OBI (retail chain) explained

OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte GmbH & Co. Franchise Center KG
Trade Name:OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte
Type:Subsidiary
Industry:Home improvement
DIY store
Founded: in Hamburg-Poppenbüttel, Germany
Founders:Dr. Emil Lux
Manfred Maus
Hq Location City:Wermelskirchen
Hq Location Country:Germany
Num Locations:668
Num Locations Year:2018
Key People:Sebastian Gundel, CEO
Revenue: 7.7 billion
Revenue Year:2018
Num Employees:42,000
Num Employees Year:2015
Parent:Tengelmann Group

OBI GmbH & Co. Deutschland KG is a German multinational home improvement supplies retailing company. It is headquartered in Wermelskirchen and operates 668 stores in Europe, of which 351 are in Germany.[1]

History

Obi was founded in 1970 by Emil Lux, Manfred Maus and Klaus Birker with the opening of the first Obi store in the Alstertal shopping center in Hamburg-Poppenbüttel.

In 1985 the Tengelmann Group acquired a majority stake in Obi. The share was increased in 2007 by buying the shares of the Lux founding family.

Obi has been present in Switzerland since 1999, in partnership with the Migros cooperative.[2]

It formerly had operated 13 stores in mainland China but these were sold to B&Q in 2005.[3]

The company expanded in Romania in 2008, where it opened 7 stores until 2010. Due to the economic crisis and the small market share, the company decided in 2014 to close the stores, 5 of which were sold to Jumbo.Also in 2008 the company opened the first 2 stores in Ukraine, followed in 2009 by a third store. They closed in 2013.

In 2015, Obi took over 68 stores from bankrupt Baumax, 48 of which are located in Austria, 14 stores in Slovakia, two stores in Slovenia, and four locations in Czechia.[4]

In March 2022, Obi closed all operations in Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine war.[5] [6]

On April 27, 2022, the chain's stores began to resume work in Russia. The retailer sold its business to a Russian investor. The businessman Josef Liokumovich became the new owner. According to him, he acquired the Russian business of OBI for a symbolic price of 600 rubles (10 USD).[7]

On December 9, 2022, one of OBI's Russian stores burnt down due to a chemical explosion, resulting in at least one fatality.[8]

Operations

CountryFirst storeNumber of stores
1970351
199355
199582
199861[9]
199533
199429
200327[10]
200814
19988
Switzerland (owned by Migros) 199910
Bosnia and Herzegovina (owned by Solomaher) 20031

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Obi makes around EUR 7.7 bn in 2018 . diyinternational.com . 12 March 2019.
  2. Web site: Qui sommes-nous? . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160515041358/http://www.obi.ch/fr/footer/obi_swiss/ueber_uns/index.html . 2016-05-15 . 2016-03-30 . Obi Suisse . fr.
  3. Web site: European store giant pulls out of mainland . scmp.com . 29 April 2005.
  4. Web site: 2015-09-30 . Obi darf bauMax-Filialen übernehmen . Obi may take over bauMax stores . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210303062540/https://noe.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2734196/ . 2021-03-03 . 2022-05-13 . noe.orf.at . de.
  5. Web site: 2022-03-07 . OBI Group interrompe le attività in Russia . 2022-03-08 . BricoMagazine . it-IT.
  6. News: 2022-04-27 . German DIY retail chain OBI says it has definitely left Russia . en . Reuters . live . 2022-05-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220513174844/https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-germany-obi-idUSL5N2WP5VB . 2022-05-13.
  7. Web site: Новый владелец купил российский бизнес OBI за 600 рублей. ru. 2022-08-15. Forbes.ru.
  8. Web site: МЧС назвало причину пожара в OBI в Подмосковье. ru. 2022-12-09. Forbes.ru.
  9. Web site: Ekspansja. 2019-04-26. pl.
  10. Web site: OBI - О компании. OBI.ru. ru-RU. 2019-07-29.