Expansion in Britain

The Swedish DIY retailer Clas Ohlson has now expressed several growth projects for Britain in concrete terms. In December the company concluded the leasing agreements for new outlets in Liverpool (1 650 m² retail area) and Leeds (2 150 m²). The latest event was the opening of a new DIY store in Watford. For the rest of the 2009/2010 financial year (to 30 April 2010) the DIY retailer is planning to open 15 – 20 new stores, between four and eight of these in Britain. Currently the company has 116 stores in operation, with twelve more firmly scheduled. The resulting total of 128 outlets are to be found in Sweden (59), Norway (46), Finland (16) and Britain (seven).
Clas Ohlson completed the second quarter with sales up twelve per cent on the same period of the year before to SEK 1.373 bn. Sales in the first half of the financial year (May – October) added up to a 14 per cent increase for a total of SEK 2.661 bn. Sales in November amounted to SEK 538 mio, or 20 per cent more than in the same month one year previously.