Official laying of foundation stone for Hornbach store on site of Alte Messe in Leipzig / Opening at beginning of 2023 / Job application process started
Leipzig / Bornheim, April 27, 2022. After extensive demolition, restructuring, and species conservation work, the major project of Hornbach Baumarkt AG in the center of Leipzig is now gradually taking shape. In the presence of the Mayor for Building Works, Thomas Dienberg, representatives of the general contractor, planning engineers, and company employees, Hornbach today laid the foundation stone for the new DIY store, garden center, and drive-in building materials facility on the site of Leipzig’s former exhibition center (“Alte Messe”). The store is due to open at the beginning of 2023. Overall, the long-established and family-run company will invest between Euro 40 million and Euro 50 million in the land, building, and fittings for the store. With weighted sales areas of nearly 14,000 square meters, the showcase project will even be slightly larger than the first Hornbach store opened in the north of the city in 1991.
“For us, this new location is not just a showcase but actually really close to our hearts”, explained Andy Kunz, District Director of Hornbach Baumarkt AG, upon the laying of the foundation stone. “None of the 96 other DIY stores we operate in Germany has a location that has been planned in such detail and that will so impressively combine historical substance with the latest departments and product ranges.” The company first looked into the possibility of opening a location on the Alte Messe site in Leipzig 15 years ago. Close cooperation with the city, listed building authorities, and architects ultimately gave rise to a concept enabling a DIY store of almost 8,000 square meters to be located in Hall 17, which was built in 1920 and is now a listed building. The impressive façade will be retained and is set to be restored in May. The complex process of removing asbestos from the roof under a huge protective tent is already complete. Referring to these measures, Leipzig’s Mayor for Building Works, Thomas Dienberg, declared: “Implementing Hornbach’s DIY store project will enable us to preserve relevant parts of a further listed former exhibition hall at the Alte Messe in Leipzig and put this to suitable use. We are delighted about that. It marks the next step as we transform the 50-hectare site of the former technical exhibition center into a vibrant new city district.”
Garden center and drive-in building material facility to be built next to Hall 17
It is not just buildings that deserve protection, but also insects facing extinction. Last October, a species conservation expert relocated two rare types of grasshopper from their habitat in front of Hall 17 to a compensation site provided by Hornbach. This paved the way to prepare the building site. The foundation stone was today laid at the site where Halls 16 and 21, whose substance could no longer be saved, previously stood. This will now be home to the 5,000 square meter garden center and the adjacent 2,000 square meter drive in building material facility, both of which will have exterior designs modeled on the historical appearance of Hall 17. Under the management of Piontek Bauunternehmen GmbH & Co. KG, the site of the future garden center and DIY store is currently being prepared for foundation work for the building construction. Work on installing drainage channels has already begun. This will be followed in early May by the start of construction work with the assembly of the precast reinforced concrete units. Commented Managing Director Klaus Piontek: “We are very proud to have been awarded the contract for this sophisticated project from Hornbach Baumarkt AG. It is a very ambitious project with fascinating challenges. We plan to hand over the property to the client by the end of 2022.”
Specialists needed for numerous state-of-the-art departments and services
As well as the drive-in building material facility and the large garden center with an aquarium unit and pet products, the new Hornbach store will offer a whole range of additional state-of-the-art departments for customers, including a picture and frame gallery, the paint competence center, a modern presentation of tiles in all shapes and sizes, a lighting studio, generous presentations of flooring, an order center with an impressive range of windows and doors on display, and the “bathroom project station”. Anyone wishing to modernize their bathroom will find all the products they need and end-to-end services, from planning by specially qualified advisors through to assembly by the tradespeople service. “Overall, around 100 staff will take care of customers’ needs. We will transfer a few of them from other Hornbach stores, but most staff will be newly hired”, explains Matthias Bohnet, who currently manages the Hornbach store in the north of Leipzig and will in future be Store Manager at the Alte Messe location. “To make sure we have enough time to prepare staff for the store opening at the beginning of 2023, we have already launched the application process. On May 30, May 31, and June 4, we will be holding three informal ‘speed dating’ sessions and open days for applicants which anyone interested is very welcome to attend.” Hornbach is on the lookout not only for experienced specialist advisors for all product divisions, but also for logistics specialists, truck drivers, and managers for various functions. Potential applicants can obtain up-to-date information about vacant positions at jobs.hornbach.com.
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