Sales of DIY products and housekeeping goods declined in 2015, for the first time in six years, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday.
The decline stands at around 5 percent, but experts expect sales to decline a further 8 percent in 2016.
In 2015 DIY retail sales stood at 1.46 trillion rubles ($18.8 billion) according to the Infoline-Analitika agency. This is 4.89 percent less than in 2014, when sales of merchandise for home repairs reached 1.54 trillion rubles ($19.8 billion).
“Sales will not surpass 1.35 trillion rubles ($17.3 billion) in 2016, that is 8 percent less than in 2015,” says Infoline Analitika's Mikhail Burmistrov.
However, Leroy Merlin marketing and communications director Dmitry Dmitriyev believes that the DIY market saw a far sharper decline in 2015, estimating the true decline to be 15 percent.
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