Home Depot to follow B&Q into China
Kingfisher faces challenge for booming DIY market
Kingfisher faces strong competition for its roll-out of the B&Q chain in China with the news that US giant Home Depot is to enter the Chinese market.
US-based Home Depot , the world’s biggest DIY retailer, has appointed Bill E. Patterson to the newly created position of Home Depot president of Asia. The company has not yet said how many stores it plans for China or give a timetable for the first opening.
However, the US retailer threw down the gauntlet to UK-owned Kingsfisher, which has been expanding B&Q in China, by saying that its aims to become the biggest home improvement retailer in Asia. Patterson told news agency the Associated Press: “Anything the Home Depot takes on we will do with the same intensity. I think anybody’s goal would certainly like to be the biggest player.
He added: “We have studied China for some time. It’s got a great capability in terms of a growing economy. We think it’s the right time for us to assess those opportunities we see.”
China is the world’s largest and fastest growing retail market, newly-opened to foreign retailers as a condition of China’s admission to the World Trade Organisation.
[img r]b&qchina3.jpg[/img]Home Depot recently denied that Kingfisher is currently in its sights as a takeover target, suggesting that the strength of Sterling against the dollar is one reason a bid would not make sense at the moment. The news that Home Deport is targeting Asia, and China in particular, will increase speculation that a bid is back on the agenda.
B&Q currently has 15 DIY superstores in China, as well as 17 in Taiwan.
