"In the next three years we are planning to open 18 more stores. This is real," CEO Strickland said.
According to Strickland, OBI is going to open five-six stores a year over the next three years. Twelve new stores will be opened on rental properties, the remaining six will be built from the ground up by OBI.
The cost of one purpose-built OBI retail space is estimated at $24 million to $37 million, whereas the cost of refurbishing a rental property is about $8.5 million, the company representative said.
In spite of a decrease in Russian consumer traffic, OBI will not cut its investment program, Strickland said. This year the do-it-yourself (DIY) retail market for home improvement, gardening and building products is expected to grow only 6 percent in Russia, against 7.8 percent last year. Aware of the current economic climate, OBI concentrated on increasing individual consumer per-visit spending, succeeding in a 7 percent increase over last year.
Overall sales of OBI increased 8 percent over the previous year. OBI states that they are not expecting to raise prices this year.
OBI opened its first two retail stores in Moscow in 2003. There are currently 24 stores in Russia. OBI operates 570 stores in 12 central and eastern European countries.
