www.onrec.com/newsstories/21632.asp -
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Published on: 5/15/2008
Last Visited: 5/21/2008
Daniel Lucht, Senior Analyst at Verdict Research and author of the report, comments: "While Spain looked like the land of opportunity for years, now trading conditions have become much more challenging for the likes of IKEA, Conforama and Leroy Merlin.That said, the various independents will be hardest hit by toughening conditions."While electricals has been one of the fastest growing sectors for some years and the easiest to make money in, 2007's growth rally of almost 10.0% seems to be the last in this magnitude for some time to come.
Despite all this doom and gloom, Verdict Research argues that there are a number of opportunities in Spain's €218bn retail market: the liberalization of pharmacies regulations forced by the EU, a still underdeveloped out-of-town sector, the fledgling multi channel offer and Internet retailing in particular present significant growth avenues.Verdict Research also sees format development and new furniture boulevards, with ING Real Estate planning a massive new development outside of Madrid, as a prime growth opportunity.Daniel Lucht adds: "We believe that convergence trends among the EU member states will return once the Spanish housing bubble has corrected itself and that on a per capita basis Spain's consumer expenditure will be driven up to the levels of France, Germany and the UK eventually".