Press releases

OBI has opened its 4th store in Moscow

Moscow, 28th of November 2007 - Solemn ceremony devoted to OBI Belaya Dacha store opening will be held at 16:00 on Wednesday, November 28. OBI Belaya Dacha is the 4th OBI store in Moscow and the 12th OBI store in Russia. The ceremony will be attended by Mr. Dieter Messner, Managing Director OBI International; Mr. Thorsten Vogt, Managing Director OBI Russia; Mr. Ralf Jaeschke, Store Manager, OBI Belaya Dacha; as well as by the representative of the City authorities – Mr. Alexey Sedzenevsky, Head of Kotelniki City District. After the official orange ribbon-cutting ceremony, OBI management, following the tradition will pass Certificate for the amount of 1 000 000 RuR to the children’s sport school “Belka”. After the ceremony there will be an excursion around the store and press-conference «Development of OBI and DIY sector in Russia: tendencies and prospects».

On November, 29th on the South-East of Moscow the new OBI store will open its door for customers – OBI Belaya Dacha.
In OBI Belaya Dacha there will be renewed and enlarged assortment of goods, specially selected with consideration of consumer’s preferences in Moscow and based on experience of other OBI stores in Russian capital. More than 50 000 goods’ items for construction, repair and gardening are presented in OBI Belaya Dacha – and everything at beneficial prices (Russian word – “vygodno” (adverb) means profitable and advantageous paying, the best offer/price. There is no exact equivalent in English).

The new merchandising concept was realized in OBI Belaya Dacha – in new OBI store to find necessary goods will be even easier. Shopping in OBI Belaya Dacha will be very convenient – the store operates every day from 8:00 till 23:00. Shuttle buses run from metro stations “Kuzminki”, “Lublino“, “Vykhino” starting with 7:30.
On the first day of store’s operation, November, 29 all the customers will get a present that will be useful in every home. From Thursday till Sunday (November, 29 – December, 2) from morning till evening, in OBI Belaya Dacha interesting contests will be held. All participants of OBI contests will get valuable gifts.

OBI was founded in Germany in 1970, when 2 businessmen made up their minds to realize an absolutely new for Germany business idea Do-it-Yourself (DIY) store. The idea was unique because never before the whole assortment of all necessary goods for repair and garden works could be found under the same roof – you should have looked for such goods in different specialized shops. In the very first OBI store opened in Hamburg there were only 12 employees and its area was 870 square meters. Today each of OBI stores occupies an area above 10 000 sqm, and has the number of staff from 150 to 200 people.

Nowadays OBI is one of the leaders on DIY market in Europe and takes the third place on the world DIY market. The total turnover of OBI Group of Companies in 2006/2007 fiscal year equals to 5.8 bln EUR, 33% of which contributed with the international business. OBI entered the international market in 1994 when the first OBI store in Italy was opened. Today 508 OBI stores operate in 11 countries, their total area more than 3,3 mln sqm.

OBI was the first western DIY Company entered the Russian market. Opening of the first OBI stores in Russia was very bright – at the same day (November 20, 2003) two OBI stores were opened in Moscow (OBI Khimki and OBI Tepliy Stan). This 2 OBI stores very soon turned into 2 the most successful OBI stores in the world. Today Russia is in the focus of OBI expansion due to high figures of volume of sales and number of clients.

By now there are 11 OBI stores in Russia (3 in Moscow, 4 in St Petersburg, 1 in Yekaterinburg, 2 in Nizhniy Novgorod and 1 in Kazan). According to OBI Russia officials “DIY market in Russia is far from saturation, and that’s why it is developing so rapidly. Personal income has grown significantly in the past years, real estate sector is very active, and it’s no wonder that the goods for repair, construction and home improvement are in the high demand”. Now more and more people, who used to buy goods for repair and renovation at open markets, prefer DIY stores because of the wide assortment, beneficial prices, nice atmosphere and high quality services.