Hornbach (retailer)

Hornbach Baumarkt AG
Industry	Retail (Home Improvement)
Founded	1977
Headquarters	Bornheim, Germany
Key people	Albrecht Hornbach; Erich Harsch
Products	Home improvement products such as home appliances, tools, household hardware, and garden supplies & plants.
Revenue	EUR 5.12 billion
Number of employees	22,136 (Feb 2021)
Website	[1]

Hornbach Baumarkt AG is a German DIY-store chain offering home improvement and do-it-yourself goods. Hornbach is one of the leading DIY-store chains in Germany. In the 2020/2021 financial year (March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021), the Hornbach Baumarkt Group generated sales of Euro 5.1 billion.^[1] The stores are owned and operated by Hornbach Baumarkt AG.^[2]

The Hornbach Baumarkt Group currently operates a total of 171 DIY megastores^[2] with garden centers and online stores in nine European countries, of which 96 stores are located in Germany (plus: Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Romania), as well as two specialist stores for hard flooring (Bodenhaus) in Germany.

Until March 2014, it was 21% owned by Kingfisher plc, a UK company, who also own the B&Q and Castorama DIY chains. Kingfisher sold off the interests as it was planning expansion in new markets that would be in direct competition with Hornbach. Kingfisher has since launched its Screwfix stores in Germany and Brico Dépôt stores in Romania, where Hornbach operates.

History

In the 1960s, the Wilhelm Hornbach OHG was in a bad state, so his grandson Otmar Hornbach launched the idea of a do-it-yourself home improvement store after a visit to the United States. The business was filed on the stock exchange in 1987 and has expanded to a chain of 163 stores.

Otmar Hornbach died on 2 August 2014.^[3]

Hornbach in Europe

Country	First store	Number of stores^[4]
Germany	1968	98
Austria	1996	14
Netherlands	1997	17
Luxembourg	1998	1
Switzerland	2002	9
Czech Republic	1998	10
Sweden	2003	8^[5]
Slovakia	2004	5
Romania	2007	9 ^[6]