DIY megastore and garden center with building material drive-in opens in Nitra in West Slovakia / Euro 21 million invested / 100-strong team offers advice and services / Since March, low price guarantee after purchase now also in Slovakia
Nitra / Bornheim, March 16, 2022. After more than twelve months of construction, Hornbach is today the first company to open the doors of its store in the new “Pantera Business District” in the West Slovakian city of Nitra. On more than 16,000 square meters*, DIY enthusiasts, gardeners and professional customers have access to Hornbach’s huge product range, currently comprising around 120,000 articles in Slovakia. An exact total of 100 employees see to advising customers and offering services. Overall, the long-established and family-run company has invested over Euro 21 million in the land, building and fittings for the store. After two stores in the capital city of Bratislava and two in East Slovakia (Košice and Prešov), this is now Hornbach’s fifth location in the landlocked Central European country.
“Hornbach is enormously popular in Slovakia. Customers really appreciate our extensive product range, the high quality of our goods, our reliable permanently low prices, and the competent advice and impressive range of services at the stores. And now we can offer all that in Nitra as well. This attractive, modern store has extended our store network and we are definitely planning further growth”, explains Erich Harsch, Chief Executive Officer of Hornbach Baumarkt AG.
Well-stocked project volumes at reliable permanently low prices
As the first company in the new business district in Industrial Park North, the store in Nitra na Pasienkách was today officially opened by Jaroslav Paděra, Hornbach’s Country Director for Slovakia and the Czech Republic and by Store Manager Martin Taksonyi. “With this store, people in the sixth-largest city in our country will now also have direct access to our product range. They can expect to find a huge selection of articles for all their projects in their houses, apartments, and gardens – and that at our reliable and widely appreciated permanently low prices and in well-stocked project volumes”, declared Jaroslav Paděra at the opening ceremony.
Store Manager Martin Taksonyi underlined the importance of the permanent low price guarantee: “Our customers need no longer worry about the time-consuming process of comparing prices. They also do not have to wait for price campaigns or collect bonus points and loyalty premiums to get a good price. Rather than that, they can channel all their energies into their projects at home and in the garden, now also safe in the knowledge that they will have any price difference automatically credited to their digital customer accounts without having to make any application should the article price be reduced within 30 days of their purchase.” Hornbach introduced this extension to its permanent low price guarantee in Germany at the end of 2018 and has since gradually mapped it onto other countries. Since March, it has taken effect in Slovakia as well.
5,000 products ready for loading in drive-in facility
As well as the bathroom and kitchen center with 3D planning, an attractive picture and frame gallery with a framing service, and the paint competence center with a state-of-the-art paint mixing service, DIY enthusiasts and professional customers can look forward to a further highlight at the new store, one previously unavailable in Nitra and the surrounding area: At the drive-in facility, with almost 5,000 square meters of space, customers can drive their cars or transporters directly to the shelves and simply load heavy or bulky construction materials. More than 5,000 products, including construction timbers, insulation materials, plasters, interlocking paving, and masonry, are available here in large project quantities. Hornbach launched this concept into the European DIY sector in 2003 and is currently implementing it at both new and older locations. Craftspeople and other commercial customers in particular appreciate the swift and convenient access it provides to large quantities of construction materials.
Digital services offer numerous benefits
Hornbach’s product range in Slovakia comprises more than 120,000 articles. At the online shop launched here six years ago, customers can order goods and have them delivered to their homes, building sites, or one of the five stores. The online shop can also be accessed via terminals at the stores. Hornbach has offered free WLAN in Slovakia for many years already, as well as the option of reserving goods available at the stores online and then collecting them at the desired date. The self-scan function using the Hornbach app, which was introduced in 2019, has also proven its worth. Here, customers simply scan articles at the store with their own smartphones to obtain further information or generate a QR code with which they can quickly pay for the goods on a contact-free basis. “This option has been in great use since the start of the pandemic. Based on the positive feedback, we expect it to remain very popular”, comments Store Manager Martin Taksonyi.
Sustainability and energy efficiency at new location
After Prešov, the new store in Nitra is the second location in Slovakia to be fully equipped with energy-saving, long-life LED technology – from shelf lighting in indoor areas through to lighting on the forecourt with its 285 parking spaces and three electric charging points. “In combination with the building control system, which makes optimal use of the natural light from numerous glass domes and light bands and controls the use of LED technology as required, this means we have created a very pleasant atmosphere in the store. Not only that, we also reduce our energy needs and avoid energy losses”, explains Country Director Jaroslav Paděra. Further savings come from the building’s air-tight construction, the use of a heat recovery system, and needs-based ventilation using coordinated sensor technology.
The Hornbach store in Nitra is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
* Weighted by BHB sector association standard: around 12,000 square meters
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