While DSGi chief executive John Browett has been busy renewing and transforming his business, the electricals market is also changing around him and the pace shows no sign of slowing.

John Browett, the chief executive of electricals group DSGi, has earned praise for his efforts to improve the store group. But while he has been busy renewing and transforming
his business, the market is also changing around him and the pace shows no sign of slowing.

There’s evidence of that right across the electricals retail spectrum. At the value end, Tesco revealed in last week’s interims that it had generated double-digit like-for-like growth in the category and its Technika own-brand TV is now the fifth biggest selling in Britain.

At the opposite end of the scale, John Lewis will next Thursday open its first John Lewis at Home store in Poole, Dorset - a 45,000 sq ft store in which electricals will feature prominently. The retailer - which incidentally has just launched own-brand TVs for the first time - reckons there is room in the market to build a 30-strong chain.

John Lewis has described the store as its first new format in 20 years, and it will be integrated with multichannel operations through, for instance, a collect-from-store service. The retailer is likely to emphasise its value credentials as well as its reputation for service - the latter of course targeted in cheeky DSGi ads designed to position its Dixons.com business in pole position for value.
However, the extent of activity is not necessarily bad news for DSGi, or its arch rival Comet. It indicates how much there is to go for in the electricals market.

Tesco’s relentless march and John Lewis’s innovation show how much ground each has gained and how much potential each has identified, but DSGi won’t be rolling over.

While it has much to lose, DSGi also, after the travails of the past few years, has much to gain. The retailer issues interim numbers at the end of next month, when it will become clearer whether Browett’s reinvention continues to have the desired effect and will be sufficient to keep rivals’ tanks off the lawn.

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