my name is – I have a good offer

Transcription

Hello
my name is
Lars Larsen
– I have a good offer
An autobiography by Lars Larsen
I have a good offer
Hello
My name is Lars Larsen
I have a good offer
Graphic layout: RMB, Århus, Denmark
Production: Contigo Print Group and Nørhaven Book A/S Viborg, Denmark
Impression: 2.000 copies
The book has been translated to Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
and German by SprogNet ApS, Århus, Denmark, www.sprognet.dk
The book has also been translated to Danish, English, Polish and Czech.
© JYSK 2004
Publishers Hansen Mejlgade – www.hansen-mejlgade.dk
ISBN: 87-91532-03-5
All rights are reserved.
All mechanical, electronic or photographic reproduction of this book
or parts there of is not permitted without the author’s written approval.
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Dear employees, suppliers, family, friends, collaborators
and everybody else who receive this book
It’s now 25 years since I had the ”crazy” idea of starting up a chain of bedding shops
– based on the concept of giving customers a good offer. Many people thought this
was a bit naive. Especially when you hardly had a penny to your name.
But now, 25 years later, I can conclude that I succeeded. In 2005 JYSK will reach
1000 shops – distributed in 18 countries and with a turnover of more than DKK 10,000
million… and still going strong, attempting to find even better offers… And, indeed,
with a new international name. As of 2nd April 2004 we will simply be called JYSK
– although Germany and Austria will continue with their popular name: Dänisches
Bettenlager. To me our jubilee is such a red-letter day that I have chosen to celebrate
it with all of Denmark. All households – about 2.4 million – are to be sent this book
as a greeting – and as a thank you for their help. After all it is them who have helped
realise this fairy-tale and, So, everybody should have a chance to read about it.
Many people might think that now he is certainly suffering from delusions of
grandeur – the dear Mr Lars Larsen – and that may be the case. However, I do hope
and believe that most people will read the book because they are interested in a piece
of the history of the Danish retail trade.
In order to give everybody an insight in JYSK’s history, and mine I have chosen
to publish it in 8 languages: Danish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish,
Polish and Czech.
Throughout the years the press has described Lars Larsen, JYSK and Larsen Travel
for ”better and for worse” – although mainly for the better – and I have felt fine about
that. However, on the occasion of this silver jubilee I have chosen to write my own
version – for ”better and for worse” – although mainly for the better…
Many people will probably also conclude that Lars Larsen seems to have had more
failures than successes. And that is probably true. However, as long as the failures are
smaller than the successes, it is not all that bad.
In my 25 years as an independent businessman I have always lived by the philosophy
that if you do not dare to take any chances, you will also not have any chance of making
a name for yourself. Or as a wise man once said:
”Nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Lars Larsen
5
HELLO MY NAME IS LARS LARSEN
Arnborg, 6 th August 1948, 1.08 pm
I, ”Quilt Larsen”, come into this world – small and slight, but in good spirits. This happened
in spite of my father dying only a few months earlier. My mother was now on her own with 4
small children aged 0-5 and a big farm with 218 acres of land. Its name was ”Nygård” and it
was located on barren and sandy soil far out on the moors of the peninsula of Jutland, which
was no good for anything but growing potatoes. She did this as well as she possibly could,
having begun to suffer from poor health.
My father – Lars Kristinus Larsen – was a reputable, respected, hard-working and
distinguished potato grower in Arnborg, a small village between Herning and Brande. Here
he took active part in life in the small society, as a chairman for the parochial church council
and as a treasurer for the health insurance society and much more.
My mother – Signe Vera Kirstine Hansen – grew up in the Djursland area in poverty. She
later came to Århus, where she became a matron at Hotel Ansgar and was involved in, among
other things, the Church Army for many years.
Vera and Lars met each other late in life and quickly married. It seemed as if they knew
that they were short of time, so they brought us four children into the world in the course of
only 5 years before my father had to give in to his disease – only 55 years old.
My father Lars Kristinus Larsen
My mother Signe Vera Kristine Larsen
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
It was a tough time for my mother, 43 years old and with 4 small children and a relatively
big farm to run. In spite of my mother being a stubborn and persevering woman it did not
take more than 4 years before she had to give up and sell the farm.
We then moved to the Thy area where my mother bought a small farm in Vestervig. But
her health had deteriorated and we children were not old enough to relieve her. So this proud
woman once again had to give up and sell the farm after only a couple of years.
But Signe Vera Kirstine Larsen would not give up. After careful consideration she worked
out that perhaps she could run a small hotel, where we kids could lend her a helping hand.
No sooner thought than done – my mother
bought the Gudenå hotel in Bjerringbro.
”Young Lars” is now 6 years old and can
start remembering more and more of his
life. I even have memories from back when
as a 3-year old I had my first haircut on the
kitchen table. A strange man with mysterious
instruments. ”Young Lars” squealed like a
stuck pig, although I did survive.
I also remember as a 4-year old when
we gathered in the potatoes from the fields
and boiled them – so that they could later
be used for silage, i.e. to feed the animals in
the winter. Often a potato was dropped here The farm where I was born
and there and I ate them with relish. When
we later had a proper meal, I was never hungry. My mother was very worried that her ”young
Lars” was sick – until the truth came out.
Farmer’s Life among Beets, Eggs and Mice
I also remember when we moved from Arnborg to Thy. There was not enough room for us
children in the cab of the removal van, so they made a small cave at the very bottom of the
van. Here we had to sit for the 6 hours it took us to drive from Arnborg to Thy… It was a
very long ride with plenty of screaming. However, in the wall between the body of the van
and the cab a small shutter was made, so that we were able to communicate and could have
food and drinks on the way. The shutter was also sufficiently big for us to crawl through one
at a time when we had a break. But this was probably where I got my first predisposition for
claustrophobia.
7
We were among the first in Denmark to have a nice red David Brown tractor. It followed
us along with the rest of our furniture, but it probably took somewhat longer for it to get
there.
I remember our time as farmers in Thy as a major nightmare. It started somewhat in the
same way as my claustrophobia, only in this case it was ”mouse phobia” (I’ll come back to
that). Being a 4-5-year old kid with a sick mother, you conscientiously had to help out the
best you could – and that was no problem in most cases.
This involved things like the thinning-out of beets – which was my first chance in life to
make money. I was paid 25 øre for a row. It was so long that I could not see from one end to
the other and it could take me up to a couple of days to work my way through it – but that
was okay as long as I got my reward. I was rarely paid the whole 25 øre, though, because I
also had to learn about accuracy and quality. When I had finished an endless row, the quality
was checked. This was done by carefully checking the row for errors. For every serious error
5 øre was deducted.
Now, it may not be every reader that knows what was considered a serious error when
thinning-out beets in the beginning of the fifties. I will try to explain. Nowadays beet growing
is done with machines that plant a seed with sufficient space – about one every 20 cm. Once
the seed has sprouted and gained a foothold, the field is weeded and sprayed with modern
machinery to give the beet optimum conditions for growth. Back then, the sowing machines
weren’t too accurate – the seeds just came out in one stream only a few centimetres apart from
each other and there were no crop sprays to remove the weeds. Once the beet and the weeds
had started sprouting, ”young Lars” aged 5, brother Knud aged 7, sister Inge aged 8, brother
Hans aged 9 and mother Vera aged 48 went into action with the hoe – a sharp blade of about
20 cm mounted on a handle. We now had to remove superfluous beets as well as all the weeds
in between and surrounding every single little beet. After that the beets would be left about 20
cm apart in endless straight rows. They now had the space to grow big and strong.
Now, let me explain what a serious error is when you are thinning-out beets… That means
having 1 metre between the beets instead of 20 cm and when what is left isn’t a beet, but
some kind of weed or other.
My mother and I quickly agreed that ”young Lars” probably wouldn’t be making his first
money in the art of thinning-out beets.
But in the fine world of farming there are a host of other duties – including several that a
5-year old can handle – or so my mother thought. After my somewhat less fortunate career
in the art of thinning-out beets, I started collecting eggs instead. That went better.
Each day I was to collect eggs from the hen house – an easy job, I thought. But no, this also
involved quality control. Once the eggs had been collected in baskets, they had to be cleaned
using a wet cloth and put into egg cartons – and then it was time for the check. There could
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
The Hotel ”Gudenaa” – at the bank of the Mississippi!
not be any dirty eggs or cracked eggs. The dirty ones were a piece of cake because all I had
to do was clean them again with the wet cloth.
Cracked eggs were an entirely different matter. It was money right out the window. I did
not find the problem as bad as my mother thought as we could just eat them ourselves. Right,
my mother said – but I only have 4 children, not 14.
For a while she tried using a sort of punishment for each cracked egg – namely for me
to eat it raw. That is no favourite for a 5-year old kid, so it did help considerably – but not
enough. I quickly realised that a raw egg yolk could be mixed with sugar and then it suddenly
became a real treat. That was the end of that job.
That brings us back to the ”mouse phobia”. I now had to help with harvesting. I had to
carry sheaves. That worked out fine. However, if you have corn, you also have mice – plenty
of mice. One day when we had our lunch break, I could suddenly feel something tickling in
one of my trouser legs. ”Sit still, kid”, they said. That was easier said than done. Then my big
brother Hans took charge: ”Stand up”. And then he slapped me – not on my cheek but on
the thigh. Hey presto – out of one trouser leg came a small dead mouse. Everybody laughed
– except for ”young Lars”. I was screaming.
9
That day I decided that I would never again be involved in harvest work at any cost.
It is always a good thing when people make a decision and stand by it – for better and for
worse. However, it can be hard to carry through for a 5-year old living at a farm and who has
to help in one way or another. Probably mainly by merely being present – after all, nannies
weren’t a high priority on a small farm in the 50’ies.
But I was very determined. In future, when we were asked to help with the harvest work,
I had vanished from the face of earth. The whole family could now spend its precious time
looking for me instead of getting any work done. And they did spend a lot of time on it
because I had many interesting and efficient hiding-places. Sometimes it was in the hen
house and at other times it would be on my back in the beet field. Here I could lie for hours
dreaming about the most fabulous animals in the clouds. All along I could hear my family
shouting ”Lars, where are you”, ”Laaaaaars, come on out” and finally the words I had been
waiting for: ”You don’t have to help with the harvest work”.
Foray Along the Mississippi
I do not know whether this was when my mother decided to change career. However, the
fact remains that now we were going to run a hotel.
I had turned 6 and was about to ”run” the Hotel Gudenå in Bjerringbro. As the name
suggests, it was located right down by the river called the Gudenåen. There were canoes in
the garden that we hired out. I remember my time in Bjerringbro as an incredibly delightful
and eventful part of my childhood and with fewer problematic tasks, fewer mice (although
perhaps a couple of water rats), fewer cracked eggs and no beets, but instead with plenty
of water.
I know that the Gudenåen is the biggest river in Denmark, but back then it felt like the
biggest river in the world. It went on forever in both directions, where we kids could romp
about swimming, fishing and not least canoeing.
I felt more free – probably mainly because my mother left it increasingly to her older
children to look after me, although they were in fact no more than 8-10 years old. But the
hotel had to be run, so a lot of the time we were left on our own to take care of ourselves,
and so we did. We went swimming, fishing and sailing. I remember the sailing as one of the
most exciting things from my entire childhood. The most exciting thing was probably when
we went looting and invaded the orchards and gardens from the riverside. A tactically clever
manoeuvre, as the fruit trees often stretched all the way down to the Gudenåen, whereas the
”farms” were often located further inland. With the agility of an Indian in his canoe on the
Mississippi river, we silently glided in to the ”river bank”. Pulled up the canoe – sneaked into
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
”enemy territory” and looted everything within our reach. There were apples, pears, plums,
strawberries, gooseberries, redcurrants and much more. Nothing was too big – nothing was
too small. Pockets were filled and shirts tucked in under belts and filled. Then we quickly
went back to the boat and silently slipped back into the ”river” – and gone we were – before
anybody suspected anything.
However, such expeditions rarely go well in the long run. A couple of times we were
caught in the act. We then had to escape to the boats without booty and the ”farmers” shot
at us with rifles from the ”river bank”. After that we found cover at the bottom of the canoe
and let it flow down the ”river” as it chose.
I know you think I’m losing it. But no – it is the absolute truth, at least according to
the older boys who were there. They told me that the fruit growers had the right to shoot
anything alive on their land – no matter whether it was animals or small human robbers.
Of course, it was not normal ammunition but small balls of grease mixed with salt and
pepper. Sufficiently hard to penetrate the skin and make any robber scream from pain once
the salt and pepper started working. Luckily I never heard of anybody being hit in the eyes.
And yet – because a few years later this type of hunting was prohibited. That is if it ever
existed, but I still believe it.
However, it wasn’t all about looting. We also did a lot of fishing and brought the catch
home for the day-to-day running of the hotel. My mother had some people boarding with us
– and fortunately they liked fish, because they had it 2-3 times a week. It was less successful
for the boarders when, out of necessity, we had to use less attractive fishing spots. That was
at the slaughterhouse’s sewage discharge. Back then there was no such thing as sewage
treatment plants, so they let all the sewage straight into the Gudenåen and certain species of
fish found it very attractive. Especially roaches, as they were called.
But the boarders refused to eat them, so mother had to serve expensive steaks or meatballs
and we were asked to find more tasty fishing sites – far away from the slaughterhouse.
But of course it was not all about playing. My siblings had started going to school, and
while they were away all the work of the hotel becamemy nanny. I set the table, cleaned,
made the beds – everything within mother’s sight. But when my siblings came home from
school and had done their work, the adventures at and on the Mississippi river started.
The Kid from the Sweetshop with Reddish Hair and Freckles
A couple of years later it was time to move again. Mother sold the hotel and we moved back
to Thy. This time to Hurup, where my mother bought a small sweetshop with the last of her
money from the potato farm in Arnborg.
11
On an outing to the amusement park Tivoli Friheden in Århus. Inge, Lars, Knud and Hans
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
If running a hotel by the Gudenåen had been an adventure for a kid of 6-7 years, this had
to be paradise. Imagine your mother owning the local sweetshop – then you could probably
have all the sweets you could possibly eat… and yet…
In August 1956 I started in the first form at Hurup Kommuneskole and was the smallest
but also the oldest in my class. Just like when I was born, I was still below standard height,
shorter by half a head to a head than the others in my class. Reddish spiky hair and freckles
and dressed in my brothers’ cast-off clothes – nicely washed and neatly mended due to
various holes and wear and tear. The perfect candidate for bullying. And there was a fair
amount of bullying, but not as bad as could be feared.
After all, my mother did own a sweetshop… and I was also the oldest in my class. Not
because I was backward and therefore started school later. No, it was merely due to the
fact that a new school year back then – as now – started in the first week of August. It was
laid down that you had to start school in your
seventh year. I started school on August 5th when
I was 7 years old - but already the very next day I
turned 8 – one year older than everybody else in
class. It made a certain impression, even on the
taller and tougher kids. Oh yes, ”young Lars”
with the freckles and the reddish spiky hair and
the stocky legs and whose mother owned the
local sweetshop was, in fact, rather interesting.
He was not to be bullied and was acceptable
in the more fashionable circles. I was invited
home to visit the middle classes: The solicitor,
Mr Lind, the butcher, Mr Kristensen, the baker,
Mr Andersen, the vet, Mr Jørgensen, the Ford
dealer, Mr Mortensen, the Borough treasurer,
Mr Andersen, Doctor Belter, the dairy manager,
Mr Westergaard, etc.
However, I also liked visiting the workhouse
to play with Svend with whom I shared a desk The kid from the sweetshop
at school.
Along with the sweetshop came a rather big house with a big basement and first floor.
More than we needed – or could afford. So 2 rooms in the basement and all of the first floor
were let out. The tenants in the basement were particularly interesting. They were 2 bachelors
who were rather fond of drinking, but otherwise quite peaceful. I spent a lot of time with one
of them – Mr Kirkensgaard was his name. Our tenants were always addressed formally.
