Kingfisher Sees Big Future In Russian DIY

Kingfisher plans to open 50 stores in Russia at a cost of about £250m over the next 10 years, with the aim of becoming market leader in the estimated £10billion a year Russian home improvement market.

The UK-based do-it-yourself group has four stores already in Russia, trading under its Castorama banner, after entering the market last year. A fifth is due to open in September and it plans to double the total to 10 next year.The first store opened in Samara, Russia in February 2006, a second store opened in St Petersburg in July 2006.

A construction boom is fuelling demand for DIY goods, with more than 50m sq m of housing added last year, the equivalent of more than 700,000 typical-sized apartments. Rising incomes are also enabling Russians for the first time to renovate crumbling Soviet-era apartments.
Russia has 13 cities with more than one million inhabitants. The population is also enjoying high disposable income due to low taxes, utility charges and housing costs. There is an enormous demand for home improvement products due to strong housing growth, while the housing stock has suffered from a lack of investment. As a result, 85% of Russian homes need refurbishment. Another attraction is the "dacha" factor 40% of Moscow's population own a ‘dacha' (country house) where more DIY and gardening work is undertaken.