DIY Superstore LILLE and NORD PAS DE CALAIS CASTORAMA

In 1961, Christian Dubois, a French entrepreneur, born in Lille in 1921 and died in January 2005, opened a tool trading store in Lille, with an area of 250 m², called "Central Panneaux"¹.

Less than a year later, Christian Dubois had to change the name of his brand due to a competitor. "Central Castor" then became "Castorama".

A second store opened in 1972, then a third in 1973. In 1975, Castorama was established in Plaisir (Yvelines), outside the original region. It was then a prosperous time for the brand, which launched in 1977 the famous slogan "Chez Casto, y a tout ce qu'il faut!"³, a phrase launched by Lucky Blondo, then taken up two years later by Pierre Perret⁴.

Castorama entered the 1990s with a spirit of conquest. From 1989, Castorama looked beyond its borders, taking its first steps in Italy. Followed by Germany, with the acquisition of Briker stores (1992), Belgium (1994), Poland (1996), then Brazil the following year⁵.

Still in the 1990s, Castorama focused on new forms of sales, especially warehouse stores. In October 1993, Castorama also entered the discount market and, in Reims, launched a new brand, Brico-Dépôt⁶. At the same time, Castorama launched "castostages", few-hour training sessions that allow anyone to learn, to embark on home improvement or renovation projects⁷.

In 1998, Castorama partnered with the DIY brand B&Q in the UK. The British group Kingfisher then became a shareholder of Castorama⁸. At the same time, Castorama launched its e-commerce site www.castorama.fr with several thousand references offered to internet users⁹. 

In 2002, Kingfisher became the majority shareholder of Castorama, propelling it to the position of European leader and third-largest global group in the home improvement sector¹⁰.

In 2003, Castorama withdrew from Belgium by closing its only store¹¹.

In 2008, Leroy Merlin acquired Castorama Italy from Kingfisher. The latter wished to dispose of its Italian stores and signed a transfer agreement with Leroy Merlin. The purchase price was 615 million euros.

The Castorama slogan changed in 2010 and became "C'est castoche". With this idea, the brand wanted to make DIY simpler and develop many products that truly make life easier for DIYers. At the same time, Castorama also launched many tools to enable everyone to learn: 300 video tutorials, a book "Lancez-vous" detailing projects step by step, test zones in-store, and the help network site "Troc Heures"¹².

In 2013, Véronique Laury was appointed CEO of Castorama France.

In 2014, Castorama's logo evolved with a hyphen intended to "symbolize the link between the brand and customers and their projects"¹³.^{[relevance challenged]}

At the end of 2014, Véronique Laury succeeded Sir Ian Cheshire as CEO of the group Kingfisher¹⁴. She was replaced at the head of Castorama by Marc Ténart¹⁵.

In 2015, along with other Kingfisher brands, Castorama launched the "One Kingfisher" plan, aiming to create "Good homes" and make home improvement accessible to all¹⁶.

In November 2017, Véronique Laury announced the consolidation in Krakow in Poland of accounting and management control activities¹⁷. This created a double controversy as false information circulated at the same time in some media, stating that French employees losing their jobs were asked to train Polish workers, which is actually completely false¹⁸.

In February 2018, 321 job cuts were announced¹⁹.

October 2018: appointment of a new CEO²⁰.

On March 20, 2019, Véronique Laury's departure was announced by management, which also indicated that nine Castorama stores would close in 2019 or 2020. These closures would affect 698 employees who would therefore lose their jobs^{[ref. needed]}. The Kingfisher group justified these closures by a 13% loss in its taxable profit in 2018. The group's turnover decreased by 3.7% in France in 2018 to reach 4.272 billion pounds sterling²¹.