13
The kids always called him ”Little man”. The two of us had many talks, especially about
his past as a postman. This was a job he still had when he was sober – his title was now
a reserve postman. Perhaps I also came to see him a lot because good tips could be made
– especially when all his friends came to visit and they were drinking, often much more than
they had expected themselves. That meant they often needed new supplies – mostly beer and
”Klostertonic”, which was a sort of dessert wine. I remember the taste as a mixture of cherry
wine and port. Tips were best at weekends when the grocers had closed down, because it
was much harder work finding somebody who would sell illegally from the back door. The
lads accepted that. There were about 7-8 grocers in town, but I quickly managed to find one
who could supply me 24 hours a day – all year round. I also got a bit of secret commission in
the form of one or two sodas or some fruit that was past its sell-by date.
Things also went well with the other tenant in the basement, at least at first. Then some
of the older kids ”did a big job” – literally speaking. A couple of hours before he came home
from work, they sneaked into his room, took his frying pan and ”did a big job in it”, turned
on the gas ring and heated the pan and its contents… That was the end of our peace and
quiet – not just for him but for the whole house – from top to bottom.
Climbing Wall in Hurup as early as the ’50s
A lot of exciting things certainly took place at the ”Knophuset”, as our house was called
because it was built with red burnt bricks. Some bricks were placed crosswise, so that half of
the brick was sticking outside of the wall. They were placed regularly all over the house about
1 metre apart, both crosswise and lengthwise. Probably done in order to give the house some
character – but probably not for what us kids used it for, i.e. to play tag. We climbed on the
small pieces of bricks to catch each other. So the climbing walls of today also existed in Hurup
in the 50’s – but without any safety line.
Looking back, this was a rather risky game. It was about 6 metres up to the uppermost
brick. It was incredible that nobody got seriously hurt and that nobody stopped us. But it was
a house where we were given rather a free rein… When we came home from school, mother
had long since gone to the sweetshop and she did not return until 10.00 pm. So it was our
big brother Hans who was ”lord of the house”. He could be strict sometimes, but being a
12-13-year old kid he also wanted to have a life of his own. He was also always up to some
tricks himself, like the trick with the frying pan…
I did well at school. I was not among the best, but I worked hard. I tried to do my
homework every day and felt very guilty if I came to school unprepared. This occasionally
happened, when playing took away my time.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Hurup Realskole (Upper Secondary School
However, we children were not simply left to our own devices all the time, although I may
have given that impression. Almost every day, Dagny – a member of the family – came around
for a few hours to do the cooking and help with the cleaning. We also had to help out with
the odd jobs in the sweetshop. My favourite job was to whip egg whites for the ice-cream
cones, because then I was allowed to lick the bowl afterwards.
It doesn’t sound like much, but this was not a case of us kids just having whatever we
pleased. No, we could graciously scrape empty cans and have the damaged sweets. Only
very damaged ones, though – because even though sweets had been broken into pieces or
pieces of liquorice had melted into each other, that was not sufficient for us to get it. No, it
was carefully weighed and mixed in cornets and sold under the name of ”lucky bags”. These
were highly popular. In fact so popular that mother was forced to damage sweets herself as
well as sort out sweets that were probably a little past the sell-by date (if there had in fact
been such a thing) to meet the demand.
15
HELLO MYNAME IS L ARS L ARSEN
There was certainly no lack of creativity in my mother. She was also the first in Hurup
to invest in the big wonder of the time – a soft ice-cream machine. It was a major success.
People often queued up to taste this new wonder – 25 ø
re for a shell, i.e. 2 small cones
shaped like oyster shells with soft -cream inside and 35 ø
re for a cone.
Her turnover boomed – from about DKK 6
0a day to up to just under DKK 10
0on a good
day. Now that was progress.
The Start of a Slightly Criminal Career
As previously mentioned, mother was very reluctant to give us kids sweets, but I did have my
obligations towards my friends at school. After all, the very reason for me being part of the
gang was my status as the son of the owner of the local sweetshop.
This is where I have to humble myself and admit that I started on a slightly criminal career.
By now my mother could hardly walk and So she did not follow me out from the back of
the shop when I left. I always went through the shop instead of the back door as my bike
was outside. On the way through the shop my hand would slip into a couple of cans with
sweets.
”Hurup United” – with me on the left wing
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
I doubt that my pilfering was the reason that my mother had to sell the sweetshop and
the ”Knophuset”. The main cause was probably more likely to be her health, which by now
was rather hopeless, and an equally hopeless economy.
Ever since I was only a few years old mother had suffered from sciatica, which caused her
terrible pains, especially when she was doing physical work – and there was a lot of that for
a single mother with 4 small children and a farm or a hotel to take care of.
We Did not Want to Go to a Children’s Home
Later she began to have migraines and to make things worse, she ended up having bad
nerves. By the time I had turned 12, my mother was a total invalid. A very ill and worn-out
woman who could only move around by using a stick and dragging her feet and she had
constant pains in her head, body and even her soul.
It often happened during my childhood that one of us kids woke up at night and mother
was gone. We quickly got dressed and went searching for her in the dark. Sometimes we
found her up to her neck in water in Nessund, which is about 5 km from Hurup. It is incredible
how she managed to make it that far. Other times we would find her on the rails – waiting
for a train - thank God they were not running at that time of day.
Often we found her ourselves – and then we kept our mouths shut. We were certain that
we would be sent to a children’s home. We were very determined to stick together, at no
matter what cost. However, at other times we did not wake up until the police brought her
home, and then off we went to the hospital in Thisted. If it was really bad, she was taken to
the psychiatric department in Viborg –better known at school as the mental hospital.
When mother was in hospital, which in fact happened a lot in the period when I was 11 to
14 years old, we always managed to keep on living at home. Family, neighbours and friends
helped us out and promised to take care of us.
For 3 hard years we had to take care of our mother, clean and go to school. At the same
time I had to pretend to have plenty of time for my friends as well as take care of my job as
an errand boy at the grocers next door. So it was late by the time my homework was done,
but I always did it.
Mother had allowed me to go to secondary school. Hans, Inge and Knud had to leave
school after 7th grade to start working at a factory so that they could help pay the bills. Hans
and Inge started working at the local shoe factory, N.K.P. Sko, while Knud started at the
mattress factory HUMA in Hurup. He still works there today and sells mattresses to his little
brother, both in Denmark and abroad, for huge sums of money every year. This has made the
mattress factory the biggest workplace in Hurup.
17
Tips and Collecting Bottles
Anyway, let’s get back on track. By selling the ”Knophuset” and the sweetshop my mother
just about made enough money for the deposit on a small house in the outskirts of town that
had an apple orchard. Yes, that’s right. Now we children no longer had to steal from ”enemy
territory”. Now we had tons of apples just outside the door. Perhaps the irony of fate, because
it was our job to take care of them and harvest them – lawfully.
Mother thought we had a certain amount of experience in this from the ”Mississippi
river”, so now it was up to us to guard the precious harvest.
Mother was a proud woman, who was determined to take care of herself and her children
- without any help from social services. However, when her last source of income – the
sweetshop – was gone, she had to give in and apply for a widow’s pension. She had in, fact,
been entitled to it for many years. She could have applied for invalidity pension, which would
have been much more, but she would not hear of it. She did not want to burden the system
more than absolutely necessary, but would rather pinch and scrape and so we did.
We children had to help as much as we could. I found a job at one of the grocers in
town as an errand boy and earned DKK 20 a week. Of this I would hand in DKK 15 for the
household and I was then allowed to spend the remaining DKK 5 on myself. However, I did
earn more than that because when I provided a good service, I was usually paid tips. 5 øre
here and 10 øre there, and around Christmas the good places paid a whole crown.
There was one place where I got a
crown, but only when he was home. It
did not take me long to figure out when
he was working so that I would come,
when I was certain he was home.
He was the borough treasurer
and the grocer’s best customer. It
did not last forever, though, because
suddenly he went to jail, caught in
the act of swindling at the Municipal
Treasurer’s Department. From one
day to the next I lost a good income
- and so did the grocer.
Then I had to find new sources of
income, and so I did. Every Saturday
night there was a dance at the
Kjeld and I as boy scouts
Skovpavillonen, and Hurup was a
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
teetotal town without any public houses. Therefore all the young people brought along plenty
of supplies that they hid in the woods. Then they went there for a drink – and as the evening
progressed, we were able to find one 10 øre after the other on the woodland floor (the deposit
on bottles). On a good night we could find 100 empty bottles and on a really good night some
of them were still full. Then we could sell them the next Saturday and earn good money.
We Caught Flatfish and Collected Sea Gull Eggs
Hurup is situated about 12 km from the North Sea. At certain times a year the mackerels
came close to the offshore bar Agger Tange, and word of this quickly spread to Hurup. Off
we went with our fishing rods on bikes and a couple of big jute bags on the luggage carrier.
Then we would fish for the rest of the day on the piers at Agger. Back then there were no
fishing quotas, fishing licenses or any lack of fish. We had three to four hooks on the same
line, and often there would be 2 or 3 mackerels on the line when we pulled it in. Sometimes
there would even be 2 on the same hook. Those were the days. Often we caught so many
that we had to wheel the bicycles home. Then we sold the catch to neighbours and friends.
But if we did not manage to sell all the fish while they were fresh, that could also be
remedied. We built a small smokehouse at home in the garden, and then off we went again
to sell smoked mackerels. We certainly had a busy time when the mackerels got close to the
offshore bar.
Unfortunately, they didn’t all year round, so we had to find other fishing methods. There
were flounders and plaice, which we caught at the low stagnant water in Krik Vig, only a few
hundred metres from the North Sea, sheltered by the dunes.
We put a nail on the end of a stick and then walked around in the low stagnant water.
Our trained eagle eyes were able to register from a distance where the flatfish were hiding in
the sand. Then all we needed to do was to stalk them, thrust our homemade efficient fishing
tackles in them and then down in the bag they went. However, this method was forbidden
for being cruelty to animals.
We quickly found another method of catching them. We merely left the stick with the
nail at home and quickly trained ourselves to step on them with our bare feet and then down
they went into the bag and home for dinner. It was not only for ourselves, but also for all our
acquaintances to whom we delivered regularly.
We also collected eggs, and it wasn’t like back in my time in the countryside. No, this we
also did by the North Sea at Agger Tange. Here there were huge gulleries and when they were
brooding, we quickly learned which nests had new-laid eggs. Then all we had to do was to
chase the sea gull away from the nest and put the fresh new-laid eggs in the egg box.
19
It all sounds very easy but it wasn’t. A giant sea gull was quite capable of defending itself
against us kids. Often we also ended up being pecked by the birds, but we always got some
eggs and sometimes we even caught a couple of sea gulls to bring home.
Mother had found a way to cook them. She soaked them in buttermilk for a couple of
days to get rid of the rancid taste. After that she prepared them in the same way as game. I
remember the taste as somewhat similar to roast hare – which isn’t bad at all.
We sold the eggs to the local baker for 10 øre a piece. He thought they were at least
equally tasty as chicken eggs, only cheaper.
By supplementing with mackerels, plaice, flounders and sea gulls, we did manage to get
food on the table every day.
A couple of times a week we supplemented our catch at the butchers. I was sent to buy ”
DKK 2 worth of lean streaky bacon, finely sliced”. Later in life I have done some calculations.
Either Butcher Hummelshøj was not very good at maths or else he was generous. There
was always enough meat for 5 people, not much but we filled up on plenty of gravy and
potatoes.
To take the edge off our appetites, we were always served some stewed rhubarb or
something similar in the summertime. In the winter the starter was various types of porridge
or elderberry syrup with rusks. We always had enough to eat.
One of the World’s First ”Manned” Space Rockets
I remember my first 3-4 years at school as good, harmonious years with plenty of interesting
friends, like Ulrik Jørgensen, the vet’s son. Actually, it was completely against the unwritten
laws in town that I played with somebody from the wrong side of the railway. However, I
could not resist the temptation because there was always plenty of action wherever Ulrik
went. Often action that were near the track, but it was always exciting. An example was
when when he and I were among the first people in the world to send a living being into
space. We caught a mouse, put it into one of the vet’s test tubes with some cheese and put
in a cork with a breathing hole. After that we used some twine to tie it to the biggest New
Year rocket we could find in Hurup. The vet just happened to have one!
Down we went to the park and invited spectators, and at exactly sunset on December
th
30 , 1959, the world’s – or at least Denmark’s - first ”manned” space rocket was launched
from Hurup park.
The Russians were first with the dog Leika in 1957, and later Gagarin and the other
astronauts followed. I do not know whether the mouse survived, but later the remains of the
”spaceship” were found elsewhere in the park - without the mouse.
20
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
School picture from Hurup Realskole
Another good friend of mine was the dairy manager’s son Theil. From my time with him I
mainly remember a cold winter day where we cycled a couple of kilometres outside of town
to go skating on a small pond
Dangerous Games on the Ice and with Bow and Arrows
As fate would have it, I did not have any skates. So we were going to take turns using Theil’s.
I had to slide on my boots, while Theil elegantly slid on his skates. Then the plan was for me
to try them on later.
However, we never made it that far. Suddenly the ice broke and Theil was gone. This was
in the middle of the countryside and there was no help to be found, although of course we
were screaming like stuck pigs.
The hole was probably about a couple of metres wide. Theil tried repeatedly to get up
onto the ice, but each time even more ice broke of. I tried to crawl to him, but when I got
close the ice creaked threateningly, so I backed off again. I instinctively knew that if I also fell
in, we would both drown.
21
I rushed to a tree close by, broke off a long branch and managed to reach it out to Theil.
He almost gave up but I miraculously managed to pull him in. I wrapped him in my jacket and
off we went back to the dairy where he had to go to bed with pneumonia.
I think they gave me a couple of extra pints of junket or buttermilk in the milk can in future,
when I went to pick up dairy products.
Another episode I remember clearly is a day where we were playing at the sawmill, which
was close to our home. We were shooting with bows and arrows, which we made from
various materials from the sawmill. We painted the target on a silo, which back then was
made from wood.
Perhaps it was because I was the smallest, but my siblings gave me what they considered
to be by far the most important job – to stand behind the target and collect the arrows once
everybody had had their shot. But I got impatient so when I thought they had fired off all the
arrows, I raised my head from the target - just to see whether I was right - I wasn’t. Before
I knew it, I was hit by an arrow one centimetre under my left eye. I panicked and wanted
to pull it out, but instead broke it so that the point was still stuck. I ran home to my mother
screaming and was sent on to the doctor who cut it out and gave me some stitches. I can
still feel a “dead” area under my left eye. Ever since that day I have not been very interested
in archery.
Memorial Award of DKK 500 and ”Tailored” Clothes for my Confirmation
At school it was time to ”separate the sheep from the goats”. The best students went to
secondary school and the others went on to 8th form and perhaps later continued onto 9th and
even 10th form. This all depended on their financial situation, wishes and skills.
I desperately wanted to go to secondary school and begged my mother for several months
to let me. . My class teacher came to visit mother several times to persuade her. I do not know
exactly what he told her, but he knew her well and also knew her pride. I dare say it helped
somewhat when he mentioned that only the best students would get the chance.
But the biggest influence was probably when he whispered in mother’s ear that her
”young Lars” had been nominated for a memorial award of DKK 500. However, the money
would only be paid if I went to secondary school.
I do not know from where he got the money, but the money was paid when mother
surrendered. Of course another major reason was that my siblings all had a job and supported
me. One of the ways in which they did this was by still living at home and being able to
contribute.
22
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Now it was also time for me to be confirmed
and this was expensive. More money than
mother could raise, so she and I had to take
the train to Holstebro, where you could buy
all kinds of clothes and shoes at ”Monopol”
- including clothes to wear the day after the
confirmation. You could then pay it little by
little in instalments.
I was embarrassed that we had done our
shopping at such a place. So, when the others
asked me where I had bought my clothes, I
told them a little white lie. I told them that
because of my height my mother had
chosen to have it tailored so that it would
have a perfect fit. After that I removed all
”Monopol” tags from the clothes.
On my big day I was the big shot
with ”tailored” clothes. I also had a big
party with all of the family. No expenses
were spared in the Larsen home, least of
all when it could be compared to other
DKK 500 for conduct, diligence and skills!
people.
Nobody was to say that Vera Larsen’s confirmation was inferior to that of other people. I
also got presents. I wanted money, money, money. So I got, about DKK 180 in total. Of this
I got to keep DKK 30 myself for celebrating. Mother wanted to put the remaining DKK 150
in the bank, to help me with my studies. However, I think she spent it all on June 11th for the
half-yearly payment on our house.
