a strategy to return the business back to its horticultural roots, since the renaming of the chain brings the individual stores back to their original names before Wyevale acquired them.

Kingfisher has announced a 1.9 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for the ten weeks to 11 July 2009. Sales revenue increased by 0.9 per cent altogether. Like-for-like sales were 0.6 per cent down in the United Kingdom. B&Q saw a positive development in like-for-like terms, with growth of 0.7 per cent. Europe's major DIY retailer registered a 2.9 per cent fall in like-for-like sales for France, which is mainly due to Brico Dépôt's results (-5.6 per cent like-for-like). Sales revenue dropped by 2.7 per cent like-for-like in the other countries abroad (Poland, China, Spain, Ireland and Russia). Poland is the odd one out here, with an increase of 3.5 per cent. In China (-13.2 per cent like-for-like) the number of B&Q stores was cut by 15 to 48 from March to the end of June.

Toom Baumarkt has finished the reorganisation of its management structure by appointing Stefan Magel, 45, to be chairman of the senior management team with effect from 1 September. Mr Magel joins the Rewe Group’s DIY chain with 17 years of professional experience in international trade, ten of which were spent in wide−area food retailing at Real and Globus hypermarkets, the other seven in the DIY sector at Castorama and Kingfisher.

In response to an inquiry, Praktiker has confirmed that there has been a change at the head of Praktiker Polska. On 1 July 2009 Michael Trapp, country manager of the national company of neighbouring Ukraine, moved over to replace Eric Goullard, who is leaving the company. Mr Trapp is to retain his existing function in Ukraine for the time being.

The 8th International Russian Retail Congress, "Retail Business Russia", will take place in Moscow from 10 – 11 September 2009. Focusing on retail business, the event will play host to some of the largest international retailers alongside leading mass−media companies. For more information, go to www.russianretailbusiness.com.

Andras Simonyi, 44, previously head of Baumax Bulgaria, is taking over the management of Baumax Hungary with immediate effect. Hungarian by birth, he has worked at Baumax for the past ten years. As general manager in Bulgaria he made a significant contribution to establishing Baumax in that country. Nicola Szekely, 33, will take over Andras Simonyi’s duties in Bulgaria.

EDRA is pleased to announce that Epicentr K, based in Kiev, Ukraine, has become a member of EDRA. The company is market leader in Ukraine, where it numbers 22 stores. The stores have an average sales area of over 30 000 m² and include the largest known home centre in the world, which has a sales area of 46 000 m², in Kiev. Another store of 53 000 m² will be opened later this year, also in Kiev.

The Global Compact Office, which operates under the United Nations Secretary−General, applauds Kesko for an outstanding Communication on Progress. Kesko's Global Compact communication is included in its corporate responsibility reporting for 2008. The Global Impact Initiative includes ten principles for advancing human rights, labour rights, the environment and anti−corruption in the operations of the companies and their purchase chains. Nearly 7 000 organisations have committed themselves to the initiative. Kesko is the first Finnish company to have received this recognition of its Communication on Progress, and one of only five recognitions that have been given worldwide this year. Kesko's ‘notable’ Communication on Progress can be read at www.unglobalcompact.org/COP/notable_cops.html.

Kingfisher will open its new 750 m² showroom in Old Dalby, Leicestershire, next month. Situated near the company's distribution warehouse in Hoton, the site is designed to demonstrate how the Kingfisher range can look when merchandised correctly. The size of the building allows for all future products to be displayed and for Kingfisher to introduce products that are currently too large to exhibit in existing premises. The showroom also features several private meeting rooms.

In 2008 the Merkur Group performed well, even though in the last quarter of the year the sales volume decreased because of the economic crisis. In 2008, Merkur Group increased its sales revenue by 10 per cent to € 1.267 bn. Sales volume and gross profit went up in all markets. Growth was most substantial in foreign sales, where it reached 30 per cent. Foreign sales represented 27.4 per cent of total sales. Merkur Group consists of three divisions: Merkur Division, the leading dealer in non-food items, Mersteel Division, the leading dealer in metal products, and Big Bang Division, the specialist for audio and video equipment, computer equipment, telecommunications, home appliances, CDs, computer games, and services related to these categories.

The group's net sales from continuing operations in January March 2009 were € 2 018 mio, which is 11.4 per cent down on the corresponding period of the previous year (€ 2 277 mio). The operating profit for January March 2009, excluding non-recurring items, was € 3.4 mio (€ 36.6 mio). The whole group's profit for the reporting period was € 11.5 mio (€ 120.0 mio). Both the building and home improvement trade segment, which comprises EDRA member Rautakesko and the group's agricultural trade in Finland, suffered from a decrease of net sales (-23.9 per cent).

For the first three months of 2009 the Praktiker Group has announced that consolidated sales are 8.0 per cent down on the same period last year to € 795.6 mio. EBITA fell by 136 per cent to -€ 49.2 mio. A sales decline of 13.6 per cent to € 206.1 mio is reported for the group's stores abroad (-18.2 per cent like-for-like). Sales revenue in Germany went down by 5.9 per cent to € 589.5 mio. A sales decline of 5.6 per cent is revealed for the Praktiker stores, and of 7.1 per cent for Max Bahr, both in like-for-like terms.

March 2009 saw a concentration of the DIY retail activities of three Nordic cooperative organisations, Ditas (Denmark), Nordek (Norway) and Byggtrygg (Sweden), through the introduction of XL-Byg, a standardized type of outlet. This resulted in the creation of a network of 292 stores, making it the biggest association of DIY-oriented retailers in Scandinavia.