Mr Bricolage Blog

The Mr.Bricolage group has recently opened 5 stores, changed the name of 6 stores and transferred and extended 8 of its current sales outlets. The group has gained total additional sales space of around 30,000 m².

Mr.Bricolage has opened 5 stores in Saint-Philbert de Grand Lieu (44), Ambazac (87), Plancoët (22), Plouzané (29) and Saint-Just Malmont (43). The first 3 are former rival stores acquired by the group (Bricomarché and Weldom). The new stores represent an additional approximate 9,000 m² including more than 7,000 m² indoor space.

5 Catena stores have switched to the Mr.Bricolage name in Daoulas (29), Douvres la Délivrande (14), Montoire sur le Loir (41), Parigné l’Evêque (72) and Quiberon (56). One Les Briconautes store has switched to Mr.Bricolage. A total of 9,600 m² including almost 8,600 m² of indoor space is affected by these name changes.

Finally, the stores in Bourgueuil (37), Villefranche sur Saône (69) and Tignieu (38) have been moved and extended. The stores in Charmeil-Vichy (03), Paray le Monial (71), Gaillac (81), Marmande (47) and Château du Loir (72) have been extended. Total extensions represent around 11,200 m² for the store, including over 6,500 m² in indoor space.

Mr Bricolage opens a new store in the Castellane district at Marseille. This store is located 10-12 avenue de Toulon in the 6th district, and covers 372 m² of sales area.

The store is part of Mr Bricolage’s strategy to re-conquer town centres. The store also reinforces the group’s presence in the local segment, in both urban and rural zones.

Early in the year, the Catena  store in Ruoms (Ardèche) switched its name to Mr Bricolage. This sales outlet includes almost 900 m² of indoor sales space and 600 m² of outdoor space. The store is currently being extended. These works should be completed in March 2011.

On 3 January, at Pont-de-Vaux in Ain, the store operated under the Les Briconautes name was acquired and the name changed to Mr Bricolage. This store includes a total sales area of 1,960 m² with 1,700 m² indoors and 260 m² outdoors.

The annual fair of the Mr. Bricolage group in Villepinte boasted record visitor figures. Although initially reserved for Mr. Bricolage, this fair later opened up to Catena stores. This year, Les Briconautes and club partners joined the event. Each store can therefore play their role in a fair where all group store names are welcome. This opening led to record visitor figures. Over two and a half days, a total of almost 7,000 individuals attended the 18,000 m² of the fair. This event also provided the opportunity to open the new hall 7 at Villepinte just after the Maison et Objet fair. This hall is the first ever High Quality Environmental standard building. This year, 358 partners and suppliers presented stands, all slightly more attractive than last year’s contributions, as is the case each year. 426 stores attended the many stands and contributed to the different conferences. Les Briconautes/Les Jardinautes claimed a large area and managed the sound and video system for the event. Mr. Bricolage presented all of its services over 550 m². The fittings service, key copying stand, and range of designer products sold in parallel on Internet were officially launched. This year’s event provided the opportunity for Mr. Bricolage to present complete collections sorted as product ranges or groups: bathroom, cupboard fittings, tiling, gate power, portable electrical tools, safety, plates and handles, letter boxes, major insulation, outdoor wood fittings, paint, light fittings and wallpaper. Many partner stands were also available for visitors. Stores were able to discover the options available in terms of energy savings and reduced consumption. They were able to extend their knowledge of sustainable development options with Recylum (collection and recycling of bulbs), Eco-System (collection and recycling of electrical products) and TFT (Sustainable wood management).

A new Mr.Bricolage store opened in Mayenne (30 km to the north of Laval) on 1 July 2010. This sales outlet is owned directly by Mr.Bricolage. The store was previously operated under the Les Briconautes name, the second store name used by the Group.

The store can boast an indoor area of 2,960 m² dedicated to DIY and an outdoor area of 500 m² dedicated to garden furnishing. The inside of the store was entirely re-organised in two months thanks to the cooperation of all store personnel. The project also involved many colleagues from stores in nearby regions. Teams were able to share their expertise and experience.

The team of 16 working in the sales outlet welcomed their first customers with applause (see photo). Saturday 10 July, the opening was led by Jean-Pierre Descombes, star games presenter on the France 3 TV channel for many years.

Les Briconautes stores are part of the Mr.Bricolage group, and have recently integrated 7 rival stores.

These 7 stores, previously operated as Weldom stores, are located in:

- Bagnères de Bigorre (65)

- Saint Jean de Luz (64)

- Saint Lys (31)

- Chasseneuil /Bonnieure (16)

- Confolens (16)

- Pons (17)

- Saint Junien (87)