However, that did not matter much. In any case, they helped me graduate from secondary
school, and without us being thrown out of our home.
However – another three years had passed and it was time to move again. My sister Inge
had moved back to Bjerringbro and my ”step-dad” Hans was in the army. So we did not
need the same amount of space. Mother sold the house and the apple orchard and bought
a small house down in the town. It was a small house with a small kitchen, a small toilet, a
tiny bedroom, where you could only fit in mother’s single bed, as well as a small living room.
Upstairs there was a small room, which you accessed by crawling up a narrow ladder. I slept
on the sofa in the living room and either Knud or Hans, depending on who was home from
the army, had the room upstairs.
23
Knud, Hans, mother, I and Inge at my confirmation
Painter and Decorator and Butcher Larsen
I think mother bought the house very cheap. It was absolutely impossible to sell because of
a terrible smell of camphor, which I can still smell today. Mother bought the house from the
local quack. People from all over the country came to see him to be cured of all the infirmities
that the Danish hospital service had given up trying to cure.
Or perhaps people simply thought he was better. His name was Baun and somehow we
were probably a bit proud. Proud to be living in the very house where the quack had cured
thousands of people from both Denmark and abroad.
Even people from America, the magazines said. He was not allowed to charge money for
his work as the authorities probably considered it to be some sort of quackery. But people
were allowed to give a bit of money if they had been pleased with the treatment. A lot of
people must have been pleased. Before we took over his old camphor-scented consultation,
he had built one of the biggest and most grand villas in town.
All we could do was to make the best of it. And so I did. I write “I” because there was
nobody else to do it. Inge was living in Bjerringbro and Knud and Hans were working and in
the army respectively. Both of them were actually stationed, one in Gasa and one in Cyprus.
As for mother, she was unable to walk anymore.
I tore off all the old wallpaper and put up a new and pleasant-smelling one. Cleaned and
painted the floors, skirtings, windows and ceilings. We could even afford a new carpet in the
living room. It did help with the camphor smell, although we never got quite rid of it.
24
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
After having redecorated the house both inside and outside, I was ready to start on other
jobs in town. After all, we needed money for the mortgage and food on the table.
Our previously mentioned butcher Hummelshøj, the guy who wasn’t very good at
calculating how much meat you could buy for DKK 2, asked me if I wanted a job in the
afternoons and on Saturdays.
That was how my career as a butcher started. I got to do a bit of everything, e.g. deliver
groceries and clean the frozen food counters every night and Saturday afternoon. Gradually I
got to do more important jobs such as cut out pork strips and later make the very best pork
rind. This is in fact still one of my favourites.
I also trimmed all types of bones for even the tiniest pieces of meat and afterwards put
it through the mincing machine for nice mixed mincemeat. The bones were then sawn into
pieces and were sold as bones to be used for cooking. I used the guts for mettwurst and the
blood was used for black pudding. The pig’s feet, tail and head were either sold as they were
or were made into a nice brawn. There wasn’t much left of the pig once ”Butcher Larsen”
had finished his work.
When I became a dab hand at dealing with all parts of the pig, I was promoted to ”home
butcher”. This was an extra job the butcher had
when the farmers needed meat in the freezer. We
were paid DKK 30 per pig, DKK 20 for him and
DKK 10 for me. Once again, I do not think he did
his calculations right, because his DKK 20 had to
pay for the car and the equipment etc. He was
pleased and so was I.
Things were busiest before Christmas and for
confirmations. We could make it to 3-4 farms in
one day, but that was thanks to teamwork. Out
of the car came the vat and in went the boiling
water in the scullery. Then we got the pig, stuck
the knife in its neck so that all the blood could
run into a bowl and later be used for things
like black pudding. The pig went down into the
boiling water and then we started scraping off
the bristles. It hurt terribly the first few times as
you had to get used to the scalding hot water.
After that the pig was cut up and hung from
the ceiling in 2 equally big parts. Then our
My report from 6.b., 1962
part of the work was usually over. However,
25
we also offered an extra service for DKK 20 - a full cutting up of the pig. Everything was
made full use of, the vital parts such as the heart, the guts for black pudding and mettwurst,
trimming of the tenderloin etc. However, many farmers took care of this themselves to save
the DKK 20. After a couple of years it was prohibited to stick the pig. In future it had to be
shot. It was more humane, but when it is shot, the heart immediately stops pumping blood
and there is far less blood for the black pudding. I don’t know whether it was an excuse to
save the black pudding, but people also claimed that the meat wasn’t quite as good when
there was too much blood in it. The fact is that many farmers refused to have the animal shot
and demanded that we continued sticking them in the neck. However, we were law-abiding
citizens and scaled down little by little, as the law came into effect. I do not know where the
”bloodthirsty” farmers had their pigs butchered in future, but they certainly could not use us
fools who had to use a pistol to kill a pig.
Artist and Forger
While I was working at the butchers, it also got about that I was rather good and cheap
at painting and hanging wallpaper. The butcher also helped spread the rumour among his
customers, so my Sundays and many evenings were spent on this job. If there was a lack of
work, I painted paintings of waving cornfields and churches covered in snow from various
post cards. The materials cost me about DKK 20 – and the selling price was DKK 50. (If only
I could have such a profit at JYSK).
In between working I also earned my leaving certificate from secondary school – with slightly
above average grades. I also found time to play with my friends and check out the girls. Probably
not as much as I would have liked to, but my mother was very strict. When I came home from
work I had to do my homework. She also did not want to spend every evening alone, so I often
had to stay at home with her while the other teenagers went out on dates.
But of course I sometimes sneaked out when mother had fallen asleep in front of the TV.
Then I just needed to be home before the evening’s programmes ended. She always woke
up at the howling sound of the test pattern. If I went to a dance and she hadn’t allowed me
to go, I got a dressing-down the next day.
The biggest dressing-down didn’t come from my mother, though, but from my big
brother Hans. He was an apprentice at Ole’s Herremagasin in Hurup. After several years he
had saved enough money for the down payment for a car. Perhaps car is putting it a bit far – it
was a small three-wheeled vehicle. You entered it by lifting up all of the front part with the
window and all., and then 2 people could crawl inside and slam it down again. No expensive
vehicle, but it was capable of transporting 2 people at a time. Each month he then paid an
26
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Waving corn fields signed L.L.
instalment of DKK 100 and often he sent me to the car dealer to hand in the money. For some
inexplicable reason I had the crazy idea that maybe I could increase the DKK 100 by trying
my luck on the gambling machine at Hotel Hurup. Perhaps get myself an income here – but
no – it did not work that way…
I gambled away one coin after the other. I did not stop until I only had DKK 10 left. Now
the situation was desperate… But I did think out a clever plan – or so I thought. I took the DKK
10 to the car dealer and explained to them that my big brother’s finances were somewhat
tight this month. However, to prove his good will regarding the current instalment, he would
like to pay DKK 10. I do not know whether the secretary believed the story, but she gave
me a handwritten receipt for DKK 10. Then I started counterfeiting the receipt so that it said
DKK 100. It must have been some masterpiece because Hans did not notice. So I hoped that
nobody would notice until they’d disagree on the remainder a couple of years later.
But that was not the case. I had no idea that there was such a thing as monthly statements
of account and least of all that Hans studied them closely. He beat me up and I had to start
paying monthly instalments of DKK 10 from my limited funds. Today everything is fully paid
back, and I certainly learned that honesty is the best policy.
27
Big Brother Hans Was in Charge of My Career
In my days at Hurup Realskole I often dreamt about becoming a schoolteacher but my big
brother Hans put a stop to that. There was no future in it. He was in business himself and
thought I was highly talented in that field. Then I wanted to become a butcher and have my
own shop, I said. Once again this was a definite no – butcher’s shops were on the point of
extinction. In future all meat products would be sold from supermarkets.
So, once my school-leaving certificate was in the bag, he put me into his small threewheeled vehicle and drove off to Thisted. Here he had made an appointment with Ove
Hupfeldt, who had just started a brand new type of specialist shop together with the leading
department store for ladies in town, ”Lorentzen”. Previously quilts, curtains, mattresses,
dress materials, towels and bed linen had been sold together with the women’s wear. But
now the manager Ove Hupfeldt had persuaded Lorentzen that it was time to specialise. They
then started Magasin H & L, which was of course short for Hupfeldt and Lorentzen. Now
they were looking for an apprentice, and the manager had graciously agreed to meet me at
his home on a Sunday, as this was the only day my
brother could drive me there. This was not entirely
true, though. Hans had told me that your chances
were much better if you could talk to the manager
on your own instead of talking to him at the shop
where you could guarantee that there would be no
more than half an hour between each interview.
He was right…14 days later a letter arrived which
informed me that I had been chosen from among
84 applicants (back then there were plenty of
young people who wanted to work in a shop).
I had finished school in June and then started in
my new apprenticeship on August 1st, 1966, and
I turned 18 on August 6 th.
It was an exciting time with plenty of
good colleagues. We were no less than 14
employees in a shop of approximately 200
m2, which consisted of a ground floor and a
basement with quilts and mattresses. During
the first year I drove around with the curtain
bus to mount curtains in all types of homes.
My brother Hans as a UN soldier
From large farms to traditional standard
28
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
houses, especially in Hanstholm where the big,
new harbour meant an incredibly growth in the
town. One big area after another with detached
houses cropped up and the fishermen had plenty
of money. No expense was spared - the wife
could have the best of everything. It seemed as
if the fishermen needed to make up for the long
periods of time they spent at sea. Those were
certainly the days for the fishing industry.
For the first year of my apprenticeship I was
living at home. I took the first morning train at
6.30 am and came back home around 7.30 pm.
A long day but it did not bother me because
it was no longer than what I was used to. A
monthly season ticket cost me DKK 100 and
mother charged me DKK 100 for lodgings, so
that left DKK 80 to spend on myself. That was
After my lower secondary school
okay, but of course a young kid of 18 could
leaving examination I was ready for selling quilts
easily use some more. So, after some months,
I decided to save the DKK 100 I spent on the
train. I had realised that I was not the only one from Hurup who commuted the 30 km to
Thisted every day, so I started hitchhiking. I cycled to the main road to Thisted, dumped
my bike in the ditch and found a lift. It went relatively easy, but some days I was late, so
something had to be done about that. I figured out who drove the stretch every day and
made arrangements with them. Usually only in the morning, though, as almost all of them
worked at a factory and so they got off work a long time before a draper like me. But that
was okay, as I did not have to be home for any particular time.
Sensational Advertisement That Was Almost True
However, after a turbulent year doing nothing but driving, working and sleeping, it got too
much and I moved to Thisted. I had negotiated my way into a room above the shop. After yet
another year of my highly interesting apprenticeship where, apart from curtains, I also worked
with fabrics, towels, bed linen, quilts and mattresses, I was appointed head of section in the
quilt and mattress department, even though I was still an apprentice. A highly educational
time where I was in charge of all the articles myself. I visited factories to fi nd special offers
29
The Sensational Advertisement that created long queues
and drafted the advertisements for the newspaper Thisted Dagblad myself. An incredibly
interesting and educational time.
I will never forget my first homemade advertisement. I made it after having visited various
factories where I had found a host of fantastic offers, which I just could not turn down. So I
ended up having enough goods not just for 100 m2 but for 1000 m2. Among these was a load
of spring mattresses that had become slightly dirty in a traffic accident. Now we had to draw
on our imaginations – goods were pouring in from the factories. So basements and lofts were
filled up and even my own room above the shop was filled from floor to ceiling. That meant
I had to move back to my mother again.
I put the advertisement in the newspaper on a Thursday and then all the articles had to be
sold by Friday and Saturday, so that the nice specialist shop could be ready again by Monday
morning instead of looking like the warehouse-like building I had turned it into. A brave boss,
you could say. I set up the advertisement as the biggest sensation in Thisted Dagblad within
living memory:
TRUCK OVERTURNED – goods worth DKK 100,000 damaged. We have bought everything
at half price – so can you. EVERYTHING MUST GO – FRIDAY and SATURDAY – at any price”
30
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
The advertisement was filled with offers for of course mattresses, but also quilts, towels,
bed linen, curtains and much more. In fact, there was practically no limit to what that truck
had been responsible for. And it was, in fact, almost true. A truck had crashed and many goods
had been damaged. Best of all was that the customers got the message. By noon on Saturday
the goods were gone and Magasin H & L had experienced its biggest sales success ever. I don’t
know whether it was this that gave me the idea for Jysk Sengetøjslager, but it’s quite likely…
As of that day I had very a free rein to explore my business talents and was also offered a
job as a manager after my apprenticeship was over. However, shortly after that I had to move
to Aalborg because my wife had found a job at an institution for the mentally retarded in
Vodskov – north of Aalborg in North Jutland.
The Hashish Pipe Was Passed Round in the Frøstrup Camp
Speaking of my wife Kristine – better known as Kris - I met her at a dance at Ydby Inn shortly
after having started as an apprentice in Thisted. We immediately fell deeply in love – and still
are today. It must have been fate that brought us together, because Ydby is south of Hurup,
and Kris comes from Snedsted which is north of Hurup – much closer to Thisted, where
youngsters from Snedsted normally went dancing. But on this very Boxing Day, in 1966 she
had strayed to a dance south of Hurup. Somewhat illicitly, as she was in fact attending a
christening in Snedsted for her sister’s son, who was christened Jens Henrik Jensby – and who
today works as head of logistics in JYSK’s purchasing department.
Incidentally, Kris was only home on Christmas holiday from a job in Norway and had
to return right after New Year. But as previously mentioned, we fell for each other in a big
way. She had to go back to Norway – to quit her job, so that we could be close to each
other – preferably all the time. However, she also had to work so she found a job at ”Gl.
Skovriddergården” in Silkeborg – a spa where she would pamper famous and flush Danes
– such as the actors Hans Kurt and Poul Bundgaard. So I spent all my spare time on stays of
various lengths in Silkeborg, which we both thought was one of the most beautiful cities in
Denmark – and we still think so. That is why we have now lived there for the past 20 years
and want to stay there for the rest of our lives. I have, for obvious reasons, travelled all over
the world and have seen a lot of beautiful places. It is good to be away, but always best to
be at home in Silkeborg.
After about six months Kris then moved to Thisted and became a student nurse at Thisted
county hospital. This meant she had to go to Copenhagen for a long stay – at the nursing
school. I spent that time with my friends – among these the grocer, Rysgaard, who had a small
grocer’s shop in Thisted. This was also when ”Christiania” and hashish came to Thy – that
31
We immediately fell deeply in love
is to say, to Frøstrup, just north of Thisted. Here hundreds of hashish-smoking, longhaired
hippies from Denmark and from abroad settled down to build a so-called new society. It was
the Frøstrup camp– also known as the Thy camp. Some culture shock for us people from Thy
– but also a time of great opportunities for we businessmen.
Grocer Rysgaard and I attached the trailer to the car and filled it up with beer and sodas
and other daily necessities such as cheese. Then off we went to the Frøstrup camp to do
business. Things were a bit slack over the first couple of days – we had to size each other
up. But eventually we gained their trust and were invited to their ”camp council” in the big
tent, where we sat around the fire. While the hashish pipe was passed round, we negotiated
for regular deliveries a couple of times a week. But even though they were constantly high
from the hashish, they were still sufficiently resourceful to negotiate a discount. That upset
our plans, as we also needed a good profit for spending our evenings on them. However, we
ended up finding a satisfying compromise for both parties. It involved them getting 10 kg
of free cheese per week, a very special ”Thybo cheese”, which had a bitter taste that they
loved. In return we got the exclusive sale of all groceries. A good deal for us as we got the
cheese for free at the dairies when they sorted out cheese that had gone bitter. Everybody
was pleased – we made good money from it and they got a lovely bitter ”Thybo cheese”
totally free – and had all their groceries delivered straight to the door, at a good price too. But
32
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
– of course, one fine day the camp was visited by a wise man who knew a bit more about
cheese than the other residents in the Frøstrup camp had in general – and that was the end
of our business there.
Took my New-born baby Along to Card Games
When we didn’t do business in the evening, we were playing cards – often until late at night.
