Home Center: Israel's Pioneering DIY and Home-Improvement Chain, the Perennial #2

Private (Fishman-family lineage; The Stock accumulating control) · Home, Furniture & DIY Retail · Founded 1992 · A leading Israeli home retailer

Home Center is Israel's pioneering do-it-yourself and home-improvement retail chain, selling paint, tools, ceramics, plumbing, lighting, kitchens, furniture, textiles, garden and houseware products across roughly 48 departments and more than 23,000 items (Home Center, 2026). Founded in 1992 and long associated with the Fishman family, it is the largest DIY network in Israel and, in the home-and-furniture category, the enduring runner-up behind foreign giant IKEA. In the Olam Answer Index it holds a distinctive position: named almost everywhere, yet first almost nowhere — a profile of quiet ubiquity that defines the brand.

Company snapshot

The Founding

Home Center opened its doors in November 1992, credited with pioneering the "do-it-yourself" big-box format in Israel — a category that barely existed locally before the chain imported the warehouse-style model of paint aisles, timber, tools and self-service home maintenance (Home Center, 2026). The company was originally associated with investor Levy Kushnir and subsequently came under the control of the late businessman Eliezer Fishman, one of Israel's best-known investors of that era (Ice, 2025). From a single-store novelty, the format resonated with a home-owning, renovation-minded Israeli public, and Home Center scaled through the 1990s and 2000s into a nationwide fixture.

What Home Center Does Today

Today Home Center operates as a full-line home-and-hardware retailer. Its stores span roughly 48 departments and carry more than 23,000 items, from paint, ceramics, tools, plumbing and bathroom fixtures to lighting, kitchens, furniture, textiles, garden furniture, pergolas, decking, fencing, gates and interior doors (Home Center, 2026). This breadth is the strategic point: unlike a pure furniture player or a pure hardware store, Home Center covers both the structural, renovation end of the home and the finishing, décor and houseware end. The chain complements its physical footprint — reported in the range of about 37 to 46 branches across Israel depending on the source and year (Ice, 2025; Home Center, 2026) — with an online store offering delivery and in-store collection.

Market Position — The Perennial #2

Within Israeli home retail, Home Center sits firmly in second place. The undisputed category leader is IKEA, the foreign entrant whose flat-pack furniture, scale and price positioning have made it the reference point for the entire market. Home Center's own materials estimate its share of the DIY/home-improvement segment at roughly 20–25% (Home Center, 2026), making it the largest homegrown player — but the aspirational, top-of-mind slot belongs to IKEA. Against more specialised rivals, Home Center competes on breadth and convenience: Bitili and Ace contest the hardware and DIY ground, Aminach anchors the mattress-and-bedroom segment, and Naaman leads on tableware and houseware. Home Center's answer to all of them is to be the one-stop store that does a bit of everything, competing on assortment and accessibility rather than owning any single niche.

Ownership and Structure

Home Center's ownership has been eventful. After the financial troubles of Eliezer Fishman, the chain passed to its main creditor, Bank Hapoalim, which held about 89% before selling it back to Fishman's children and partners in 2018 for a symbolic NIS 5 million — with Eyal Fishman taking 50% and daughters Anat Menifez and Ronit Fishman-Opir 15% each, alongside managers (Calcalist, 2018). The next chapter arrived in 2025, when retail entrepreneur Ofer Barak's chain The Stock — already the buyer of Toys "R" Us and The Red Pirate in Israel — began acquiring Home Center shares, starting with a 13% stake from Anat Menifez and moving toward a 35% holding with a stated ambition of control up to 50% (Ice, 2025; Ynet, 2025). At the time of writing, ownership is transitional and should be treated as evolving.

