OBI (retail chain)

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]

For other uses of "OBI", see OBI (disambiguation).

OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte GmbH & Co. Franchise Center KG
OBI Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryHome improvement
DIY store
Founded1970 (1970) in Hamburg-Poppenbüttel, Germany
FoundersDr. Emil Lux
Manfred Maus
Headquarters
Wermelskirchen
,
Germany
Number of locations
668 (2018)
Areas served
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Austria
  • Hungary
  • Czech Republic
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Switzerland
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
Key people
Sebastian Gundel, CEO
RevenueIncrease €7.7 billion (2018)
Number of employees
42,000 (2015)
ParentTengelmann Group
Websitewww.obi.de

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 them 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
Country First store Number of stores
Germany1970351
Italy199355
Austria199582
Poland199861[9]
Czech Republic199533
Hungary199429
Russia200327[10]
Slovakia200814
Slovenia19988
Switzerland (owned by Migros[2])1999[2]10[2]
Bosnia and Herzegovina (owned by Solomaher)20031


References
  1. "Obi makes around EUR 7.7 bn in 2018". diyinternational.com. 12 March 2019.
  2. "Qui sommes-nous?". Obi Suisse (in French). Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. "European store giant pulls out of mainland". scmp.com. 29 April 2005.
  4. "Obi darf bauMax-Filialen übernehmen" [Obi may take over bauMax stores]. noe.orf.at (in German). 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  5. "OBI Group interrompe le attività in Russia". BricoMagazine (in Italian). 7 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  6. "German DIY retail chain OBI says it has definitely left Russia". Reuters. 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  7. "Новый владелец купил российский бизнес OBI за 600 рублей" (in Russian). Forbes.ru. 15 August 2022.
  8. "МЧС назвало причину пожара в OBI в Подмосковье" (in Russian). Forbes.ru. 9 December 2022.
  9. "Ekspansja" (in Polish). Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  10. "OBI - О компании". OBI.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 29 July 2019.


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