The card games also continued after I moved to Aalborg and had started a family. Our son
Jacob had just been born and Kris worked nights from 8 pm until 8 am, so I had to be the
”nanny”. But of course I could not neglect the card games, and trying to tell my wife that
I could not be a ”nanny” because I had to play cards did seem a bit far-fetched. It was a
desperate situation – but I managed to find a solution. As soon as Kris left home at around
half past eight, I put Jacob in his carrycot and into the back of the car. Then off we went from
Aalborg to Thisted – a stretch of 110 km. The card game could then start at around 9 pm and
my friends’ wives were good at taking over the nanny job - so that the game would not be
disturbed unnecessarily.
Later at night it was back to the car with the carrycot and back to Aalborg, and both
Jacob and I went to bed. When Kris unsuspectingly came home in the morning, we were
lying in bed fast asleep. I did not dare tell her anything as I was certain that there would be a
lack of understanding, so I chose to apply the expression, ”what you don’t know won’t hurt
you”… It was not until 20 years later that she discovered Jacob and I’s small secret from the
first years of his life. We went to a party in Thy and Kris got talking to a lady who asked how
20-year old ”baby” Jacob was doing. She had often been a nanny for him when he was a
baby… You what??????????? Then the lady told Kris about the many evenings where she
was lulling baby Jacob when he was screaming, so that Lars would not have his card game
disturbed… This is where another expression came into play: ”Time heals all wounds”. This,
combined with a fair amount of forgiveness on the part of my loving wife meant that our
marriage survived - although Kris added that it probably would not have if she had been told
about it 19 years ago.
As I mentioned, Kris had started training as a nurse, but unfortunately she had to stop
midway. Not because she was not up to the job, but because she was not - and still is not - like
the most other people. She was not afraid to express her candid opinion of the state of affairs
at a Danish hospital in the late sixties. The old autocratic head nurses did not like this – so
they had to get rid of her – and so they did. ”By chance” she was offered a job as a trainee,
caring for mentally retarded people in Vodskov, where a head nurse from the Thisted hospital
knew somebody who could get her in. The problem child had been put away in Thisted and
33
Mette, Jacob and the curtain fitter
care for the mentally retarded had got a much needed and promising trainee. Everybody was
pleased – including Kris, who had always shown an interest in the underprivileged.
So I suddenly ended up in Aalborg and had to find a place to live and a job. Accommodation
was probably the trickiest part as an inhabitant of Thy will not just move into a big impersonal
block of flats in the city. Having no money and wanting our own place, we had to be creative.
Outside of Aalborg – in Vejgaard, to be more precise - we found a nice big allotment with a
lovely small house. Hollyhocks on the gable and almost no neighbours - and far away from
the noise of the city. It felt almost like being back home in Thy again. We immediately fell in
love with the place. Now we only had a couple of small problems to solve…
First of all, it was not legal to have a permanent address on an allotment. We solved that
by talking to some of the few neighbours who were there. They had lived there for several
years without any problems and had even heard that the area would possibly be turned into a
34
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
residential area in a few years time. So the authorities turned a blind eye to people living there
all year… Oh well, we thought – if they can, so can we. As a future businessman I thought that
if the area was parcelled out for detached houses, the land was bound to increase in value.
I Felt I Was Taken for a Ride by the Bank
Our second problem was the money… DKK
34,500. It does not sound like much but
it was, especially for a trainee and a shop
assistant who had only just finished his
apprenticeship. It was a desperate situation
– where on earth would we get the money?
Kris’ father could possibly have helped us as
he worked for the bank Snedsted-Nørhå
Savings Bank. But we did not want to ask
him – we did not want to involve the family
in our fragile economy. Least of all when it
involved such a risky thing as an allotment, Our first home.
which would possibly become developed Price DKK 34,500
later and only then become legal.
Then I remembered a loan offer that I had received from one of the big banks in Thisted
when I was an apprentice. The bank had an arrangement that meant that, if you had shown
the ability to save regularly for a minimum of 3 years, you could then borrow three times the
saved amount on reasonable terms. I fulfilled these conditions to the letter. So I happily went
down to my bank in Thisted. I told them about my situation, about starting a family and buying
a house and therefore wanting to take advantage of their favourable loan offer. Well, that
was certainly no problem. All I had to do was to find 2 solid guarantors who would guarantee
the loan. Then what was the point of it all? For 3 years I had pinched and scraped to fulfil the
bank’s terms, so that I wouldn’t have to beg my family when I needed money. Now it was all in
vain, and I truly felt the bank had taken me for a ride. Today they still do not understand that I
do not want to do business with them. Just because they took a young naive inhabitant of Thy
for a ride 35 years ago. But personally I feel splendid every time I turn them down.
However, I angrily left the bank in Thisted and drove to Vodskov Bank, which is a branch
of Nørresundby Bank. I told them about their ”fantastic” opportunity of having both Kris
and I as their customers, if they could lend us the money for the house of our dreams – and
so they did. Some years later we legally became owners of a detached house – instead of
35
being owners of an allotment - and wanted to build a new house on the plot. By then bank
manager Balleby was also ready with a helping loan. Even when I wanted to borrow DKK
200,000 to start up a small bedding shop named Jysk Sengetøjslager, Nørresundby Bank
also found a solution for this – no doubt risky - arrangement. As I had built a big part of the
house myself, with help from friends and work colleagues, the bank worked out that there
was equity in the house, so they could lend me the money. When I later wanted to borrow
money to import goods from abroad – instead of paying about 30% extra when I bought it
from Danish wholesalers, the bank and I also found a solution.
However, the bank manager told me that you could not raise a loan on stock as you kept on
drawing from it, and so the value changed all the time. As he said: ”If only it had been a cow
– then it could be earmarked and the bank would have some security”. I thought about it for a
few days and then went back to the bank. I jubilantly told him that I had now ”earmarked” my
stock. All imported goods were now locked away at a warehouse that had been set up for the
purpose. The bank could then have the key and even seal the warehouse, so that only they had
access to it. I could then buy the goods as and when I needed them. The bank thought it over
for a few days, after which they accepted it, even though they had never previously tried such an
arrangement. That way I could keep on opening new branches of Jysk Sengetøjslager. For that
very reason Nørresundby Bank still remains my bank today. The big bank from my apprenticeship
in Thisted still does not understand how come I don’t want to do business with them.
Banks Have No Sense of Business Sense
What I mean to say with all this talk about banks is that many banks ought to consider if it
would not be worth it to throw some of their cautiousness overboard and participate a bit
more actively in those thousands of exciting projects that are created every year and be willing
to take a risk. Unfortunately, most of these projects die at birth – among other things due
to the banks’ eternal over-carefulness, and so tens of thousands of new exciting workplaces
are lost. I know what I’m talking about as each year I am introduced to hundreds of projects,
which the banks have rejected, as there isn’t enough security. Some people may ask why I
do not invest in these promising companies… But the fact is that I run bedding shops, not a
bank. I am convinced that there is more money to be made from such bank businesses than
their constantly increasing fees.
In my opinion there ought to be a law requiring that, for example, 25% of the banks’
profit is spent on venture financing and that the state joins in with a similar amount. Then I am
sure that unemployment will be history in a few years time and our exports will boom. In this
way Denmark can get rid of the huge debt we have created for the young people, who are
36
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
innocently stuck with the borrowing of the last generations. That it simply not good enough
– neither on the part of the banks or the state… So - get moving.
Anyway, enough about the banks’ lack of business abilities. We can only hope that
they will learn. But imagine if JYSK and other shops only bought goods where no risk was
involved…
Let’s Go Over
the Name Once More
Back on track. We bought the allotment
– painted the house and wallpapered it
and created the house of our dreams in
the countryside. We got married and
had baby Jacob 5 months later – not
because he was born prematurely, but
because we did not plan on getting
married at all – just because we were
about to have a baby. But we were
to learn otherwise. We went home
to Kris’ parents beaming with joy ”Then you’ll have to get married
and told them about the big event. and it will have to be soon, before it shows”.
”We are going to have a baby”, and
expected them to congratulate us. But no, they were not happy at all – on the contrary. they
told us: ”Then you’ll have to get married and it will have to be soon, before it shows”. So we
did, on December 27th, 1971, with a big fancy church wedding in the church in Snedsted. I
was dressed provocatively in a black and white chequered jacket and Kris was dressed in a
white loose dress. At the end of May we then had Jacob and 3 years later Mette was born.
After that we were content with our 2 lovely kids, who are now 28 and 31. Jacob was trained
at JYSK and is busy trying to convince his dad that he is a better businessman. Mette trained
as a farmer and has bought her own farm in Himmerland. They are both married (before
they started having children), Jacob is married to Helle and their son Christian is 4 and their
daughter Christine is 3. Mette is married to Jørgen and her son Søren is 3.
That means that the next generation is safe. However, it will not carry the name Larsen.
Everybody including Kris has the surname Brunsborg and why is that??? Now I may as well
– once and for all - explain it – so that the press will also get it. Over the past 20 years the
press has poked its nose into the names Larsen and Brunsborg, and some people even think
37
I bought the name Larsen – because the name Lars Larsen has a more common touch than
Lars Brunsborg. I understand that they are confused, but here’s the full story.
I was christened Lars Kristinus Larsen and Kris was christened Kristine Brunsborg. I am
sure that everybody is aware that there are plenty of people named Larsen – but only a few
people named Brunsborg. Among Kris’ closest relatives she was the only one with children.
When we married, she took the name Larsen, as is right and proper. However, after some
years Kris realised that her family name could die with her and so she decided to take some
action. The first step was convincing me that my children and my wife should no longer bear
the legendary name, Larsen – and be named Brunsborg instead. Once she had succeeded
in doing that and the papers were due to be sent to various authorities, I have to admit that
I felt left out of the family. It meant that my children’s mother was named Brunsborg and
their father Larsen – a terrible mess that I was not prepared to live with back then. Then it
happened… The ”world famous” arch-Dane Lars Larsen – famous throughout the media in
Jutland and the surrounding area – suddenly became Lars Brunsborg.
It went well with Kris and the children – and me as well for that matter – at least as regards
the authorities, the children’s school, etc. But none of the Danish press ever understood it
– even though I tried year in and year out. They never understood it. Were they stupid?? No,
I knew that they weren’t. Could they not remember? There is no doubt that they could. Did
Here’s the proof
38
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
My daughter Mette trained as a farmer and has a farm in Himmerland
they not want to remember? Now, that is probably closer to the truth. I had spent millions
on telling of the whole of Denmark that my name was Lars Larsen. They had spent millions
writing about the same subject, and then I suddenly change my name. I even chose a name
that was difficult to spell as well as difficult to remember… For several years, the press tried a
host of varieties: Brunsgård – Bromborg – Brunsberg, etc. They tried to analyse the reason why
I had changed my name. Some people thought that my name had always been Brunsborg or
something like that and that I had changed my name to use in on TV. Lars Larsen had a more
Danish and common sound to it etc. Others thought I had become somewhat stuck-up and
that’s why wanted a more unusual name. I believe a few people got the picture, but in any case
it was a troublesome time of my life. I also tried to use the name Lars Larsen – even though
my name was actually Lars Brunsborg. That did not work out either: ”Isn’t it true that you’re
not even named Larsen but merely use it as a stage name”? In the end it got too much for my
lovely wife Kris. When I turned 40, she gave me back my family name. She had arranged all
the paperwork, so that I only had to sign it. Now I was once again a real Lars Larsen – and so
I will remain for the rest of my life… I prefer that, and I imagine the press does too.
39
”Mr Larsen, You Are not Supposed to Have an Opinion,
Just Get On with your Work…!”
We had moved into the small garden house and Kris had found an interesting trainee job
caring for the mentally retarded in Vodskov. But I also had to move on in my career. It was not
difficult finding a job in Aalborg, especially not when you came from Thy. It was same kind of
situation as when a Jutlander is looking for a job in Copenhagen. I could start the day after
I applied for a job and even as a supervisor in a curtain shop. A somewhat different working
climate to what I was used to in Thisted. The manager was in charge of everything – and what
he couldn’t be bothered to do, he delegated to me as his senior employee and then expected
me to delegate the tasks to the rest of the staff. In Thisted everybody was on equal terms.
That was certainly not the case here. We were 6 employees – with me as no. 1. This applied
to all areas – even the coffee mugs were numbered 1 to 6. No. 2 could not have any coffee
until no. 1 had had his share - and no. 6 did the washing up. If I was busy in the shop and
had to skip the coffee, my colleagues could not have any coffee either. The only good thing
about that system was that then no. 6 did not have to do the washing up…
I quickly realised that this was not the place for me. One day I proudly came to work in
brand new clothes – a blue blazer and a light purple shirt, which was the latest fashion that
year. My boss took one terrified look at me and then sent me home to change my shirt. In his
shop you could only wear a white or pale blue shirt. After some months of faithful service it
got too much… One quiet morning when my boss and I were being shown new interesting
curtains from one of our main suppliers, I dared to express my opinion. I thought we should
try some of those brand new fabrics… After that my boss explained to me in no uncertain
manner: ”Mr Larsen, you are not supposed to have an opinion – I will take care of that… Just
you get on with your work”. However, I took the liberty of adding that I I was quitting the job
there and then. So I did and the next morning I started at the competitor ”THUEN”, which
was the finest soft furnishings shop in town.
This was a place where they still opened the door for the customers. The gentleman was
escorted to the soft chairs and had a nice cigar, while his wife did her shopping… Perhaps
not quite what a staid inhabitant of Thy would want. But I had applied for a job here as
they had started an innovation – separating the curtains from the other soft furnishings.
Just as in Thisted the supervisor had taken over part of the shop, and I liked this concept.
So I started working for ”DRESAGER CURTAINS” as a curtain fitter. An incredibly interesting
job with plenty of innovation in an otherwise languishing trade. Dresager was of the new
school and wanted to move fast. Aalborg was way too small for him. So he made bid
for all major building contracts all over the country and got plenty of them, such as Risø
National Laboratory, Odense University, one of the hospitals in Aalborg, Sygehus Syd, and
40
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
not least Aalborg University. The latter was built a few hundred metres from our allotment
and it contributed to rapid development in the area, such as and our neighbourhood being
developed and named ”Esbjergparken”.
We curtain fitters then gave Dresager a “quote” – not in money but in hours. Depending
on how fast the work needed to be done, there could be 2-3 people involved. They were big
buildings that were often finished in stages and it could take up to a year to fit the curtains.
Once we had reached an agreement with our boss, it was up to us to decide how many
hours we wanted to work each day. When we were working far away from home – i.e. on
the islands of Funen or Zealand – we would work almost 24 hours a day – with just a couple
of hours’ sleep in a sleeping bag. That way we built up long periods of time, where we could
have some time off. I spent this built up time transforming our small allotment house into a
big detached house with a big basement underneath.
As previously mentioned, I also got the job at Aalborg University. In order to have as much
time as possible for building my house, I had Kris and the neighbours’ wives fit the curtain
hooks and gather the curtains. The men fitted the curtain rods. All carefully supervised and
controlled by me. My good friend Berthel Jespersen, who was a building technician, designed
the house and helped me with everything I did not know about building houses – which
was just about everything. It was a stressful time, working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week,
for a whole year, and it gave me an ulcer. However, it also gave me a house with a lot of
equity, which would later turn out to give me the opportunity to start Jysk Sengetøjslager. In
retrospect it was worth all the trouble.
A Good Offer: 51% for My Manpower
With a lovely house, a beautiful wife and
a lovely boy I felt it was time to move on in
my career. It is now 1974 and Ulf Bolighus
in Aalborg is looking for a manager for
their discount store, ”MinusService”,
which sells curtains, bed linen and
bathroom textiles – a bit cheaper than
others because service is poor. I apply for
the job and get it. A big task for a guy of
only 25. However, I managed to turn it
into a healthy business. So therefore let
me open yet another branch in Skalborg
The MinusService shop in Skalborg
41
– just outside Aalborg,
where Bilka was also
located. This shop also
turned out to be successful.
That whetted my appetite
and I wanted to move on
with more shops. After a lot
of discussion I was allowed
to open shop no. 3 in Århus
– in a new shopping centre in
Brabrand to be exact – called
Gellerup Centret (today it is
called City Vest).
