Obi

History

The founder of the network is Dr. Emil Lux and Manfred Maus. The chain's first store opened in 1970 in Hamburg. The name (derived from the French transcription and pronunciation of the word “Hobby”) and the company logo were purchased by the German founder of OBI from French merchants for three thousand francs

Owners and management

OBI GmbH & Co. Deutschland KG is part of Obi Group Holding GmbH Wermelskirchen, which in turn is 100% owned by Olympics Baumarkt Holding GmbH Wermelskirchen. The latter belongs to the Tengelmann group of companies (74.23%) and the Lueg-Gruppe

Owners and management

OBI GmbH & Co. Deutschland KG is part of Obi Group Holding GmbH Wermelskirchen, which in turn is 100% owned by Olympics Baumarkt Holding GmbH Wermelskirchen. The last group of companies is Tengelmann (74.23%) and Lueg-Gruppe.

Activity

The OBI (DIY format) chain of stores for the sale of goods for the home and construction consists of more than 650 stores in 13 countries, some of which are franchised. In France, trading companies under this name have been owned by the Leroy Merlin chain since 2003. The network also operates as a franchise in Bosnia and Herzegovina (three stores).

46% of the company's turnover (2011) is brought by foreign branches.