I work for a company called WoodRat (www.woodrat.com). We sell a
versatile woodworking tool. Woodworkers in the UK, Australia and the
USA love it and now we are thinking about selling it in Germany. I
believe Germans will like our product, but I can’t find someone who
would be willing to sell it.

We sell most of our products to amateur woodworkers. I am convinced
there are lots of them in Germany. However, from the desk/web-based
research I have done sofar, it looks like the German market is a
professional one. But, because of the language, I might be missing
obvious clues.

I want to know where German amateur woodworkers buy their tools. I
want to have contact information for those companies, so that I can
ask them whether they would want to sell our products.

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 25 Jul 2003 08:40 PDT

I have information based on anecdotal evidences, but no hard
statistics or market share information. Would you be interested in
this information as an answer?

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Clarification of Question by icefromvenus-ga on 25 Jul 2003 08:54 PDT

Yes, I would be interested in this kind of information as an answer.

I am not a researcher and not an expert in amateur woodworkers. But I
am German and a little bit familiar with the markets for this kind of
equipment. There are several bigger companies with stores for amateurs
(and pros) but they are not specialized only in woodwork. Usally there
is a big competition to get into the market. If you are interested to
get some of the common stores or any other information I might try to
help...

Thanks for your comment.
It would be very helpful indeed if you could give me the names of some
of the common stores. Do you also know if there are any smaller stores
at all? Not necessarily specializing in woodwork equipment, but where
someone still has the time to demonstrate a tool.

Hi Ice:
I hope I can be somewhat helpful. I'm a german living in the US.
First of all, a hint for your further research over the internet. The
keywords you should try are: Hobbyschreiner (Schreiner = carpenter,
woodworker) (pronounce: "shrine-uh") and Heimwerker (lit.
"Homeworker", describing people engaging in home improvement projects
as a hobby).
Now, for your actual question, people buy most of their goods at large
stores, comparable to i.e. the Home Depot. The general term for these
stores is " Baumarkt ". The better known ones are:

toom baumarkt (over 230 stores in germany)
Corporate HQ:
Stolberger Str. 90, 
50933 Köln-Braunsfeld
ph.: +49-2 21 149-60 00, Fax.: +49-2 21 149-96 40
E-mail.: kontakt@toom-baumarkt.de

Hornbach (very large)
Corporate HQ:
HORNBACH Baumarkt AG
Zentrale - Bornheim   
Street: Hornbachstrasse
ZIP/City: 6878 Bornheim
ph.: +49-6348-6000
Fax: +49-6348-604000

Praktiker
Corporate HQ:
Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte AG
Am Tannenwald 2
66459 Kirkel
Tel.: +49 (0)6849 95-00
Fax: +49 (0)6849 95-2285
E-Mail: kontakt@praktiker.de

and last not least, the largest:
OBI Baumaerkte
Leiterin Kommunikation
Frau Johanna Meessen
Albert-Einstein-Straße 7-9
42929 Wermelskirchen
Telefon: +49 2196 76 15 09
Telefax: +49 2196 76 10 19
Email: johanna.meessen@obi.de

although, you may want to consider getting in touch with the American
Chamber of Commerce in Germany (although they charge some annual fee,
but I think its reasonable)..they have an english website at :
www.amcham.de

Hope I could be helpful

Good luck

HR