A fantastic time where
my skills were really tested – and also a time where I got to see other parts of the
world. I went to Canada and the USA on a study tour to see how they were running their
shopping centres. I also went to Germany and France to study the newest concepts within
the commercial world – discount shops. They had a limited selection of foodstuffs, took the
goods directly to the shop on pallets and sold them 10-20% cheaper due to limited costs
and a fast rate of turnover.
All 3 shops went well and I wanted to continue building a chain of discount soft furnishings
shops – just like ALDI and the others were doing with foodstuffs. ALDI had even opened up
their first shops in Denmark. I could see plenty of advantages in the discount system, which
could also be used in my trade. It was important to move on before others overtook us. But
my employers at Ulf Bolighus wanted to do things differently. They thought I was too fast and
ought to slow down, so that they could look at a shop’s results for at least a full financial year
before opening the next one. However, this was no good when I knew that it took at least 40
shops to run an efficient chain of shops. At their speed, I could tell that I would be retired by
the time the chain was built-up. It would no doubt also long since be bankrupt due to a lack
of purchase capacity, which was necessary to get the goods at the right price – by avoiding
wholesalers who charged 25-30%.
You had to be sufficiently big to buy directly from the factories and thereby be able to
sell the articles cheaper. But no – they did not want such a rash speed. Finally I suggested
buying 51% of the shares. “For what?” they asked. “My manpower and my ideas”, I said.
After a month of consideration they turned me down. I quit my job after 5 interesting and
educational years, and a new era was about to begin.
42
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Viggo Iversen and Jørgen Rødhus were my partners when I started up
And Then It Started - using Borrowed Money
This was not a case of me quitting my job without any preparation and being entirely without
means. For a couple of years many business connections had regularly suggested that I might
as well start up on my own, as I was running the 3 shops anyway. Of course, I had asked them
whether they were willing to give me long period of credit while I was starting up. Most of
them were. I had also asked the best employees whether they wanted to join me in starting
up a new company – and they accepted.
2 employees, Viggo Iversen and Jørgen Rødhus, who worked as my managers, were
even willing to put money into the company. So they did. We set up a limited company
with capital of DKK 200,000 – which was the minimum amount needed to start a limited
company. They each contributed DKK 49,500 and I contributed DKK 101,000. This split was
not a coincidence. I had pulled the strings and so, of course, I wanted to have the controlling
interest. However, none of us had that kind of money and all 3 of us had to go to the bank
to borrow money, which we fortunately succeeded in doing.
I even managed to borrow an extra DKK 100,000 for an overdraft facility, as I had equity in
the house, which I had built myself. We could have chosen to start up as a partnership where
you only needed to contribute DKK 30,000. However, I thought a limited company where we
contributed more money would send out better signals as back then partnerships didn’t have
the best of reputations, to say the least.
43
The capital was sorted out, so was our credit from the suppliers and we had found our
staff. Now we only needed the premises and a company name. We found the premises on
Silkeborgvej in Århus – 500 m2 – back then those were huge premises and we were worried
that we would not be able to get enough goods to fill up the shop. This was no problem,
though. On the contrary it turned out to be necessary for some factories to leave their trucks
outside the shop on Fridays and Saturdays, as there was no room for the goods. Fortunately,
there was by Saturday afternoon.
I had given the product line and the company name quite a lot of thought over several
months. I wanted to create a collection of products the likes of which had never before been
seen. Back then you had soft furnishings shops and furniture shops - and a strict definition of
who sold what. I had always wondered why this strict division existed – perhaps it was due
to physical restrictions – as soft furnishings shops were located in the city centre in relatively
small premises. So there was no room for furniture – such as beds, bedside tables etc. - which
I felt was a natural part of a bedding shop.
So I wanted to see whether it was possible to move bedding and soft furnishings out of
the city centre - where rent was cheaper – so that we could afford more square metres. That
meant we would have room for a bigger selection of space-consuming beds and mattresses
etc., and there would also be easy access to parking. So what was needed was big premises
with the emphasis on quilts, mattresses, beds, bed linen and blankets peppered with various
other soft furnishings - served on some of the terms of the discount industry, although not all
of them. I felt, for example that with such a selection you still needed to have the specialist
knowledge of the specialist shops, but not need the nice expensive fixtures and fitting. You
could save money on staff, as the items were transported straight to the shop on pallets
– without any price marking and other time-consuming work.
A Ridiculous Name – and Far too Long
Now we had our idea and all that was left was finding the right name. As it was a brand new
homemade concept, I felt that it was essential that the name and logo expressed who we
were. After several weeks of pondering I ended up with the ”short” and accurate name ”Jysk
Sengetøjslager”. Why? Well, we all came from the Jutland peninsula and I had heard that even
people from Copenhagen considered things from Jutland to be trustworthy and solid, and not
too expensive. This was definitely one of the signals I wanted to give out – as the majority of the
items, such as quilts, pillows and mattresses, were based on reliability. It was impossible to see
what was inside and so people had to trust information from the company to a great extent.
The word sengetøj (bedding) had to be part of the name to signal what we did best. The word
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
lager (warehouse) signalled that we did not have any
fancy fixtures and fittings, but that people were able to
buy straight from a warehouse – without any expensive
middleman. That is to say a Jutland version of the word,
discount. That was the company name worked out, but
we also needed a logo that expressed the same values.
The result was a goose to indicate down quilts and a bed
headboard to announce to people that you could now
buy beds in a soft furnishings shop. Everything was carefully thought out. All I needed now was
an advertising agency to combine everything into a nice logo. A piece of cake, I thought – but
no. The advertising industry claimed they had never heard of anything so ridiculous. A company
name had to be short and to the point and could not consist of more than 4-5 letters. All I
needed to do was look around and see what others did: IKEA, BILKA, FØTEX, ALDI etc. That was
how it was and nothing else would do. However, I stuck to my home-made name with 18 letters
and also managed to find an advertising agency that thought this sounded like an interesting
challenge. Their name was, in fact Reklame og Marketing Butikken – a name that happened to
be no less than 8 letters longer than Jysk Sengetøjslager. This had to be just the job for them.
They found the perfect solution and have in fact been working for me for the entire 25 years.
They have always found a solution for all my crazy ideas – no matter whether the advertising
industry liked them or not. I have always felt that this
trade worked more on the basis of what was best for
its own reputation – rather than what the customers
needed. When prizes are awarded in the advertising
industry, it is always themselves assessing what is best.
How about letting consumers chose what they think
is best – after all, they are the ones they make a living
from. But this was actually an agency that wanted to
do what I thought was best for my company: Unusual
advertisements that dominated a whole page but only
took up half the page – ½-yearly birthday advertisements,
me as the front figure, big advertisements in four colours
packed with offers and text, cheap TV commercials
in black and white telling about a businessman and
his offers, advertising papers in all sorts of sizes and
colours and dashing special catalogues which show the
big selection JYSK has of quilts, mattresses, bed linen,
My first lease
curtains, furniture and garden furniture. Lately they have
45
helped renew Jysk Sengetøjslager’s name and logo, so that today we are merely called JYSK
– although it has the indicative caption: Sengetøj – Bad – Bolig (Furnishings – Bath – Home). In
fact, they have also changed their own name to RMB – with the caption: Reklame og Marketing
Butikken. I guess that the ”clever” advertising agencies were right after all – after 25 years. But
we’ll get back to that later in the book. Now I only needed to sort out the financial management.
I believed I was a good businessman – i.e. for buying and selling goods. However, I knew that
bookkeeping was my weak point. So I had to get that sorted before starting up. Chance had it
that there was a small accounting company in the same building as the Reklame og Marketing
Butikken. The owner was called Erik Bredahl. A few years earlier he had come up with the brilliant
idea that many small companies did not have the ability or the finance to run this part of the
company themselves. So he started up the ”Økonomicentret” (Financial Centre), and this took
care of bookkeeping and accounting for a couple of dozens of small companies. Just what I
needed. That meant I could concentrate on what I did best, and Økonomicentret was paid at an
hourly rate to do the accounts. I did not have to hire expensive personnel that I could not afford
and did not have sufficient work for – a unique solution. Then we were nearly ready: Signs on
the shop front, goods stacked from floor to ceiling and even more goods ready in trucks outside.
We put big advertisements in the newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende and hired personnel. Apart
from we 3 owners we had hired the best employees from MinusService. That meant everybody
knew everything there was to know about the products.
The First Day of Jysk Sengetøjslager
We all meet up at 6.00 am to finalise the last details. At around 7 am friends, family and
suppliers arrive to lend a helping hand. At 8.00 am sharp I open the doors to the world’s first
Jysk Sengetøjslager. There’s a long queue of people down Silkeborgvej, a total of 122 expectant
customers are waiting to enter this huge El Dorado. We cannot fit all the customers into the
shop at once, so we have to let in 40-50 people at a time. Happily, this continues until the doors
close at 8.00 pm. The customers are pleased – we are pleased – and it seems that the rejoicing
will never end when we count the money, DKK 220,844.30 in one day – we had not even dared
dream of that. Our success was in the bag and it continued over the following days, weeks,
months, years and quarter or a century. We still have a shop there. But there was no time to rest
on our laurels. 14 days later we had an opening in Hadsund and 14 days after that in Aalborg.
After 8 days of tremendous opening sales we left shop no. 1 to my partner Viggo Iversen,
who had been a manager at MinusService in Århus. Now it was up to him and his staff to take
care of day-to-day business, while the rest moved on to Hadsund, which opened a few days
later. Why Hadsund? At MinusService in Aalborg one of my employees has been an incredibly
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
competent lady – Kirsten Holst
- who came from Hadsund.
So it was only natural to open
a branch there. The first 3
branches were planned
a long time before no. 1
opened. My plan was to
open 3 completely different
shops, so that we could test
the concept. Nobody knew
which size and location
would be best until we
had tried everything. No.
1 was in a big city in big
premises in the outskirts of
the city. No. 2 was located
in a small town in small
premises in the centre of
town. No. 3 was located
in a big city in mediumsized premises. On the
basis of this we could
then assess which type was the most profitable. No. 2 in Hadsund was quite an alternative to
our big shop in Århus, which was 500 m2. Hadsund was 40 m2, and no, this is not a typing error.
We wanted to test out a shop with minimal costs and a smaller assortment. Kirsten was the only
employee and when she went for lunch or out to do her shopping, she put a sign on the door:
”Be right back”. However, this was after a tremendous opening period where we had a turnover
of more than DKK 70,000 on the first day. All this with just 40 m2. The shop was packed with
goods from floor to ceiling – literally speaking. We only let in 4-5 customers at a time, and we
had to let them out of the back door as the front door was packed with expectant customers.
But after some weeks things got back to normal in Hadsund, so that Kirsten could easily handle
things on her own – although her husband Kjeld did help her out a bit. He helped me carry our
goods in and out from the street and did all the odd jobs. After some months Kirsten wanted a
day off each week – very unreasonably, I joked – after all, she only worked 48 hours a week…We
then agreed that she could have Tuesdays off. That was the day where I had most time to take
over. So I would sit there and draw up some advertisements and do some purchasing and a lot
of other things – like taking care of customers if anybody showed up. Hadsund is not a very big
47
place, which means that everybody knows each other. Everybody knew that Kirsten had Tuesday
off, so nobody did their shopping on Tuesdays.
The Customers Only Wanted to Do Business with Kirsten
However, there was one Tuesday where an old married couple had forgotten that it was
Tuesday and I happily jumped into the shop when the doorbell sounded. How may I help
you?…Well – we need some quilts… but isn’t Kirsten here? Unfortunately she’s got Tuesday
off… But I am sure I can take care of it… Well… We’ll probably come back some other day…
when Kirsten is around.
On the whole, we did not have many customers in Hadsund that first year – they had
all done their shopping in the first week after the opening. So there was often not a single
customer in sight in the shop. However, this was not a problem. Kirsten brought along her
sewing machine and made baby bed linen at the back of the shop. Those were the days.
Kirsten is still there, but now she has got some more space and a little more help. Today the
shop covers 1200 m2 and has 7 employees + her husband Kjeld… who still lends a hand…
We even had a queue in the morning in Hadsund
Jysk Sengetøjslager’s first advertisement.
Århus Stiftstidende April 1st 1979
48
J E G H A R E T GO D T T I L B UD
49
Back on track… After Hadsund it was time for our home town, Aalborg. I had found some
good premises at the best location in town in the pedestrian street, Bredgade, right in the city
centre. About 200 m2, not a lot, but in an area that was packed with potential customers, only
a few metres from my old employer, MinusService. The main problem was that we could not
get access to the shop until Saturday afternoon when the existing clothes shop had closed
down and packed up its goods. We were due to open on Monday morning… We did not
have much time – we had exactly 2 nights and one Sunday to make everything ready. So it
We were also received well at Bredegade in Aalborg
was necessary to call in all available personnel from Århus and Hadsund as well as family,
neighbours and friends, and we did not sleep a single hour for 2 days.
But on Monday April 30th, 1979 at 8.00 am we were ready to open branch no. 3. We also
had a queue all day here. Success no. 3 was now a reality. This branch would then be run
by my other partner – Jørgen Rødhus – who had been a manger at one of the MinusService
shops in Aalborg. He had chosen the best of his employees who also wanted to join us. So
far, so good – up to now we only had good employees that we had previously worked with
and who we trusted. This was a major strength when starting up in such a hurried manner.
Branch 4 in Skalborg came along a few months later in an old shack behind Dreisler
Storkøb and only 1 km from the leading department store in town, Bilka. An area with
plenty of shoppers, and in premises that we got almost for free. It was an old ramshackle
50
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
derelict building that we redecorated ourselves and painted in pretty blue and white colours.
It actually ended up looking rather nice and had a strategically good location and plenty of
room. In fact, so much room that I could also start up branch no. 5 in the same building. That
was the beginning of our mail order department, which we advertised in national magazines
such as IdeNyt and various weekly magazines. A form of business that gave a big turnover
and national marketing, which meant that when we started up in a new town, people already
partly knew us and so we found it easier to establish ourselves. However, after only a few
years it all burned down and we chose to move the shop to a location next to Bilka.
Branch no. 6 was located in Århus as we had previously been successful with 2 shops in
Aalborg. So it had to be possible to use the same strategy. As no. 1 was located outside the
city centre, we chose to locate this shop in the centre of Århus – on Store Torv, close to the
cathedral. Another advantage in having 2 shops in the same town was marketing. After all,
it did not cost us anything extra to put 2 addresses in the advertisement. We could also save
money on staff as it was possible to move people around when others were sick or on holiday.
This was in fact the first signs of the savings in having several shops – in having a chain of
shops. They were not very big yet, but they were there. We could also start moving goods
from one shop to another – instead of buying more and spend unnecessary money on it.
The Suppliers Gave Good Credit
We did not really have any capital. So we had to sell the goods before they had to be paid
for. Otherwise we would have no money to pay our suppliers. When I opened the first shop,
I made an agreement with my suppliers for a good long credit – some accepted as long as
6 months – others only 3. But I had also told them about my plans to open many shops and
told them that I needed the same conditions for branches 2-3-4 etc. They then agreed to
accept these terms for the first delivery to each shop and additional goods would be paid for
after 60 days. In this way the suppliers helped establish a new shop, and I then had to prove
my ability to pay by paying at more normal terms afterwards. I have to admit that I did a bit
of extra purchasing for each new shop – on 6 months credit – and moved some of the goods
to the other shops, where I only had 2 months to pay. However, it wasn’t on too large a scale
and the suppliers tacitly accepted it as long as I kept to the terms of payment. I managed keep
this going for the first 10 shops, and then it started getting difficult because the extra supplies
of goods from the opening of a new shop became smaller and there were more shops they
needed to be distributed to. So I decided to have a talk with all the suppliers and explain
my situation to them – which was that the individual shops were doing well, but that it was
not possible to sell the entire stock 6 times a year, which was necessary when I ”only” had 2
51
The first time 1
(9
)I appear in an advertisement
7
52
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
months’; credit. I actually succeeded in making most of them accept 3 months, so that I only
needed to sell the stock 4 times a year. This extra month of credit made all the difference.
