London-based furniture retailer OKA is about to open a store in Dallas’ Knox District. The company purchased Dallas-based Wisteria in 2018 from its founders Andrew and Shannon Newsom but closed it in 2020. OKA decided instead to move ahead with one brand amidst the pandemic.
This marks the first flag in North Texas for the brand, a British home furnishings company that learned nuances of the U.S. market with its 2018 purchase of Dallas-based Wisteria.
According to the brand’s senior vice president Krista Sterling, “Texas is the second-most savvy market for interior design after the tri-state New-York region. It’s part of the culture here.” Sterling continued, “The way people treat their homes and the way they want to live is important to Texans. Hiring a decorator is normal in Texas. People just do it.”
According to Sterling, the traditional design, also called the grand millennial style, is a trend. Better Homes & Gardens calls it an “ode to old school” and “an antidote to the mid-century modern interiors and minimalists.”
OKA is set to open its store on McKinney Avenue just south of Knox Street on Nov. 1. The space, a 9,000 square-foot storefront, has two entrances on McKinney Avenue. They also have one in the back, off a parking lot. Officials say that the new store will have elegant vignettes, inviting armchairs, and lamp bases mixed and matched with patterned fabric shades. The tabletops will feature OKA’s signature blue-and-white Kraak china.
