Clas Ohlson leaves Great Britain and Germany

Clas Ohlson is withdrawing from Great Britain and Germany. The Swedish retailer is currently operating six stores in Great Britain, where it has been present for ten years and four in Germany, where it opened its first pilot store in 2016. However it will remain active in these countries with its online shops and also wants to expand its online business to other markets later.
The withdrawal is in connection with the board's decision on a completely new direction for Clas Ohlson's market presence, according to the half-year report. The company sees the Nordic region as its home market, in particular the operations in Sweden (95 stores) and Norway (90 stores) which reportedly enjoy a uniquely strong position; there are also 42 Clas Ohlson stores in Finland.
This was said about the exit in the UK and Germany: 'After ten years, the business in the UK is continuing to incur significant losses despite measures in recent years to optimise the store network. The evaluation of the pilot of four stores in Germany has revealed that the operations will be unable to deliver on plan and therefore the right conditions are not in place to achieve profitability.' Around 150 employees are affected.