New shops were no problem, as I had the 6 months of credit and limited start-up costs
– just a cash register costing DKK 5000. There were no other costs for fixtures and fittings
– all the goods were stacked on pallets and on the beds. But of course I had all those fi xed
costs such as wages, rent, lighting, heating and, not least, advertising. Being a businessman, I
knew perfectly well that it was not enough to have good products at cheap prices – because
this was no good if nobody knew about it. So I spent a lot of money on telling people about
Jysk Sengetøjslager. I had trouble finding that money as neither advertising agencies nor
newspapers had heard of the idea of several months of credit. It was a desperate situation
– either I had to stop marketing my shops – which would be suicide – or else I would have to
find the money for it. My bank was understanding and did help as much as they felt was safe
but they were, understandably, somewhat anxious about financing the marketing etc. of 6
shops – and 10 new ones in the budget - for a young kid with no money whatsoever.
Borrowed Money in London at an Interest Rate of 25%
So I eventually had to make the difficult decision to go to London to present the accounts and
budgets to some venture capital investment trusts that charged a lot of money for lending
money to people like me. But I did not have a choice. Either I would have to accept an interest
rate of 25% or else I had to watch my dream disappear over the horizon… So I decided to
accept it – DKK 4 million for the further expansion was in the bag and I ”only” had to pay
interest of DKK 1 million per year. I think it was at this stage that I realised that we needed
to move fast – and work 24 hours a day to work our way out of such heavy interest charges.
And so we did – all the employees pulled together. Not just at their own branches. When their
shops closed in the evening, people were always ready to work 6-8 hours extra until late at
night decorating a new shop – and then be ready the next morning at their respective shops.
Many brought along the rest of their family, who would also help – without being paid for it.
A fantastic time for which I am grateful to a lot of people. Without their help JYSK would not
have existed today. We were one big family who worked ourselves to the bone for a common
cause… to create a brand new chain of shops.
Shop no. 6 in the centre of Århus was the first shop where I had to find a manager that
I did not know. I had previously been able to pick and choose from my old colleagues from
MinusService. But this source was now exhausted and a new era started where we had to
train new personnel and familiarise them with the spirit of JYSK. We solved this by stationing
personnel from the old shops in the new shops until they could stand on their own feet. It
53
H E L L O M Y NA M E I S L A R S L A R S E N
Jysk Sengetøjslager’s first paper
54
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
was also at this stage that a new concept was introduced – an area manager, i.e. a person
who regularly visited the shops and checked that everything was okay - that the shop had
stocked up on all articles, that everything was nice and clean, that lights were working, that
all articles had signs, that the personnel were well-dressed and provided a good service, etc.
In total, they checked about 40 items and bonus points were given according to how well
they did. At first my partners took care of this job – and at the same time they also helped
establish new shops. Today we have about 50 people, who are each responsible for about 12
shops. They are called regional managers.
The Mattress Supplier Made his Choice Clear
When I quit my job at MinusService, Ulf Bolighus, who owned the 3 shops, had to find a
new manager. He chose a manager from Salling in Aalborg – his name was Jørgen Olsen.
A clever man who knew the trade and fought hard for it. But it was a hard battle. Those
upstarts from Jysk Sengetøjslager had opened shops close to the 3 MinusService shops. They
had taken along all the best employees and were conducting ruthless marketing with prices
never before seen in the market.
One of the ways in which he tried to combat us was to make suppliers doubt our solvency
and our chances of survival – compared to the good old reliable Ulf Bolighus. After I had
opened shop no. 3 in Aalborg, he called our supplier HUMA-LAMA - who had all along been
MinusService’s biggest supplier of mattresses, quilts, sleeping bags etc. – for a meeting. He
wanted to find out who they wanted to do business with in future. Hans Oluf Thøgersen,
who was the owner of the factory, insisted that I should also participate in the meeting and
so I did. Jørgen Olsen from MinusService explained his views and told us about their many
years of working together and security of payment and said that now Mr Thøgersen had to
make a choice. Either he could stick to what was safe, i.e. MinusService and stop all deliveries
to Jysk Sengetøjslager, or else there would be no more working together.
The manufacturer from Thy – a man of few words – thought it over for a couple of minutes
while I sat terrified of losing my biggest and best supplier. Then he got up, shook hands with
Jørgen Olsen and said: ”Thank you for having done business with me” and after another
couple of minutes of silence he continued: ”And if you ever have any regrets, you’re always
welcome to do business with me again”. After that he elaborated on his decision by explaining
that he could not run his factory under conditions where his customers decided with whom
he could do business. “You may be the biggest and the financially strongest today – but what
about tomorrow! By then you may not be around anymore, and Jysk Sengetøjslager will have
found another supplier – then who will be left holding the baby!” He was right – shortly after
55
H E LLO M
Y NAM
E I S LA R S LA R S E N
2 kids who can now celebrate their JYSK silver jubilee. Jacob is busy on the platform and eMtte
is patiently waiting for more goods for shop no. 4 in Skalborg – the whole family helped out
this, lUf Bolighus decided to close the 3M
inusService shops. Today JYSK makes purchases
amounting to more than DKK 100 million a year from HU
M
A-LAM
A. Incidentally, Jørgen
Olsen started working for JYSK shortly after this, and he’s still here.
But Purchasing Is Done By the Dozen…!
This sort of blackmail of our suppliers was not an isolated case- on the contrary. All our
competitors tried to employ heavy-handed methods and, in several cases, they managed to
scare them away so that we had to find other suppliers – often abroad. It was hard, but at
the same time it also made us strong – we found brand new sources to purchase from. Often
far better and cheaper than what Denmark could offer. I will never forget my first shopping
trip abroad – in o
P rtugal. I bought towels for 6 shops and I bought plenty of them as they
56
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
were much cheaper than in Denmark. I splashed out and bought 6,000 bath towels and
12,000 towels. That was a lot – a huge amount – for so few shops. But… this was not the
end of my first shopping trip abroad… When they were delivered and I was to pay for them,
there were suddenly 12 times as many – i.e. 72,000 bath towels and 144.000 towels… They
explained to me that it was common practice to use dozens in the wholesale industry and
not, as I thought, individual itemss. This was the first time I needed my bank’s understanding
of the necessity to borrow money on my goods. It was also at this point that I realised that I’d
need many more shops – very fast – and that’s what I got. I also managed to sell the towels
– it took me about a year…
New Employee Did not Have Time to Come for an Interview
At the same time I came up with the idea of giving my customers a free Christmas present – a
towel. We also gave these to our customers when we opened a new shop.
For the opening of the shop on Store Torv in Århus I hired a small young man from
Videbæk in Western Jutland. One of my suppliers had told me that a bright kid was working
at a soft furnishings shop in Ringkøbing. I gave
him a call and asked if he could come to Aalborg
for an interview. ”No, I don’t have time for that
– and since you’re the one who wants to talk to
me, how about if we meet in Ringkøbing”. So
we did. Even though I was short of time, I still
felt that I had to spend half a day on this selfassured kid. It did not take us many minutes to
find out that we got on well together and, just
over a month later, 21-year old Åge Nielsen
started at shop no. 6 in Århus. When I was
about to start up in Zealand, I asked him if
he could come along for a few weeks to help
with the opening. He accepted that – and
never returned to Århus. He agreed to stay
there and help teach my Zealand personnel
to work in the JYSK way. He did it so well
that he later became a regional manager for
Zealand.
Åge Nielsen from Videbæk via Århus to Germany
57
Was in Charge of Germany – Without Speaking any German
Later he was also sent to Germany to start up Jysk Sengetøjslager down there. He did tell
me that that he did not speak any German – but I though he could learn it as he went along.
Oh well, he said – it wasn’t as if they understood me when I started working in Zealand. Åge
came from Western Jutland and people there often had problems understanding his dialect.
In Germany he also had major language problems at first. There was no time for intensive
language training, so he had to so some hands-on private studying. For instance, he became
cross at an employee and told him somewhat exasperatedly: ”Günther – du bist ein Voll”.
What does that mean, Günther asked. Then Åge showed him a milk carton, which was on
the table and pointed to a cow, which was shown on the carton. Åge did not know what a
fool or idiot was called in German, so he chose to call him a cow. However, Vollmilch doesn’t
mean cow’s milk but whole milk, and that all added to the misunderstanding. But Åge has
learned German and he has opened 450 shops in Germany. Over the next 5 years he is to
open another 450. It was probably a good thing that I was not too proud to spend half a day
in Ringkøbing. Anyway, with all those towels in stock and a huge foreign debt at pretty much
extortionate rates of interest, we hastily had to move on. However, we only opened those 6
shops in the first year.
Christmas Party with Partners and Big Names
We finished off the first year with a big Christmas party at St. Binderup Hotel. A convenient
location right between Aalborg and Århus, so that everybody had to travel the same distance
to get there. To save money on transport costs, everybody filled up their cars with quilts,
pillows and many other things (see photo) that one shop perhaps needed and another was
able to spare.
It was a, nice, big Christmas party, and I had invited partners along and provided
accommodation. I felt that this was the least I could do for all these wonderful employees,
who were working hard, day and night, to make the company work. In this way I could show
them my gratitude. This was in 1979 and there were 38 of us.
I have continued this tradition ever since. In 2003 we will be about 8000 people – about
1500 in Denmark, 4000 in Germany, 1000 in Sweden, 600 in Norway, 400 in Finland etc.
Everybody stays the night at a hotel and we have a big gala party in the evening with the
biggest names in music for entertainment. In Denmark, for example, we have had bands like
Bamses Venner, Kim Larsen, Shu Bi Dua, Sanne Salomonsen, Poul Krebs, Sweethearts, Big Fat
Snake, Thomas Helmig, Michael Learns To Rock, Lars Lilholt, D.A.D. etc. In Norway, Sweden
58
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
and Finland distances are so great that many people have to be flown in for the party… a
costly affair – but, of course, everybody should get the chance to participate. All in all the
party costs me many millions. However, just as I did in 1979 with 38 people, I still feel that
it is money well spent. It is, in fact, my only chance of meeting all my lovely employees and
thanking them for their hard work through the year. Unfortunately, I do not have time to go
to the party in every country, but my capable managers take over instead.
Native Help with Starting up n Zealand
It’s now 1980 and we need to get all my towels sold. So we open branch 7 in Kolding in May
and, soon afterwards, branches 8 and 9 in Hjørring – a bit of an experiment with a shop in
the centre of town and a shop outside of town. It had worked out well in Aalborg and Århus.
Now I wanted to try the same in a smaller town. However, it was never successful and after a
couple of years I closed the shop in the centre and expanded the other one by several square
metres, and that improved business immensely in Hjørring.
We also opened up no. 10 in Viborg and no. 11 in Frederikshavn in 1980, after which
we took a deep breath and prepared to conquer Copenhagen. Frederikshavn was in fact
an existing shop that I bought and carried on – although I changed the name. This was
yet another experiment to test different types of expansion. But it was to be an isolated
59
occurrence. Since then I have never spent money on taking over existing shops. It was much
cheaper to set them up myself.
At the end of 1980 I started preparing for our biggest venture by far – the opening of the
first Jysk Sengetøjslager in Zealand – and in Copenhagen itself at that. I did not know the
Danish capital very well and therefore chose to employ someone who was born and bred in
Copenhagen…
I had previously met Mads Jul at a purchasing fair in Cologne while I was still working
for MinusService, and he wanted to be part of this exciting adventure. First he had to learn
the Jutland dialect. So he helped open Viborg and Frederikshavn, before he was to stand on
his own feet in Copenhagen. I have to admit that I was somewhat uneasy at the thought
of having a Zealander run a JYSK shop. After all they were not quite like us – they did many
things faster than us – they made decisions faster and even spoke faster. I just hoped he
wouldn’t get carried away. However, I was willing to give it a chance. At this point I had
realised that I could not look after all the shops myself anyway – no matter how badly I
wanted to. Of course, I also contemplated sending a true Jutlander there – but after careful
consideration I decided that it probably would be wisest to use a native Copenhagener. After
all, they probably knew better how things worked there, and so I hired Mads – with all the
joy and sorrow that it brought along – but mainly joy, though.
Mads Jul quickly found some nice premises on the road to Roskilde, Roskildevej, in Valby.
I asked him to measure the shop front, so that we could get some quotes. To avoid standing
on a ladder for hours, Mads thought he could do the measuring from the pavement – instead
of crawling up high – practical, easy and convenient… So he crawled down the pavement
on Roskildevej and turned the folding ruler over and over again, until another Copenhagener
passed him, stopped and looked at Mads, and then said: ”That’s a waste of time, mate – it’s
exactly 32.6 km to Roskilde”. I needed quotes for the signs – and to be certain to get the right
price, I asked for prices from both Zealand and Jutland sign companies. Quite contrary to my
expectations, a Zealander was the cheapest.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Professional Sign Writer with His Wife’s Hairdryer
So I had a talk with HL Skilte and explained to Henning Larsen about our quality demands.
Back then we painted the Jysk Sengetøjslager logo on the inside of the windows and I was
somewhat uneasy about it as it was to be done in January – with frost outside and heating
inside – and there was no double glazing. So there was lots of condensation on the windows,
”Oh, no problem at all” Henning Larsen answered, ”we’ll just put up plenty of heating guns
next to the windows while we paint and leave them there until the paint is totally dry”.
Brilliant, I thought – I’ll give the job to him, even though it did sound a touch too cheap…
A few days before the opening I then came to Copenhagen, to check up on the sign writer,
among other things. I was met by quite a sight – the paint was running down the windows
and the sign writer was running about frantically with his wife’s hairdryer – the so-called
heating guns. However, there wasn’t time to find either heating guns or a new sign writer, so
we agreed that it would have to be fixed once the weather got warmer. He did fix it to my
What do you give a good friend who has everything?
In my time as a tour operator, I chose to give Henning Larsen a plane – I was certain he did not have
one of those. On the way down the street one of the wings hit a parked car. The car owner later told
me that it caused him quite a lot of trouble to fill out the claims form for the insurance company
– in a credible and convincing way
61
complete satisfaction and he has in fact made all the signs for my shop fronts ever since. That
means several thousands of them – and without any paint running…So I guess this is a case
of ”practice makes perfect” and by now he can probably afford a couple of heating guns…
and his wife has got her hairdryer back.
And We Had a Queue – Almost All the Way to Roskilde
So on January 28th, 1981 at 1.00 pm we had a reception at Jysk Sengetøjslager, Roskildevej
152, 2500 Valby. This was a concept I did not really know from Jutland. However, it was
common practice here in Zealand, Mads Jul assured me. Oh well, I thought, if that’s what it
takes, we had better do it. So all our friends, family and suppliers as well as all the staff we
could spare from Jutland were invited. Since they were in the capital anyway, they might as
well stay for a few days and lend a hand with the opening. And we certainly needed that. On
Thursday January 29th, 1981 at 8.00 am we opened the world’s first Jysk Sengetøjslager in
Zealand. You could certainly say that we packed them in. It seemed as if all of Copenhagen
and the surrounding areas had never been able to buy furnishings before. There were
thousands of people queuing up on Roskildevej – as far as you could see – but possibly not
the entire 32.6 km to Roskilde. However, there were so many people that we had to let people
in in shifts all day – and the next day – and the next week. In fact, we had a queue for the
whole of the first month. Fortunately, I had covered myself with regard to goods, as I had
rented a multi-storey car park under the building and filled it up with goods from floor to
ceiling… Our success was in the bag. We had taken Zealand by storm. So once things had
calmed down a bit, we continued conquering other towns in Zealand.
