Osim International
Encyclopedia
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1980 by Ron Sim, as an electrical and household appliance company under the name of R Sim Trading. With a small start-up capital, the company was mainly involved with the marketing of household products such as knives, knife sharpeners and mobile clothes drying rods. In 1989, the company registered the name Health Check and Care, and saw a shift in focus to healthy lifestyle products. The period following this saw tremendous growth for the company, and it developed outlets including Malaysia and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
In 1993, the company officially launched the OSIM brand name and its distribution network expanded to 60 point-of-sale outlets in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. In 2002, OSIM opened its global business headquarters in Singapore at 65 Ubi Avenue 1. The Business Headquarters Status (BHQ) was awarded to OSIM by The Economic Development Board. In 1993, the company opened its first concept shop in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, in the People’s Republic of China.
In October 2005, OSIM made a strategic acquisition of US Nationwide specialty retailer Brookstone
Brookstone
Brookstone is a chain of retail stores in the United States. Its first store was opened in 1973 in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Its headquarters are currently located in Merrimack, New Hampshire....
. OSIM is a combination of the surname of its founder, Sim, and 'O' that stands for the globe.