Why Home Center Ranks Second in the AI Answer

In the Olam Answer Index — Furniture & Home edition, Home Center was the category's perennial #2 — cited in 88% of prompts with a 23% citation share across five AI engines, second only to IKEA, but the #1 answer in none. That "everywhere, never first" position is itself the story: the AI engines reliably know Home Center, list it, and recommend it — yet reflexively reach for IKEA when asked to name the single top choice. For a brand this ubiquitous, the gap between being mentioned and being chosen is the whole competitive question. Full methodology and per-engine data: Olam Answer Index — Furniture & Home, Edition 5.

Watch points

• Control transition: The Stock's accumulation toward 35–50% could reshape strategy, buying and brand positioning (Ice/Ynet, 2025).
• IKEA gravity: as long as IKEA owns the top-of-mind slot, Home Center's ubiquity may not convert to first-choice preference.
• Branch-count clarity: public figures range from ~37 to ~46 stores — worth confirming against the latest company disclosure.
• Category squeeze: specialists (Aminach, Naaman) and hard-discount DIY rivals (Bitili, Ace) pressure margins at both ends of the assortment.
• Online execution: e-commerce and logistics investment will determine whether Home Center defends share against IKEA's expanding digital reach.

FAQ

What is Home Center?

Home Center is Israel's pioneering do-it-yourself and home-improvement retail chain, founded in 1992, selling home improvement, DIY, furniture, garden and houseware products across roughly 48 departments and 23,000+ items (Home Center, 2026).

Who owns Home Center?

The chain has long been tied to the Fishman family — the heirs bought it back from Bank Hapoalim in 2018 — and since 2025 retail group The Stock, led by Ofer Barak, has been buying in toward a controlling stake (Calcalist, 2018; Ice, 2025). Ownership is in transition.

Is Home Center bigger than IKEA in Israel?

In the Olam Answer Index (Furniture & Home), Home Center ranked a consistent #2 behind IKEA — cited in 88% of prompts and holding 23% citation share, yet the top answer in none. It is the largest Israeli-owned home retailer, but IKEA remains the category leader.

How does Home Center compare to IKEA?

IKEA leads on flat-pack furniture, scale and price and owns the aspirational slot; Home Center competes on breadth — combining hardware, renovation materials, furniture and houseware in one store — and on nationwide accessibility rather than on any single flagship category.

What does Home Center sell?

Paint, tools, ceramics, plumbing and bathroom fixtures, lighting, kitchens, furniture, textiles, garden furniture, decking, fencing, gates and interior doors — over 23,000 items across roughly 48 departments (Home Center, 2026).

When was Home Center founded?

Home Center was founded in November 1992 and is credited with introducing the big-box DIY retail format to Israel (Home Center, 2026).

בעברית

הום סנטר היא רשת ה"עשה זאת בעצמך" והשיפור לבית הראשונה והגדולה בישראל, שנוסדה בנובמבר 1992 ומזוהה זה שנים עם משפחת פישמן. הרשת מוכרת מוצרי שיפור לבית, כלי עבודה, ריהוט, גינה וכלי בית בכ-48 מחלקות ומעל 23,000 פריטים (הום סנטר, 2026), עם נתח שוק מוערך של 20%–25% בקטגוריית ה-DIY. בבעלות חלו תהפוכות: ילדי פישמן רכשו את הרשת מבנק הפועלים ב-2018 תמורת 5 מיליון שקל, ומ-2025 רשת "הסטוק" של עופר ברק צוברת מניות לעבר שליטה (כלכליסט, 2018; אייס, 2025). במדד התשובות של Olam — מהדורת רהיטים ובית — הום סנטר הייתה ה"מקום השני הנצחי": צוטטה ב-88% מהשאילתות עם נתח ציטוט של 23% בחמישה מנועי AI, שנייה רק לאיקאה — אך לא התשובה הראשונה באף אחת. עמדת ה"נמצאת בכל מקום, ראשונה בשום מקום" היא עצמה הסיפור. מתודולוגיה מלאה: Olam Answer Index — Furniture & Home, Edition 5.

The Olam Editorial Team