The German market leader OBI is planning a massive campaign of expansion in China: the number of stores is to increase from the current total of four to 48 by 2006/2007
OBI invests an average of € 11 mio per store. The average size of the outlets is 13 000 m². The product range consists of one third each imported goods, brand names with joint ventures in China and products from local suppliers. The customer structure is made up of 20 per cent do-it-yourselfers, 50 per cent buy-it-yourselfers and 30 per cent professionals.
The stages of OBI’s planned expansion:
2002/2003
2003/2004
2004/2005
2005/2006
2006/2007
Number of stores
4
10
20
33
48
Sales in mio €
86
187
463
835
1,290
Number of employees
1,200
3,000
6,000
9,900
14,400