First it was no. 13 in Køge – then no. 15 in Holbæk – nr. 16 in Lyngby etc. and in between
that we also found the time to expand the chain in Jutland and Funen. No. 14 was in Esbjerg,
no. 17 in Silkeborg, no. 18 in Støvring, no. 19 at Østerbro in Copenhagen, no. 20 in Fredericia,
and then it was Funen with a big shop right next to Bilka in Odense. After that came Roskilde
and another couple of shops in Odense before we opened shop no. 25 in Vejle on 1st April
1982. Exactly 3 years after opening the first shop. A tremendous pace that would take
most people’s breath away – but not us – we had a great time. Even though we worked 18
hours a day – and slept the other 6 hours – usually in a shop as it was the most convenient
– there were plenty of beds, mattresses and quilts. There was no point in wasting time going
somewhere else to spend the night – and last but not least, it was by far the cheapest.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Gunner NU between the quilts at the opening in Valby
Gunnar NU Commented on Me and My Wife in the Double Bed
On the opening day in Copenhagen I made a deal with the famous Danish sports reporter
Gunnar Nu Hansen. He came early in the morning to entertain all the customers who queued
up. This turned out to be so popular that I continued this tradition for as long as his health
allowed. I especially remember opening no. 25 in Vejle, where we had had a small ”jubilee
celebration” the previous evening. It was shop no. 25 and 3 years since it all started. I thought
it was time to celebrate. So we did – probably a bit too much, because when Gunnar Nu
turned up at 7.00 am to tell all the waiting customers about his life in the world of sport, my
wife Kris and I were sleeping in a show bed, right in front of all the expectant and somewhat
surprised customers who probably thought it was a rather untraditional type of marketing.
However, Gunnar Nu made a joke of it, so that everybody had a great time and were fully
convinced that it was all staged for their sake.
63
After opening the first 25 shops we had a break to have the whole organisation adjusted
and streamlined. We really needed that, as all our systems were lagging behind because
we had concentrated all our energy on opening shops. The more shops we had, the more
systems we needed. In Viborg I had a competent mature manager and I quickly realised there
was a lot more to him than that – Kaj Larsen – former air traffic controller and independent
shop keeper. I put him in charge of getting things into shape. He set himself up at home
in his private villa in Viborg. From there he made information cards for all products – and
gave them consecutive numbers. One card per article with all information: the name of the
supplier, the quality of the article, cost price and retail price etc. Basically everything about
the articles, so that all our employees could look things up and get all the information they
needed. Until then all our information pretty much only existed in my head, which was rather
impractical, when 100 other employees needed it. Kaj Larsen also organised an in-house
weekly newspaper, so that all our employees were kept informed about what was happening
in the rapidly growing company.
The Building Up of the Warehouse – and the Fire
Jørgen Olsen – my old rival from MinusService – was appointed warehouse manager. This was
another post that we had not had before. Until then we only had various small warehouses
here and there. Now everything was brought together in Støvring for North Jutland, in Vejle
for the rest of Jutland and Funen and in the multi-storey car park under the shop in Valby for
Zealand. I hired an old colleague from my days as a curtain fitter to help me with this big job
– Hans Jørgen Jensen, who I had in fact asked if he wanted to open a bedding shop while
we were still working as curtain fitters. He was very interested and we also went to look at
premises, but when it came close to reality he backed out and instead started up his own little
curtain shop, ”Jensen Gardiner”, in Aalborg. He had this for a few years while I was working
for MinusService and he then closed it a year after I started up Jysk Sengetøjslager. I then
asked him if he wanted to become a warehouse manager – and he has been one ever since.
Now he would like to buy half of JYSK – but he has some difficulty raising the money for it.
The job of warehouse manager quickly turned out to be a bit of a challenge. It was time
for Jørgen Olsen to move on within the system and he was promoted to regional manager
for Central and North Jutland. Hans Jørgen Jensen then took over as a warehouse manager
and was to find room and systems for more and more goods – in fact almost a doubling
– every single year. With the heavy expansion in Zealand, the multi-storey car park soon
became too small, so I had to find bigger premises. So I bought a huge 5000 m2 warehouse
in Copenhagen – close to HC Ørstedsværket. Now we thought that we had plenty of space
64
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
A sad sight from the fire at our central warehouse in Vejle
for many years ahead. But no, crazy Larsen continued opening new shops at a tremendous
speed and purchasing more and more goods. We quickly filled up the 5000 m2 – and then
experienced one of the biggest disasters in the company’s history. In the middle of the night
of 6-7 April 1986 I was woken up by a phone call from the police in Vejle: ”You have to
come straight away, your shop and central warehouse are on fire”. Kris and I rushed from
Silkeborg to Vejle and were praying that the damage would be limited. But we were soon to
find out otherwise – 20 km from Vejle we could see the fire lighting up the sky – and most
of Vejle and the surrounding area. When we got there, only the ruins were left – everything
had burned down – the shop, the central warehouse and all the goods. The total value was
about DKK 20 million – a major shock. But JYSK had to go on, so we had to come up with
an emergency plan along with warehouse manager Hans Jørgen Jensen. By this time our
central warehouse in Støvring had been closed down and Hans Jørgen was now convinced
that it was better to live in Vejle than in North Jutland, so that he could direct all our troops in
Jutland and Funen from there. Now everything was gone – all we had left was our warehouse
in Copenhagen. So there was no other way – Hans Jørgen and his colleagues had to go to
Copenhagen to pack goods for the shops in Jutland and Funen. This was not just for a short
period of time - it lasted for almost a year while we were building a new and much bigger
central warehouse in Vejle.
65
A relaxed warehouse manager - Hans Jørgen Jensen
A year where our work ethic was really
tested – and it passed the test. Almost
everybody agreed to work almost 24 hours
a day, 4 days a week, and then have 3 days
off. A major disruption to the daily lives of
many families. A time that none of us will
ever forget. But neither will we forget the
following year when we were able to start
using a brand new warehouse. We had a
total of 8000 m2. Now we had plenty of
space – we thought. However, it did not
take more than 2 years before we had to
triple the warehouse. It has been like that
ever since and today we have 2.6 million
m3 of warehouses all over Europe.
Signwriting, Shoplifter and Shared Shower
I helped set up the first 50 shops myself – everything from renting the premises to purchasing
and decorating the shop – I even wrote the signs. Not very nice ones, but they were legible. It
was most practical for me to do that because I knew every single item as I had bought it myself.
There were a number of funny episodes during that time. For instance when Yrsa, a manager in
Århus, chased after a shoplifter and caught him in the big square, Store Torv. She knocked him
over and sat on him, while she was shouting out for help. He tried to escape, but Yrsa would not
let him so she beat him until the police arrived and arrested him. They then informed Yrsa that
she was not allowed to beat up shoplifters, as she could be charged with assault… When we
opened the shop in Viborg, we had also been working all night and only just managed to have a
shower and some coffee before opening the doors at 9.00 am. We talked about the customers
in Viborg being more impatient than anywhere else as they were knocking on the doors and
windows. We had never experienced anything like that before… It was not until around 8.30
when we went outside to serve coffee and Danish pastry – as we always did when we opened
a new shop – that we discovered the reason for their impatience. We had forgotten that the
advertisement said we opened at 8.00 am. We thought it was 9.00 am…
In Holbæk there were 12 of us who decorated the shop in the course of 3 days, and I
quickly realised that it would be a rather costly affair if everybody lived at a hotel. So we
decided that we could easily stay at the shop, even though there were no bathing facilities
66
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
just a toilet and a washbasin. It went well for the 3 days while we worked ourselves to the
bone 18 hours a day. However, the evening before opening the shop I decided that we ought
to have a bath the next morning before opening. So I went to a hotel close by and booked
one hotel room and asked carefully at the reception whether it would be possible for ”a few”
friends to come in the next morning and have a bath in my room… Yes, of course they can,
the friendly receptionist said. Early the next morning the first person arrived with a toilet bag
and a towel under their arm to see Lars Larsen, a little later the next person – and the next
– and the next – and it continued like that for a couple of hours… Along the way the nice
receptionist became increasingly annoyed and after a while she called my room to ask me
how many friends I had… As far as I remember, I got carried away and I promised her some
extra money for using up so much hot water… That way everybody was clean and newly
washed for the opening of branch 14 in Holbæk.
The Moneybag Disappeared – Again and Again
We went out for dinner on Vesterbrogade in Copenhagen in the evening after a good
opening. We partied until late in the night and as usual I paid for it all and so I brought along
a small leather bag – filled with nice Danish bank notes – about DKK 25,000 in cash. It was
before debit cards came along. The money was not just for partying, but was used for paying
all the expenses that occurred in connection with opening up a new shop, even though we
did not live at a hotel. When I woke up the next morning, the leather bag and the money
Today JYSK has 2.6 million cubic metres of storage space in Europe
67
was gone… At first I thought that I had misplaced it in the shop when we came back late at
night. So all our employees started looking for it – at the office – under the quilts – etc. – etc.
– without any result. In the end somebody suggested that perhaps I had forgotten it at one
of the pubs we had visited over the evening… Unthinkable, I thought, but he still managed
to persuade me to come along down to the small side streets in the Vesterbro area to ask
if anybody had found a small grey leather bag… I felt it was a waste of time as the places
we had visited the previous night did not exactly have the best of reputations. However, the
sceptical Jutlander realised that, even in the darkest part of Vesterbro, honest people could
be found. At the fourth or fifth place we visited, a cleaning lady was getting things ready
for the next crowd. We asked after the infamous bag, somewhat resignedly, and then she
pulled it out from behind the counter and asked if this was the one. I jubilantly confirmed
that it was. I also told her that my driving license was in there – along with a lot of receipts
for all the things I had bought over the past couple of days – and hopefully a big wad of bank
notes… She opened it and confirmed that it was mine… and that all the money was there.
She had found it under a table while she was cleaning. I asked her what she wanted as her
reward… Nothing, she said, with a smile… However, I would not accept that and put some
nice big bank notes on the counter. After that I went happily back to the shop and told them
that they could stop looking…
In fact I had a lot of trouble with that bag… In 1988 I was with a bunch of colleagues
who went to Germany for Euro 1988. Our bus pulled in at a big service area so that we could
get some food, and there were at least 100 people in the cafeteria. When we were full up, I
went to the counter to pay for our food and then we continued south… After half an hour of
driving I discovered that my bag was gone… And after having checked the bus systematically,
I realised that I must have forgotten it at the cafeteria. Then I had to make the sad journey to
the driver and explain the situation to him. Here is the microphone – so you can try and see if
you can persuade the majority of the passengers to accept turning back and driving back for
half an hour – and then another half an hour of driving to get back to where we are now… I
managed to persuade them by buttering them up with a few cases of beer. When we made
it back, I ran into the cafeteria, and contrary to reason my bag was still on the counter – and
the contents certainly matched those from Vesterbro. That meant a couple of cases of extra
beer for my patient fellow passengers… But Denmark lost the preliminary games… In spite
of losing I felt fine for the rest of the trip, though.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
The Jutlanders Didn’t Know Where They Were
Then there’s the story of the opening in Slagelse. We finished decorating the shop early for
a change. So Åge Nielsen and I went to Copenhagen to take care of some business. We did
not finish until late at night and so we decided to take the first hotel we passed and then
get up early to drive to Slagelse, so that we could be there early before opening. We must
have worked too hard, because we did not wake up until an hour before the shop was due
to open. First of all needed a taxi to go to our car, which was parked somewhere else in
Copenhagen. Åge jumped out of bed and immediately called a taxi – not via the reception, as
he was worried it would take too long. Instead he called a taxi driver he knew. He quickly got
through on the phone, but then his problems started… He took the phone to the window,
opened it and leaned out so far that I was worried he’d fall out of the window – and this was
the fourth floor. He looked right and then left and then he came back in from the window
again and said, ”one moment”. He jumped into his trousers and shirt, ran out the door
and ran down and back up four floors in 30 seconds. Then he jubilantly told the taxi driver
where we were. It turned out that during the night we had just taken the first hotel to hand
69
– without knowing where we were – so it was a bit difficult for a taxi to pick us up… We did
not make it to the opening, but fortunately we had some competent people who were able
to take over… They had tried it before…
In Randers the customers were very impatient. They simply could not wait until 8.00 in the
morning, so they took what they needed themselves – in the middle of the night while we
were sleeping in the shop… They had taken out a window and sneaked around between us
while we were sleeping… Without a single one of us waking up… I guess you can say that
when we weren’t working – we were sleeping… and very heavily…
Did Her Shopping on a Trolley
It was also in Randers that we had a hencoop ladder down to a storeroom in the basement.
While decorating the shop, a young employee had stacked pillows and quilts in high piles
around the drop – without anybody noticing. The first person to notice it was a customer
who leaned too far in over the pile to get the best quilt – and suddenly she found herself
in the basement… Fortunately with a stack of quilts underneath. We immediately called an
ambulance. They got her up and put her on a trolley, but on the way to the ambulance it was
confirmed just how attractive our offers at JYSK are. The customer insisted on taking along
her quilt… The paramedics had to wait with the lady on the trolley until we had wrapped the
quilt… In fact I don’t think we made her pay for it.
At Amagerbrogade in Copenhagen we finished early for a change and our dear sign writer
- the guy with the heating guns - invited us home to his place for dinner. Later in the evening
my man in Zealand got tired and fell asleep. One of my employees from JYSK, Erik Hyllested,
thought we should have a little fun at Mads’ expense. Now, this was a sign writer we were
visiting, so he found some pens in different colours and painted Mads’ face. When we went
back to the shop later in the evening, we took away all the mirrors without him noticing.
Next morning he washed and probably wondered why there was no mirror in the bathroom.
Before the opening he went for a little walk down Amagerbrogade. Perhaps he should have
wondered about all the attention he was getting, and especially when he met the caretaker of
the property, who instantly asked him: ”Why on earth does your face look like that?” To this
Mads Jul answered: ”Oh well – perhaps we overdid the partying a bit last night”. ”Yes – you
could certainly say so. Your face is all blue, yellow, green, red and black”. ”Is it really that bad?”
Mads asked – and then went back to the shop and eventually managed to find a mirror. So
someone had to get busy scrubbing his face, before he started selling quilts. The plan was for
him to inaugurate the shop and welcome all the expectant customers. After all he was in charge
of Zealand. But, unfortunately, the customers missed out on this colourful feature.
70
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Sweet Revenge
When we opened the shop in Nykøbing, Falster, I did not have time to help with the
decorating and had left this job to the colourful Mads Jul and Åge Nielsen – the guy with
the homemade German. They did not quite agree on how to do things, as this was the first
time we had decorated a shop over 3 floors. So, when I arrived the day before the opening
and they showed me the result, we had to redo it all. So it looked like there would be no
sleep that night… And yet… We did get a couple of hours’ sleep in the beds on the second
floor. I dare say it was revenge on the part of Mads Jul when he did not wake Åge and I up
– and he had made the rest of the staff play along. They opened the doors fifteen minutes
early and sent the customers to the second floor – no matter what they
actually wanted to buy… And here they
were met by 2 drowsy shop assistants
who were still in bed – wearing only their
underwear. But, of course, weren’t going
to let someone from Copenhagen get away
with that. When it was time to open the
shop in Ballerup and we finished the shop
around 8 pm the day before, we went to
Copenhagen to have dinner and a good time
before the big opening the next morning. I
do no know whether the long working days
were too hard for Mads Jul, because once
again he fell asleep – in the restaurant. That’s It took a long time before IT made it to JYSK.
when Åge and I decided to revenge ourselves Until 1998 all products were ordered using
a telephone and these cards.
for his stunt in Nykøbing Falster.
We paid the bill and quietly left – without
waking Mads up. Being Jutlanders who had finally made it to Copenhagen, we also wanted
to see a bit of the nightlife. So we did not return to the shop until late at night to get a couple
of hours of sleep before opening at 9.00 am. The first person we met outside the shop was
Mads Jul, in his shirtsleeves, blue with cold. When he woke up in the restaurant and we were
gone, he became so perplexed that he forgot his coat and took a taxi to Ballerup. It dropped
him off outside the shop, and it was not until after the taxi was gone that he noticed he
had forgotten his coat where he had the key to the shop… There he was on a dark and cold
winter night. With no coat – and this was before mobile phones came along – and the nearest
house was several kilometres away as the shop was located in an uninhabited industrial area.
So Mads decided to seek shelter behind a waste container and wait for us – in snow and
71
frost. He did have to wait a couple of hours until we had seen enough of the capital. When
we saw big, strong Mads there – totally chilled to the bone – we were fully convinced that
he would beat us up. But on the contrary - Mads was wild with joy that now he could now
get some heat.
