The DIY war: BigMat wants to stand up to Leroy Merlin

In BigMat, the distribution company specialist in construction and DIY products and solutions, they are clear that unity is strength. "Alone we will not be able to do anything, that is why we are doing everything possible to grow and grow and to provide services to our partners ", Jesus Prieto says, managing Director. With the recent purchase of La Plataforma de la Construcción - whose cost they refuse to provide - they take another step towards achieving this philosophy and accelerate the growth of the group for the equivalent of three years in their strategic plan.. The company, that invoiced 1.100 million euros in 2020, challenges the large verticals of the sector with its commitment to cooperative in the form and anonymous company in operation.

"I think it will bring many joys", Prieto says about the model of La Plataforma de la Construcción, whose 12 establishments, two logistics centers and stock have acquired, thanks to the contributions of the partners, after materializing the agreement with the Saint-Gobain group. With this operation, BigMat pursues a double objective. First, strengthen its position in the two largest towns in the country: "Saint-Gobain was involved in Madrid and Barcelona, cities in which around us we do have enough partners, but not in the capital itself ". And second, take advantage of their know-how: "They have a different management model than the traditional building materials warehouse. And that model is the one that we are going to take to apply it in the BigMat Iberia warehouses. We are going to transform it so that it is useful and practical for our partners ".

This purchase is, Until now, the last strategic movement of a group that was born in Spain in 1998. Then, seven storekeepers from Madrid found at BigMat France, that was looking to export its formula to give the brand more notoriety, the mirror in which to reflect. “From there to a central that bought in small offices in the street of Nations, that they had two offices, to what is now BigMat is a good evolution and I think it has been a success for all partners ", says Prieto. In 2000 they had adhered 20 partners, in 2005 they added 70 and at present they are around 250, half a thousand operators and 800 points of sale in Spain and Portugal.

The drive to get bigger is part of the company's DNA. "We have grown so much internally, adding more partners in BigMat, as externally”, says the CEO. To the purchasing center that materialized ago 20 years have followed two more: than, founded in 2015, and Divendi, acquired in 2018. What's more, have developed BigWin, the group's subsidiary dedicated to the windows and doors business; Yo Reformo, a platform to connect individuals with professionals for renovation projects, and BigLog, the logistics division with a center of more than 100.000 square meters in Castellón, now joined by the two from La Plataforma.

The group grows above the market average. At this time they have already reached the increase in 7% that they had planned for this year and calculate to invoice around 1.250 millions of euros. Last year, their income increased by 12% about 2019, despite the situation arising from the covid-19 pandemic. "Within what fits, it has not affected us much economically ", says Prieto, "As we are throughout the Iberian Peninsula and we are a service of first necessity, then we have had the shops open in a 60% when was the great crisis because people have to continue doing works ". Yes they clashed, like other companies, to supply problems.

"Who sells on the internet? Verticals. The horizontals, let's see how they agree. Well, BigMat has managed to sell online. That nobody could think and there we are ", the CEO tells about the launch of his electronic sales channel in June 2020. "Part of the trade within 5 O 10 years will be of the internet ", assures Prieto, that in that scenario highlights the 800 points of sale they have, if the client chooses not to receive it at home, and professional advice on them. "I believe that on the internet and in many things, we can do traditional commerce very well ", aim.

The service, with personalized and professional attention, The one they show off at BigMat is one of the weapons they use to face their competitors. "We can go in an hour to take the material that the client has forgotten anywhere in Spain", exemplifies Prieto. "That is an advantage that no one has because we have our own trucks., cast, you want not, it is also important ".

Proximity

Another competitive advantage that he mentions, and that his example also includes, is the proximity. At a time when consumers seem to return to the neighborhood establishment, Prieto shows his chest when talking about the position of the group in this regard. "We have the local trade and, of course, we are not going to move ", dice. "From the Azores to Palma de Mallorca, passing through the Canary Islands, a 50 kilometers you have a BigMat point close to you ".

BigMat is a cooperative and, therefore, does not pursue an accounting profit. The earnings, they count, are reinvested in margins and services for partners, as consulting, brand reinforcement, in distribution capacity, etc. They have developed, for example, a solution to keep operational and manage warehouses whose owners retire without a successor. From this experience, BigMat Strategies derived, a company that aims to promote mergers between partners by providing capital for integration, that must be returned after two years, and helping in its management.

At the moment, the group's market share in Spain is 9,5%, to which they will add one more point for the acquisition of La Plataforma de la Construcción. Prieto is convinced of BigMat's ability to reach the 30% o al 40% in the next years, a set objective to be able to ensure the existence of this type of warehouses, and gives Eurobaustoff as an example, that controls more than 50% in Germany. “They do everything a vertical company does, but with the philosophy of maintaining the specificities of each one. And works. I am a defender and preacher convinced that the traditional warehouse can last a long time ", concludes.