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OKA (also known as OKA Direct) is a British furniture and home accessories retailer founded in 1999 by Annabel Astor, Sue Jones, and Lucinda Waterhouse. It is owned by Investindustrial.[1] OKA has 14 shops[2] across the UK, and British and American websites and a catalogue business.
OKA started as a mail-order company in 1999, before opening its first shop in 2000. Annabel Astor, her sister-in-law Sue Jones, and friend Lucinda Waterhouse sold products primarily from East Asia. The initial product range was 'rattan' for the first OKA catalogue – which was photographed in Jane Churchill and Bruce Oldfield's homes – followed by painted wooden furniture, alongside replicas of 18th-century blue and white porcelain and a range of Chinoiserie furniture.[3]
OKA has two flagship shops in the UK: Froxfield, an 8,000 sq. ft showroom and a smaller garden room is between Hungerford and Marlborough; and London's three-floor Fulham Road, OKA's largest shop as of its opening in 2010.[4]
In September 2011, OKA opened a concession in the department store Selfridges on Oxford Street in London, but it closed in February 2013.[5] In May 2016, OKA opened a concession in Hoopers Department Store, Tunbridge Wells.[6]
In 2009, OKA’s warehousing facilities moved from Berinsfield to a larger facility of over 100,000 sq. ft in Milton Park, Oxfordshire,[7] where their head office is also based.
In May 2014, Peter Chappelow was appointed as non-executive chairman, replacing Graham Frost.[8] In October 2014, Octavia Morley was appointed as CEO.[9]
OKA reported a 23% rise in online sales and a 17% rise in overall profit for 2013, taking their annual turnover to £19.9m.[10]
The company was bought by Italian investment firm Investindustrial in January 2018.[11]
OKA made its first acquisition, US-based Wisteria, in September 2018.[12]
In June 2024, OKA abruptly closed all of its US locations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation by June 11, 2024, listing liabilities between $500,000 to $1 million.[13]
