OKA Direct

OKA Direct
Limited Company
Industry Furniture & Home Accessories
Genre Retailer
Founded 1999 (1999)
Founder Annabel Astor, Sue Jones and Lucinda Waterhouse
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people
 Annabel Astor, Sue Jones, Lucinda Waterhouse, Peter Chappelow, Octavia Morley
Number of employees
 150
Website www.okadirect.com

OKA (OKA Direct) is a British luxury furniture and home accessories retailer founded in 1999 by Annabel Astor, Sue Jones and Lucinda Waterhouse. OKA now has 13 shops across the UK together with British, European and American websites and a catalogue business.

History

OKA started as a mail order company in 1999, before opening its first shop in 2000. The idea for an interiors business came to Annabel when she was struggling to find good quality, stylish furniture at an affordable price to furnish a house in Florida. Since the beginning, Annabel, her sister-in-law Sue Jones and friend Lucinda Waterhouse have travelled all over the Far East to source products for the range and still do the buying today. 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.[1] Today, OKA is known for its 'inspirational' lifestyle lookbook which feature three different interior designed homes every spring, summer and autumn, and the brand has been described by interiors journalists as 'elegantly bohemian'.[2] OKA has two flagships showrooms in the UK that house the entire collection: Froxfield, an 8,000 sq ft showroom and a smaller garden room outside, and the Chelsea flagship showroom on Fulham Road opened in 2010 with three floors, becoming OKA's biggest showroom.[3] The other shops are located in Abingdon, Bath, Broadway, Harrogate, Knutsford, Marlow, Notting Hill, Parsons Green, Saffron Walden and Sunninghill.

OKA also has two outlets which stock end of line items and seconds: South Godstone (opened in 2007) and Abingdon (opened in April 2013).

In September 2011, OKA opened a concession in the department store Selfridges on Oxford Street in London, and the concession closed on 24 February 2013.[4] In 2009, OKA’s warehousing facilities moved from Berinsfield to a larger warehouse facility of over 100,000 sq ft based in Milton Park, Oxfordshire,[5] where their customer service and head office is also based.

The ecommerce website launched in 2001, followed by a redesign in 2011 and a responsive site redesign for tablet and mobile in 2013.[6] On 18 July 2013, OKA launched their interiors and lifestyle blog, Tuk Tuk, offering design tips, how to guides and an insight into current interiors trends.[7] OKA signed Total Media in April 2014 as their media agency to oversee online and offline advertising.[8] In May 2014, it was announced that Peter Chappelow had been appointed as non-executive chairman, replacing Graham Frost.[9] In October 2014, Octavia Morley was appointed as CEO.[10]

On 22 August 2014, the OKA Froxfield shop was closed until further notice following a fire the previous evening.[11] The 8,000 sqft showroom was completely rebuilt and was officially re-opened on 26 August 2015 by the Mayor of Marlborough.[12]

OKA reported a 23% rise in online sales and 17% rise in overall profit for 2013, taking their annual turnover to £19.9m.[13]

On 31 January 2015, the OKA Edinburgh shop closed.

Trade & Interior Design Service

In 2001, OKA launched a trade service offering discounts to interior designers, developers and commercial businesses.

OKA’s Interior Design Service launched in 2010, with the main office based in Chelsea and satellite teams at the shops in Broadway, Edinburgh, Froxfield and Harrogate. The Interior Design Team work on residential and commercial projects all around the world, and styled the interior of a water tower in Kennington, London for the 100th episode of the Channel 4 programme, Grand Designs. OKA became an Industry Partner of the British Institute of Interior Design in 2013.[14] OKA ran a scholarship competition in early 2014 in conjunction with KLC School of Design. The prize was a place on KLC’s 1-year Interior Design Course, worth over £22,000.[15]

Collaborations

2013 saw OKA collaborate with the interior designer Nicky Haslam. The Nicky Haslam for OKA collection was heavily influenced by gothick-inspired furniture and accessories in his own home.[16]

Awards & Accolades

Award Awarding Body Year Awarded
Best Catalogue Production ECMOD Awards2015
Best Mobile Commerce Site ECMOD Awards2014
Best Multichannel Business ECMOD Awards2014
Ones To Recognise The Sunday Times & Fast Track2014[17]
Online Furniture Shop of the Year Sheerluxe Online Shopping Awards2013 
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Current locations

Flagship Shops

City Type Opened
Chelsea, London City Flagship 2010
Froxfield, Hampshire Country Flagship 2005

United Kingdom Shops

City Type Opened
Notting Hill Showroom 2005
Parsons Green Showroom 2006
Sunninghill Showroom 2007
South Godstone Outlet 2007
Saffron Walden Showroom 2008
Broadway Showroom 2008
Harrogate Showroom 2009
Abingdon Showroom & Outlet 2013
Marlow Showroom 2015
Bath Showroom 2015
Knutsford Showroom 2016

References

  1. ↑ "OKA rules, ok yah! How Annabel Astor is catering for the middle classes". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Lady Annabel Astor: Samantha Cameron's mother opens up about her remarkable extended family". The Daily MailStandard. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Oka: Lady Astor's new flagship furniture store". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Furniture Retailer OKA arrives at London Selfridges". Retail Gazette. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "OKA Moves to Milton Park". MEPC. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Responsive Website Resign for OKA". Behance. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Welcome to the OKA blog". Tuk Tuk, The OKA Blog. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "OKA selects Total Media to put products at the heart of new campaign". Total Media. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Lady Astor's OKA appoints retail veteran". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Oka Direct appoints Octavia Morley as chief executive". Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Fire tackled at Oka furniture store at Froxfield". BBC. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Shop destroyed by fire back open for business". Gazette & Herald. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Lady Astor's OKA posts profit surge after wooing younger shoppers". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "The British Institute of Interior Design - OKA". Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "KLC in Partnership with OKA". KLC School of Design. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "Breaking News". Nicky Haslam Design. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "2014 Profit Track Ones to Recognise companies". Fast Track. Retrieved 2 September 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 51°29′30.78″N 0°10′17.82″W / 51.4918833°N 0.1716167°W / 51.4918833; -0.1716167

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