Kirkel - 30 May 2006. In early August, six pilot stores in Germany will launch the new easy-to-shop sales concept. This concept will make shopping at the Praktiker home improvement and DIY centers easier, more convenient and faster - with prices remaining at their present competitive levels.

"Easy-to-Shop will be well received by our customers“. Wolfgang Werner, CEO of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG, is confident that the implementation of the new concept will be a full success. “We have already made positive experience with individual elements of the new format during the past few months. Now the time has come to corroborate the overall concept in the rough and competitive environment of daily operations.“

Six pilot locations will make the start: Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt), Chemnitz-Wittgensdorf (Saxony), Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Delmenhorst (Lower Saxony) as well as Gerlingen and Weingarten (Baden-Württemberg).

Starting from 2007, the easy-to-shop concept will be introduced Germany-wide. Current plans provide for the conversion of 50 stores to the new concept in the first year and of another 100 locations in 2008.

Easy-to-Shop will redefine the customer-friendly DIY store. The main elements of the new concept are a clearly structured store layout, a plausible customer guidance system and a largely self-explaining presentation of merchandise. Furthermore, the pre-selection of articles based on demand allows reducing the assortment depth by more than 10 percent, which renders the offer more concise while prices remain low.

Wolfgang Werner: “Our customers know that they can always shop at favorable prices in our stores. In addition, we now also offer a high degree of shopping convenience. Easy-to-Shop thus increases the attractiveness of the Praktiker stores.“