Do It All was a British do it yourself and

home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

retailing company that underwent a number of changes of ownership. In 1998, the business was sold to

Focus DIY Focus DIY was a privately owned chain of DIY stores in the United Kingdom. It served the consumer DIY market sector, and most stores had some form of garden centre. At its peak in 2002, it was the second-largest DIY retailer in the United K ...

, which itself entered administration in 2011, with all its stores closing later that year.

History

The business can trace its roots to two do it yourself chains, Big K and Calypso. These were bought by LCP (Lunt Comley & Pitt) and traded as LCP Homecentres. In 1978, the business was acquired by

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

and renamed W.H. Smith Do It All Limited, trading as WHSmith Do It All. Do It All sold a range of over 25,000 DIY products, including paint, wallpaper, tools and power tools, as well as construction materials such as plywood and chipboard. All stores had an inhouse timber cutting service, and all but the smallest had in-store concessions for businesses such as Harris Carpets. During the 1980s, fierce competition saw the chain struggle. In 1988, it merged with the rival chain

Payless DIY Payless DIY was a chain of DIY stores in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. History The name was first used in 1983 to re-brand the Marley Homecare chain. The change was done under the chairmanship of Tom O'Sullivan, MD Ted Lansdowne and Merch ...

, which was owned by the

Boots Group Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand a ...

. As a result, WH Smith and Boots each owned 50% of the combined group, and the Payless stores were rebranded under the Do It All brand. However, following continued losses, WHSmith sold their share in the company to Boots in 1996 for the token amount of £1.

Fate

Boots, wanting to concentrate on its core pharmacy businesses, sold the 139 Do It All stores to

in 1998 for £68 million. The stores were initially rebranded under the name Focus Do It All, and later, in 2001, to simply Focus, following the company’s purchase of Great Mills the previous year. Focus DIY had also acquired

Wickes Wickes is a home improvement retailer and garden centre, based in the United Kingdom with more than 230 stores throughout the country. Its main business is the sale of supplies and materials, for homeowners and the building trade. It is listed ...

in 2000, and some former Do It All stores were converted to Wickes, mostly in areas felt to be outside the core market. Soon after, the Do It All name disappeared completely.

References

External links

* {{youtube, i5P7KyMLZAY, Do It All TV advert British companies established in 1963 British companies disestablished in 2001 Home improvement companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1963 Retail companies disestablished in 2001 Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom 1996 mergers and acquisitions 1998 mergers and acquisitions