Praktiker to step up foreign presence, to Albania as well

TIRANA, July 16 – Praktiker, Germany’s second-largest do-it-yourself chain, plans to speed up its expansion abroad, including Albania.
Praktiker plans to open a total of 15 new outlets this year and 20 in 2008, with focus on Albania, where it is set to start operating in the summer of 2008 in Tirana.
Albania will be the ninth country on Praktiker’s foreign agenda. The company chose this particular country as the next area to move into, as Albanian’s population is growing fast and real estate badly need refurbishments.
Praktiker runs 15 stores in Hungary and plans to open two more this year and another three in 2008.
Praktiker is a full-service supplier in the home improvement and DIY market, offering products for construction, renovation, workshops, living, garden and leisure time activities.
The Praktiker Group operates – including Max Bahr – around 350 home improvement and DIY centers in eight countries, making it one of the leading providers in the European home improvement and DIY sector.
In Germany, the company has about 350 locations with a combined selling space of about 2 million square meters, making it among the largest operators in the marketplace.
In Europe, the Praktiker Group ranks fourth, and the company already has very strong positions in Luxembourg, Romania, Greece and Turkey.
During fiscal year 2006, the Praktiker Group had net sales of EUR 3.16 bn. It employed 27,000 people at the end of 2006, including about 8,000 employees outside Germany. Foreign sales accounted for more than 28% of its total sales.