Castorama

What Castorama does

Castorama France S.A.S. is the French market-leading DIY and home improvement retailer, operating 93 large-format stores across France with surface areas ranging from 6,000 to 17,000 square metres. Founded in 1969 by Christian Dubois in Englos near Lille under the original name 'Central Castor,' the company pioneered the large-format DIY retail concept in France, consolidating hardware, electrical, wood, paint, wallpaper, and building materials into a single warehouse-style destination. The company serves individual consumers and DIY enthusiasts across all skill levels, from first-time homeowners undertaking basic repairs to experienced handymen executing full renovations, with a stated mission of making home improvement accessible to all.

The business operates a multi-channel go-to-market combining physical retail with e-commerce (castorama.fr), supported by content-driven customer engagement through the 18h39 digital magazine, YouTube tutorials, Castostages in-store workshops (launched 1993), the Home Improvement Academy, and the Bon+Bon sustainable product line. Castorama is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc, the UK-listed home improvement group that became majority shareholder in 2001; Kingfisher operates 6 retail brands across 7 countries with 1,800+ stores, 70,000 employees, and group revenue of 12,945 million GBP (FY 2025/2026). Castorama France alone generates approximately 2 billion GBP in revenue and employs 11,000+ people, representing the largest single-country contribution to the Kingfisher group.

The company monetizes through one-time retail product sales across broad DIY categories, with no disclosed subscription, B2B, or franchise model. Distribution is exclusively through owned retail stores and the proprietary e-commerce platform, with no third-party resellers or franchisees indicated in the source data. Castorama differentiates through brand heritage (55+ years), large-format store economics, in-store expert sales staff, and a knowledge-sharing content ecosystem that positions it as a home improvement facilitator rather than a pure product retailer. Technology infrastructure is not publicly disclosed, and there is no app, public API, or disclosed AI/ML capability at the Castorama entity level.

Name

Castorama

Legal name

CASTORAMA France S.A.S.

Website

https://emploi.castorama.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Castorama is France's leading DIY and home improvement retailer, operating 93 large-format stores (6,000-17,000 sqm) nationwide with ~11,000 employees and ~2 billion GBP in revenue, serving individual consumers across all skill levels as a wholly-owned subsidiary of UK-listed Kingfisher plc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Improvement Retail

NAICS

Home Centers (444110), Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers (444)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Home Improvement & Hardware Stores (CRAIADAA)

Keywords

• DIY home improvement retail
• Hardware store retail
• Building materials retail
• Home improvement products
• Garden and DIY products

Headquarters

HQ city

Lille/Templemars

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail product sales: Castorama generates revenue through the sale of home improvement and DIY products across categories including hardware, electricity, wood, paints, wallpapers, building materials, garden, and home appliances. Products are sold through 93 retail stores in France and via its e-commerce platform castorama.fr.

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Castorama operates 93 large-format retail stores across France selling DIY and home improvement products across hardware, electrical, wood, paints, wallpapers, building materials, garden, and home appliance categories. The retail offer is complemented by the castorama.fr e-commerce site, free in-store DIY workshops (Castostages), an expert digital magazine (18h39), and the Bon+Bon own-label sustainable product line.

Product overview

Castorama is a leading DIY home improvement retailer operating 93 stores across France with surface areas from 6,000m2 to 17,000m2, generating approximately 2 billion GBP in revenue. The company offers a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services including physical retail stores, e-commerce platform, the Home Improvement Academy for skills development, Castostages in-store workshops, the 18h39 digital magazine, and Bon+Bon sustainable product line. Castorama positions itself as a facilitator for home improvement projects, providing not just products but knowledge-sharing through advice sheets, YouTube tutorials, and a community of passionate experts. The company is part of the Kingfisher Group, which operates 6 brands across 7 countries with over 1,800 stores.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bon+Bon Sustainable Products
• Castostages DIY Workshops

