For over 100 years, Co Ban Kiat (CBK) Hardware Inc. has maintained its reputation as the most trusted distributor of hardware and home improvement items in the Philippines. Led by Johnny Cobankiat, the company aims to improve the lives of Filipinos through a continuous supply of high-end home and hardware solutions.
Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. started as a humble store in 1920 in the heart of Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown, with the belief of providing Filipinos with access to quality products. Over the years it has grown into a huge corporation which is now dubbed the “House of Home Improvements”.
Thanks to CBK Hardware, Filipinos no longer have to settle for cheap and poor quality products when it comes to meeting their home or office needs. Although the branded items they sell are expensive, the company actually gives Filipinos the opportunity to save money because high quality products last longer than cheaper ones. This means you won’t need to buy the same product over and over again – the situation you’re likely to have if you opt for cheaper items.
But how did CBK Hardware grow from humble beginnings into one of the premier suppliers of premium hardware and home improvement materials in the Philippines? Let’s talk about an event in the history of the Philippines and how it affected CBK Hardware’s mission.
On December 8, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines, just 10 hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It began with an airstrike and was followed by the arrival of Japanese ground troops on the north and south sides of Manila. Due to the inability of Filipino and American troops to retaliate and protect the city, the Japanese occupied Manila on January 2, 1942.
The war between Japanese troops and Filipino-American forces in the country lasted for several years until Japan’s formal surrender on September 2, 1945. When the fighting ended, the Philippines suffered heavy loss of life and a massive physical destruction. An estimated one million Filipinos were killed, most of them in the last months of the war, and Manila was badly destroyed.
Despite the massive damage caused by World War II, CBK Hardware managed to recover in 1948, rebuilding a storefront on the exact spot where it served Filipinos for three decades. This was around the time the company was planning to introduce a novel concept to the hardware market – the retail concept, and the Hardware Workshop Store was the result of that attempt.
The launch of this hardware chain happened because of Atilano Cobankiat’s mission to help Filipinos rebuild their homes and establishments, and it was not to make a profit. To accomplish its mission, the company has brought world-class construction equipment and materials to the Philippines.
CBK Hardware expanded its distribution channel with the establishment of Coby’s Design Center at Edsa Shangri La in 1996. Offering a lavish range of innovative products, the store aims to meet the growing demand for high-end architectural hardware products from Filipinos in ‘today.
A year later, the company is still growing under the direction of Johnny Cobankiat, the son of Atilano Cobankiat. He brought giant hardware to the country – ACE Hardware USA and listed CBK Hardware as one of his direct suppliers.
Since then, Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. has constantly expanded its products by partnering with more global brands. The company is currently the authorized dealer and distributor of a total of 72 renowned brands of hardware and home improvement products worldwide. Among them are Lincoln Electric, Yale, Ridgid, Pelican, Nilfisk, Stanley, 3M, Interdesign, Shop-Vac, Westinghouse, KEF, Bosch, Gateman and Master Lock.
These brands are all distributed across the Philippines to meet customer needs for home and facility improvements, DIY projects, energy saving, safety and security, cleaning solutions, etc
At present, CBK Hardware supplies more than 3,500 companies, 2,000 wholesale partners and some 200 modern mall-based retail stores with home improvement products such as ceiling fans. ceiling, drain cleaning machines and vacuum cleaners.
Additionally, the company has over 6,000 active SKUs and a regular customer network of over 1,500 industry organizations, 1,600 traditional community hardware stores and 584 home building specialty store chains scattered across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
And since we are in a time when different online sales platforms have emerged, this 102-year-old company is looking to strengthen its presence on Lazada Lazmall, Shopee Mall, Facebook, instagramand Viber Communities. It has also made its products available for same-day delivery through different apps such as Grabmart, Pick A Roo, and Metromart.
Even after 100 years, Con Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. will strive to maintain its title, “House of Home Improvements”, by acquiring more local and global brands and making their high quality products accessible to all Filipinos.
CBK online and store
For over 100 years, Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. has been the most trusted distributor of home improvement and hardware products in the Philippines.
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Co Ban Kiat Hardware, Inc.
Ground Floor, Cobankiat Building II
231 Juan Luna St. Binondo Manila, Philippines.
Phone +632 8243-1931
Telephone +632 8242-6925
Telephone +632 8894-6561 & +638-272-931-981
Send an e-mail to info@cobankiat.com.ph; ind@cobankiat.com.ph
Coby Design Center
Unit 467 Level 4 Shangri-La Plaza
Corner Edsa, Shaw Boulevard
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Telephone +632 86364895
About CBK Hardware
For over a hundred years, a family’s surname has become synonymous with the nation’s largest hardware supply company. Co Ban Kiat Hardware Incorporated of the Cobankiat family has a regular customer network of over 1,500 industry organizations, 1,600 traditional community hardware stores and 584 chain stores specializing in home building across Luzon Visayas and Mindanao. This ever-growing conglomerate has its humble roots in Manila’s Chinatown as a pioneering business started by family patriarch Mr. Cobankiat in 1920. Despite the ruins of World War II, the company s was revived in 1948, rebuilding a storefront in the same location where it had been known for three decades.
As Filipinos continued to rebuild their lives after the war, CBK Hardware saw the opportunity to introduce the once unknown retail concept to the hardware industry. Cobankiat Hardware brought the first DIY business to Asia. Quincaillerie Atelier is the result of this approach. CBK Hardware bolstered its storied distribution channel with the establishment of Coby’ Design Center at Edsa Shangri La in 1996, a specialty store that caters to the discerning tastes of modern Filipinos.
In 1997, Mr. Johnny Cobankiat, the 4th generation Cobankiat chief, set a new milestone for the company when it brought the franchise of Ace Hardware USA to the Philippines and listed CBK Hardware as one of its top suppliers. This further extended to delivering world-class quality products closer to overseas Filipino worker families in the countryside.
The excellence of a century can pass quickly and guided by the vision of being the largest network supplier of the world’s leading brands in the hardware industry, CBK Hardware is committed to finding the best products to provide its customers with anytime and anytime.
