OKA Direct

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

Company type	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
Owner	Investindustrial
Website	www.oka.com

History

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]