Do it yourself

In July 2013 word got out that German DIY store chain Praktiker had applied to enter bankruptcy proceedings with a district court in Hamburg for itself and its eight German subsidiaries. The reason? Approval had not been secured for a financial restructuring plan for the troubled company. Shortly before this Praktiker had wanted to sell its subsidiary Bâtiself, which is registered in Luxembourg. This also ended in fiasco for the company. In a subsequent statement to the press, Praktiker went to lengths to stress that the situation in Germany would have no impact on the company’s business in other countries, such as Poland. Praktiker had started its restructuring process in May 2012, which mainly involved converting its DIY outlets into Max Bahr stores – one of the company’s new concepts. Fifty-four stores had changed logos by the end of March 2013 and immediately started generating higher revenues. However, last year’s long winter and falling turnover in t