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of French people dream of doing home improvement work, and nearly 50% do not dare to start — highlighting the market opportunity Castorama addresses through accessibility and confidence-building initiatives.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• IMMD (Institut des Métiers de la Distribution)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership with IMMD for alternance programmes. Castorama collaborates with IMMD across multiple levels from BTS to Master 2, providing students with alternating work-study opportunities in both stores and headquarters functions.
• EDHEC Business SchoolsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with EDHEC Business School for student alternance and graduate recruitment programmes, supporting Castorama's talent pipeline for management and leadership roles.
• BSB Education (Bordeaux School of Management)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership with BSB Education for student alternance and training programmes, contributing to Castorama's recruitment of qualified young professionals.
• IESEG School of ManagementsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IESEG for student alternance programmes, enabling Castorama to attract management students for roles across store and headquarters operations.
• Montpellier Business SchoolsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Montpellier Business School for student training and alternance programmes, supporting Castorama's southern France recruitment.
• Groupe IGSsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Groupe IGS for student alternance and professional development programmes, enabling Castorama to recruit across a wide range of management and business disciplines.
• IGR-IAE Rennes (Université de Rennes)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IGR-IAE Rennes for student alternance programmes, contributing to Castorama's talent pipeline from the Rennes region.
• École IDRACminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IDRAC Business School for student alternance and graduate recruitment programmes.
• ESC La RochelleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ESC La Rochelle for student training and alternance programmes.
• IFAGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IFAG for student alternance programmes in management and entrepreneurship.
• ESC PauminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ESC Pau for student training and alternance programmes.
• ESC ClermontminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ESC Clermont for student training and alternance programmes.
• Université de Lorraine (IUT de Metz)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Université de Lorraine for student training and technical programmes.
• Brest Business SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Brest Business School for student training and alternance programmes.
• IAE BordeauxminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IAE Bordeaux for student management programmes and alternance opportunities.
• SKEMA Business SchoolsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with SKEMA Business School for student training and graduate recruitment programmes.
• ISFFELminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ISFFEL for student training and professional development programmes.
• IAE Lille (Université de Lille)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IAE Lille for student training and management programmes, supporting Castorama's headquarters recruitment in the Lille metropolitan area.
• Pigier PerformanceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Pigier Performance for student professional training and alternance programmes.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Leroy Merlin: Leroy Merlin is Castorama's largest direct competitor in the French home improvement market, operating a comparable big-box DIY store format with similar product breadth (hardware, building materials, garden, decor). Both serve the same DIY consumer and professional customer segments and compete head-to-head on price, range, and store footprint.
• Bricomarché: Bricomarché is a French home improvement and garden centre retailer competing in the same mid-market DIY segment as Castorama. Both operate physical-store-based retail models targeting individual homeowners and small trade professionals.
• Brico Dépôt: Brico Dépôt is a discount-focused home improvement retailer owned by Kingfisher, operating in France with a similar core product offering to Castorama but a lower-price, warehouse-style positioning. It is a direct peer within the same parent group and competes with Castorama on price-sensitive DIY customers.
• Bricorama: Bricorama is a French home improvement retail chain with a similar store-based DIY assortment. It competes directly with Castorama in medium-sized French cities and shares a comparable customer base of DIY consumers and small trade professionals.
• Mr.Bricolage: Mr.Bricolage is a French home improvement retail chain operating franchise and own stores, offering a comparable assortment of DIY, hardware, garden, and building products. It directly competes with Castorama in mid-market French cities and rural areas.
• Weldom: Weldom is a French proximity-format DIY retailer owned by Adeo (Leroy Merlin's parent), offering hardware, tools, and home improvement products. It directly competes with Castorama on convenience and small-project DIY purchases.

Regional players

• Jardiland: Jardiland is a French garden centre retailer offering outdoor, gardening, and home improvement-adjacent products. It overlaps with Castorama's garden category and competes for seasonal DIY and outdoor living spend in France.

Broad incumbents

• Home Depot: Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, operating a big-box DIY and pro format closely comparable to Castorama's. It serves as a global benchmark for category scale, private label, and omnichannel strategy in the same vertical.
• Bauhaus: Bauhaus is a large European home improvement and DIY retailer headquartered in Switzerland, operating specialist big-box stores across multiple countries. It is a broader European incumbent comparable to Castorama in format, scale, and product offering.

Emerging players

• ManoMano: ManoMano is a France-founded, Europe-focused online-only marketplace for DIY, home improvement, and gardening products. It competes with Castorama on digital convenience and is a meaningful emerging threat to big-box DIY retailers' e-commerce share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/castorama

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Castorama