Clas Ohlson is a Swedish

home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

chain and

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

firm that specialises in hardware, home, leisure, electrical and multimedia products. It is one of the biggest of its type in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, with more than 230 Clas Ohlson stores as of May 2020. Stores also exist in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

plus online presence in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

through

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. Many of the products sold in the stores are own-label items. The company uses the house brands of Asaklitt (

luggage Baggage or luggage consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, trip ...

and travel ware), Capere (bathroom supplies), Cocraft (DIY tools), Cotech (electrical tools), Coline (household electrical items), Exibel (household electrical items) and Clas Ohlson (all departments).

History

The company was founded in 1918 by the technically minded (1895–1979), as a mail order business based in the Swedish village of

Insjön Insjön () is a locality situated in Leksand Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 2,149 inhabitants in 2010. In 1899 Åhléns started out as the mail order business Åhlén & Holm. 19 years later, in 1918, the mail order firm Clas Ohlson C ...

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

. Initially, only manuals and technical literature were sold, thus allowing people who lived in rural communities to obtain literature that would otherwise be unavailable. He opened his first shop in Insjön in 1926, but it was not until 1989, when the company opened a store in a shopping centre in central

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, that it expanded into the retail business. The first store outside Sweden was opened 1991 in Oslo in Norway and in 1999, the company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The first store in Finland was opened 2002 in Helsinki and in 2008, the company opened its first UK retail store in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

(closed in 2018). In 2014 the company entered a joint venture with Kuwait's Al Homaizi group. In May that year, the company opened the first Clas Ohlson branch outside Europe, a store in Dubai's Mirdif City Centre. It was, the Swedish company said, "a first step into the fast-growing Gulf Co-operation Council region".''Clas Ohlson’s first store outside of Europe is now officially open'', Clas Ohlson group website, 2 May 2014
. Retrieved: 5 April 2015. The livestock-to-sportswear Al Homaizi group had in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

opened a flat-pack furniture store in Kuwait with Swedish retailer

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, under whose name the store traded. The Dubai branch later closed, with Clas Ohlson focusing on European expansion. In 2016, Clas Ohlson continued its expansion by opening stores in Hamburg, Germany. In 2018, Clas Ohlson started to shut all its stores in Germany and the United Kingdom (except from the Reading store, UK - being used as an online warehouse) as a result of their new strategy focusing more on the Nordic consumer. Today, Clas Ohlson operates online and physically in Norway, Sweden and Finland, and through Amazon in the United Kingdom and Germany. In 2022, the Reading store closed ending the Company's presence in the UK except, apparently, on Amazon https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/20711979.clas-ohlson-reading-store-finally-closes/

References

External links

About Clas OhlsonClas Ohlson Financial Reports

Executive reportClas Ohlson SwedenClas Ohlson FinlandClas Ohlson NorwayClas Ohlson UK
{{Authority control Retail companies of Sweden Home improvement companies Hardware stores Companies based in Dalarna County Swedish companies established in 1918 Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Retail companies established in 1918