Press releases

Welcome to the OBI press page

Here you will find current press releases concerning OBI. If you have specific questions, please contact Elena Ottaviano.

Pilsen's Newest OBI Store to Open in Two Days

Wermelskirchen/Pilsen June 22, 2009 – On June 24th, OBI – the leading Czech home improvement retailer – will open its 29th store in the Czech Republic on Sukova Street in Pilsen. It will be the city's second OBI center. The store's retail area of 12,533 m2 will make it the largest OBI store in the Czech Republic and besides being able to find an exceptional overall customer experience, customers will be able to look forward to a wide assortment of merchandise and professionally trained staff. The store will also provide 95 new jobs in professions ranging from trades such as cabinet making, masonry and gardening along with a variety of administrative positions. More

OBI, European DIY market leader opens its first store in Romania

Wermelskirchen, November 19th, 2008 - OBI, the leading DIY and garden retailer in Central and Eastern Europe, is opening its first store in Oradea. Romania is the 13th European country in which OBI now operates. More

OBI, European DIY market leader opens a second store and continues its' successful expansion in Ukraine

Mariupol, November 14th, 2008 - The official ceremony of opening the second OBI store in Ukraine took place in Mariupol (Donetsk region). The ceremony was conducted by Keith Smith, Managing Director OBI Ukraine and Yuriy Khotlubey, Head of Mariupol State Administration. Keith Smith presented a charity certificate to Yuriy Khotlubey to fund a social project in Mariupol. More

European ‘DIY’ market leader to invest €20 million in Ukraine

Kyiv, July 15th, 2008 - OBI, the leading European DIY and garden retailer is to invest 20 million Euro in the Ukrainian market. More

OBI appoints two new Board Members reshuffling its management structure

Wermelskirchen, February 5th, 2008 - As a consequence of the increasing internationalisation OBI will redesign the organisation by extending and further building up the corporate functions operating on a cross country level. OBI Germany will be one of several countries and thus gets a full-fledged organisation similar to all other OBI countries. More

OBI unleashing expansion offensive announcing market entry in three new geographies

Wermelskirchen, January 29th, 2008 - OBI will aggressively push its international expansion focussing efforts on Russia, Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the Balkans. On top of these ambitious expansion targets OBI is about to enter three additional countries, namely Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia. Medium term targeting up to 20 stores both in Ukraine and Romania, OBI plans to open another 10-15 stores in Slovakia within short. First openings in these countries are scheduled for 2008. More

Personnel change – New Country Manager for OBI in Russia

Wermelskirchen, October 25th, 2007 - The new country manager of OBI in Russia is Thorsten Vogt. More

Personnel change in the management of the Emil Lux Company

Wermelskirchen, May 7th, 2007 - Harald Lux, President of the Emil Lux Company, decided to retire at his own request upon reaching his 60th birthday. More

OBI is among the best-known German brands

Wermelskirchen, August 30th, 2006 – The TNS Infratest Institute in Bielefeld studied the supported and unsupported brand recognition of German DIY superstores. This year’s survey (July 2006) confirmed that OBI continues to be the best-known DIY superstore in Germany with a clear, significant lead in front of its competitors. More

OBI places expansion focus on Europe

Wermelskirchen, April 27th, 2005 - The supervisory board of OBI AG decided to increasingly focus the company's expansion course on European countries. Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland in particular will play a central role as potential growth markets in the expansion policy of Europe’s leading DIY brand. More