Swedish flagship in Hamburg

Not only are foreign retailers now present on the Internet in Germany, but as omnichannel suppliers they are mooring their flagships in the best retail spots in prominent city centre locations for the most part.What has long been the norm in the fashion world now has its first model in the DIY trade - if one wishes to class this "trade in assorted lifestyle goods" as DIY retailing. In mid-May the Swedish retailer Clas Ohlson finally crossed the Baltic to Germany and has now set up shop with a flagship store in a 1 800 m² retail area in Hamburg.Clas Ohlson is a retail group that has been established for nearly 100 years. Employing 4 700 people, it has 200 outlets across Scandinavia as well as in Great Britain and even has a franchise outpost in Dubai. Its sales in 2015 amounted to over € 800 mio.It could scarcely have chosen a more upmarket address in Hamburg: the Jungfernstieg is Hamburg's most frequented boulevard.The Swedes regard central locations as a successful unique selling point for their concept. "We see great potential in the German market and believe that our concept is a very good fit for the German consumer," said Klas Balkow, president and CEO of Clas Ohlson, who came to Hamburg for the opening. The company has been working on the idea of transitioning to Germany since 2013.Now Clas Ohlson intends to spread its lifestyle stores for home and leisure products and its service network throughout Germany, not just via stores but also over the Internet, telephone and via catalogue sales. All modern communications instruments for the seamless provision of information to customers are thus available in the first German branch. The Clas Club, established in 2013 and now boasting 1.8 mio members, also offers special additional services.The composition of the product groups is unfamiliar to German consumers, comprising Living, Leisure, Multimedia, Electrical and DIY. Around 15 000 items are offered for daily needs. Great importance is attached to sustainability, and so roughly 9 000 spare parts are available along with repair workshops as a special customer service.

There is also a high proportion of private labels, not just for tools, and these are also (as yet) unknown to the German consumer. Roughly 60 per cent of the products on…