Cecilie Bahr: Can you tell me the story behind Sostrene Grene (SG) ?Mikkel Grene:
I’m the 2nd generation in SG, a retailer selling home accessories, kitchenware, stationery, interior furnishings, etc. Today we are two brothers Cresten Grene and I, who own the firm 50/50. It was my parents who started SG back in 1973 and in 1989, they invested themselves 100% in SG. My father wanted to build a story around the store, so he based the story on my mother’s two unmarried aunts named Anna and Clara, who at that time were working in my grandfather’s company in the bookkeeping department in small Danish town called Skjern, so they became these role models.
C.B.: Can you present SG in a few figures ?
M. G.: Start of 2018, SG operated 183 stores in 15 countries (mostly in Western Europe and in Japan), including 49 new stores opened last year. By the end of 2018, we expect to have around 250 stores, which means that we will accelerate expansion up to 60 to 70 new stores during the current year.