That ought to be the end of that story… but no. In Ballerup we tried sharing premises with
another shop for the first time – and we also shared the entrance. Now when you went to
bed late after having seen Copenhagen by night, you did not want to get up too early. So I
crawled into one of the beds in the shop, set the alarm for 8.30 am and put my clothes next
to the bed. I knew that the advertisement said we opened at 9.00 am. However, I did not
realise that the shop next door opened at 8.00 am. As we shared the entrance, the customers
also poured into JYSK – and there I was sleeping in the shop surrounded by customers and
wearing no clothes. What’s worse - my clothes were gone, so it was a desperate situation.
I dived down under the quilt and waited for one of the employees to help me out of this
embarrassing episode. Finally, Claus came to the bed and I whispered to him to get my clothes
at the back of the shop. Claus was only 15 and had come along from Jutland to help out,
so of course I expected him to instantly go and get them. But I was soon to learn otherwise.
He merely laughed and shook his head. The more I cursed, the more he laughed. He had
absolutely no mercy on me. In the end I had to wrap up in the quilt and sneak out at the back
of the shop, very embarrassed. I never found out whether Mads Jul was involved in this – but
I think it is quite likely…
It was not just when we went out that Mads would fall asleep. When we were about to
open branch no. 16 in Lyngby, I was running late with the signs and so I asked Mads to help
me. That went well for the first couple of hours, but later that night I could tell that Mads was
getting tired. So, I kept on talking to him to keep him awake. That went well until he suddenly
stopped answering my silly questions. Then I heard a great thud – and Mads, who weighted
120 kg, was lying on the floor with the pen in his hand and was fast asleep. He actually stayed
there until we opened the shop – and no, we did not leave him there for the customers to
wake him up, although it was very tempting.
72
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
All of the Larsen family under the quilt - Jacob, Kris, Lars and Mette
The Customers in Lyngby Had a Lie in
I also remember the opening in Lyngby as a disaster as there was not a single customer
waiting to be let in - and we were used to several hundred customers rushing into the shop. I
looked up and down Lyngby Hovedgade. There was not a single customer to be seen. I called
the newspaper to make sure that it had not come out the previous day – indeed it had. It was
not until around 10 am that customers started showing up, and by closing time we had had
a tremendous turnover. I never found out what the reason was, but just noted that people in
Lyngby will not get up early mere because a guy from Jutland offers them some bargains. No,
they did not do their shopping until after 10 am when other places like Lyngby Storcenter and
Magasin opened. Nor did the fine citizens like the blue and white carrier bag from JYSK. So
they would bring along a yellow-striped carrier bag. They thought it looked more at home in
the neighbourhood. However, all that happened 20 years ago. Today it is fashionable to be
economical – even in Lyngby.
73
My first cheque for more than DKK 1 million . Mr Ankerstjerne rushed to the bank
the same day to cash it. ”Just in case!” he later explained
Paid Taxi with Anti-asthma Quilt
When it was time for Varde, some of us went to Esbjerg by taxi the evening before the
opening to experience the nightlife. We must have had a good time because it did not occur
to anybody to go home until our pockets were empty – and then we were in trouble. How
were we going to get back to Varde – without any money? After some discussion we decided
to get a taxi and find a payment solution once we got there. The lady who drove us turned
out to be nice and talkative. She knew all about the bargains Jysk Sengetøjslager had, as she
had been reading about them while she was waiting in the taxi. She was somewhat worried
that the anti-asthma quilt she had picked out would be sold out by the time she got up after
working all night. We exchanged looks and asked her how much a trip from Esbjerg to Varde
would cost us – and it happened to match the price of an anti-asthma quilt. So we had our
first customer in Varde at 3.30 am… People from Western Jutland are certainly easy to do
business with – 24 hours a day.
74
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
In the morning, I was definitely not ready for getting up. The manager, Erling, tried to
wake me up several times – all in vain. After wondering what to do, he had a brilliant idea.
When we came back in the middle of the night, I had just grabbed a mattress in the mattress
department and gone to sleep. So he decided to move a couple of rows of mattresses and
then pushed the mattress with me on it against the wall – and then put some mattresses
around the outside… So I was well hidden – he thought. However, as fate would have it, less
than an hour after the opening, a customer needed a specific size and started rummaging
about in the mattresses until she reached a ”dead” man… Then I was woken up by a scream
that could be heard all over the shop – and the southern part of Varde.
When we opened up a new shop, we always bought quite a lot of tools, lists, screws,
nails etc. We also needed to do that in Bornholm. So I drove to the nearby DIY centre, found
the necessary items and took them to the till. Here I explained to them who I was and said
that we normally got a 20% discount as we would eventually become a big customer and
would regularly be needing things from the DIY centre. So it would be easiest if we settled
the “trade discount” once and for all… I talked to the boss himself, so he was probably used
to such discounts… He was… ”Don’t you want 30 or 40%”? he said smiling… I suddenly
looked very perplexed… ”What do you mean”? I asked carefully… ”Well, I have just built a
couple of summer houses to let out and I need an awful lot of furnishings – and I assume I will
get the same discount at JYSK as you get from me”… I certainly learned my lesson. I paid full
price – and in fact so did he when he came to buy the furnishings… Ever since that opening
in Bornholm, I have never asked for a discount in any type of retail shop.
The Bookkeeper Refused to Acknowledge Larsen
When I had bought the big central warehouse in Copenhagen and the warehouse in Vejle had
burned down – and the employees from JYSK worked themselves to the bone round the clock
– I wanted to cheer them up with a trip to Copenhagen by night. It went well, and later that
night I sent them home to their shared flat and I went back to the warehouse to sleep – or so
I thought. There was just one problem. I had forgotten that the warehouse was supervised.
So, when I had almost fallen asleep, I was woken up by a man who was shining his torch into
my face, and the cold nose of a German shepherd sniffing at me. I have to admit it was a bit
of a shock. What are you doing here, the night watch asked me, while the German shepherd
was growling. I had to try to explain to him who I was. Nowadays it would be a piece of cake.
However, back in 1986 nobody had heard of a Mr Lars Larsen who claimed to be the owner of
Jysk Sengetøjslager. Yeah right – and I’m His Royal Highness Prince Henrik, he said, and explained
to me that I had to prove that I was in fact part of JYSK. It turned out to be more difficult than
75
expected. I could easily prove that I was Lars Larsen,
but proving my affiliation with JYSK was tricky. After
some consideration - while the German shepherd
continued to growl and the night watchman was
starting to do so as well – I had the brilliant idea
– or so I thought – of calling my financial director
Erik Bredahl, who would be able to confirm my
identity to the night watchman. I managed to wake
him up – or so I thought – so I handed over the
phone to the guard so that they could have a chat.
But it was a very short conversation. The night
watchman and the German shepherd started
growling even more, and then he suggested that
I had better accompany him while he made a call
to the police. But couldn’t Mr Bredahl confirm
my identity? Not exactly. His only comment
before hanging up was – I’ve never heard of
Erik Bredahl was my first financial director
him! Bredahl was a jolly fellow who loved taking
the mickey out of us, but this was getting out of
hand. However, another call did help find a solution.
Bought Back the Shares
The very same Erik Bredahl did all the bookkeeping and financial management from day one.
At first there were 12-15 small companies he was helping out. However, as JYSK grew bigger,
his Økonomicenter got fewer and fewer customers, as he did not take on any new customers.
JYSK alone gave him plenty of work. In 1983 I bought his company so that they only had to
concentrate on JYSK. At the same time I bought out my 2 partners, so that I had all the shares.
I was also fully aware that economics was not my strong side. So I decided to sell 10% of the
shares to Erik Bredahl, so that I was covered on this front. I also needed more capital for our
further expansion. I had paid back my debt in England and did not want to borrow money
again at an interest rate of 25%. Once again I found a good solution at Nørresundby Bank.
They bought 10% of the shares and we agreed that I could buy them back any time. I had
made the same deal with Erik Bredahl, but I could only buy back his shares if he decided to
leave the company. He did, around 1990. I have never found out why he quit. My guess is that
he did not want us to get involved in the travel business, but he never told me the reason.
76
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
It came as quite a shock to me when he decided to leave the firm. Fortunately, I had made
an agreement with him that he would remain at the company until he had found a suitably
qualified replacement and educated him in every aspect of the company. He chose Hans
Henrik Kjølby, and as he still holds the purse strings as the group finance director, I guess you
can say that it was a good choice. Today I still take my hat off to Erik Bredahl’s loyalty to the
company, even after he had decided to leave us. In fact, he stayed on for another year until
he let Hans Henrik take over. It may have been part of our agreement, but often agreements
like that crumble away, once people have decided to leave their posts.
I bought back his shares and the bank’s shares when my finances allowed it. So, once again,
I have 100% of all our shares – and I hope it stays that way for many more generations.
A Fun Job with Billiards and Table Tennis
When I started up in 1979, I decided to have the purchasing office in my basement at home in
Aalborg. That meant I could spend some time with the family every now and then. When I was
not away opening new shops, I spent most of the time purchasing goods. In the basement
there was room for both billiards and table tennis, and when sales persons came to see me
these big tables were, in fact, very handy for samples. Often when we had finished doing
business at the end of the day – or early evening - and all the samples had been packed away,
we had a game of billiards or table tennis. When there were no suppliers present, I relaxed on
the phone – with my legs up on the desk while I was talking to shops, sales persons, banks,
accountants, financial representatives and many other people. In the middle of all of this, my
son Jacob would be running about and took
part in his own way from when he was 5 years
old. One day when he was 8 or9 years old,
he told me that he wanted to do the same as
his father when he grew up. Of course I was
proud of that and asked him to elaborate a
bit. ”Well” – he said, “It must be a fun job
– all you do is play billiards and table tennis
– and the rest of the time you just sit there
with your legs up on the table”. Today the
table tennis and billiard tables are gone, but in
spite of that Jacob has stuck to his childhood
dreams and has become a purchasing director
at JYSK. In doing so, he has taken over a large At the office with my personal assistants Mette and Jacob
77
part of his father’s job – and father and
son are both pleased about that.
You could say that he is well
prepared for the job. As well as having
familiarised himself with the purchasing
job since his childhood when he was
present when his father did the
purchasing, he also came along when
we were decorating shops. Later, he
got a job as a window cleaner at our
new purchasing office when he was
14. This was when he took his first
marketing initiative. He thought
there would still be time left to do
other companies’ windows and so
he made up a business card with
the slogan: ”If your windows
are dirty – give Jacob a call and
have them cleaned”. However,
he soon lost interest in cleaning
windows; in fact this happened
during the very first winter. It
was more interesting to be inside
the windows, and he has stayed
there ever since. After attending
My first office was in the bedroom
commercial college and passing a
Higher Commercial Examination
he became an apprentice at Jysk Sengetøjslager in Egå. After that he went on to train as an
Academy Economist, before worked in various branches of JYSK – and finally ended up in
the purchasing department. Today he is in charge of all purchasing for JYSK Nordic – and, at
the same time, he is involved in a radical renewal of our marketing techniques, so that we
can keep up with the time in this area. The only thing at JYSK that has not kept up with the
times is prices… I would even dare to say that our prices are cheaper today than they were
25 years ago. Of course, one of the reasons for that is our buying power. Nowadays JYSK
is among the world’s biggest within its field – and so we also get the best prices. This is ab
advantage for the consumer – and an advantage for JYSK, as this power secures us a good
starting position for the future.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
But the Port Was Good
For the first 15 years of the company’s history I was in charge of the purchasing department
and marketing. In Germany my managing director Åge Nielsen did this job (and he actually
still does). I have always felt that it is important for the boss to know everything about his
products – to, actually ”love” them. Through this ”love” he will then be able to market them
in optimal conditions that customers are able to understand.
As well as managing these increasingly bigger purchases from the basement, I also
conducted many purchasing trips all over the world to find the best offers. I always brought
Åge Nielsen along. He made sure that purchasing for Germany was adjusted to German taste
– and he was and still is good at ”thrashing out” a good price. We have always looked after
every single penny – and as quantities have become incredibly big, this is of course increasingly
important. That is actually how we make a living. During the first years we travelled mostly
in Denmark, Germany and Portugal. Portugal in particular was very interesting back then as
they were the cheapest in Europe for towels, bed linen, blankets, bed covers and many other
things. For many years Portugal was one of our most important countries for purchasing
from and we visited the country several times a year – partly for trade fairs, but also to visit
factories. For the first few years Åge Nielsen, my first employee from Copenhagen, Mads Jul,
and I took care of this job.
As previously mentioned, Mads had a tendency to get tired. It even happened once we
went to visit a factory. We were well into negotiations when Mads suddenly fell asleep. The
Portuguese looked somewhat astonished – but I told them that he was my ”sleeping partner”.
At another factory we had purchased a lot and so the sales manager wanted to offer us a very
special port, which the company had had for more than 100 years. Only very special customers
were offered a glass of it. You could tell that it certainly was a very special port he brought us.
The bottle had a fancy silver cork and was dated 1800 something, and it was about half full.
He served us the smallest glass of port we had ever had – and it really was fantastic. In fact it
was so fantastic that when the sales manager went to another room to get some samples, we
poured ourselves yet another glass – and this time generously – and another couple of glasses.
By the time the sales manager came back, we had finished the bottle… We realised just how
expensive it was when he saw the empty bottle. He went all pale and left the room, and in fact
we have never seen him again since then…I do not know whether he was fired or whether he
merely did not wish to see us again. But one thing is certain - we were not very popular, even
though we had purchased goods to the value of several millions…
It was also in Portugal that I realised that the best business could in fact be done on a golf
course… For the first time in the company’s history, we were going to Brazil to see what they
had to offer us. We had purchased a lot from there, but we had never been there and so we
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did not know much about the factories in that huge country. After some days of purchasing
in Portugal, we were going to Brazil on the Monday. On Sundays all factories in Portugal were
closed, so we decided to treat ourselves and went to a golf course. When we were about to
tee off, a man asked if he could play with us – and of course he could. It did not take long
before we got into a conversation with him, and it turned out that he was Portuguese but had
been living in Brazil for the past 15 years. He had made a living from checking soft furnishings
before they were sent to Europe. In fact, he had also checked some of our products. We told
him about our forthcoming trip to Brazil and asked him if he could help us with information
about the factories. A couple of hours after arriving back at the hotel, 8 pages arrived on
the fax machine, with accurate lists of all the most important factories: what each of them
did best, contact persons and even various prices. Invaluable information that it could have
taken us weeks or months to get hold of. So nobody will ever convince me that you can’t do
business on a golf course. However, I rarely mix the two.
If you did not have an order form, the supplier had to settle for what was at hand.
You have to close the deal when you get the chance!
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After 28 Times I Was Cured of My Fear of Flying
It was also on this trip to Brazil that I was cured of my fear of flying – an annoying ”disease”
to suffer from when you were forced to fly constantly. However, on this trip we spent so much
time in the air that I gave up being scared. We took off and
landed no less than 28 times. In fact, my advertising expert
Hans Erik had the same flaw and as he always put it, he was
not afraid of flying – but he was afraid of crashing…
Speaking of flying, I have made several hundred trips
over the years and some people may call it meanness,
but all flights have been on ”Monkey class” – i.e. at the
back of the plane at the cheapest price. I consider it a
completely unnecessary luxury to pay 3-6 times as much
to have a bigger chair on business class or for that matter
first class, as many businessmen do. I have noticed that
we do in fact reach the destination at the same time!
Nowadays we have thousands of essential flights, so it
doesn’t take much to figure out how many millions we
save by doing this.
Similarly, we always book a double room as that is
about half price – and you get to talk to your colleague
”You don’t travel round first class,
instead of being bored in your separate hotel rooms. If in order to buy at the world’s cheapest
some employees insist on having a single room, that is prices.” The interior of our hotel room
no problem – but it will be at a cheaper hotel, where in Frankfurt!
prices are about half the price of the other room. In
fact nobody wants to do that. My philosophy with these savings is that you have to be costconscious at all levels in the organisation. It is no good travelling first class and then purchasing
at the world’s cheapest prices. It just doesn’t add up. If I can save money where possible, I
am sure that my employees can as well… From childhood I have learnt that what you save,
you earn. I would like this way of thinking to pervade the entire company. ”Like master like
man”. I am convinced that this is one of the reasons why JYSK is a well-consolidated company
today, and has the necessary capital to grow even bigger – and so even cheaper – and even
stronger on a worldwide scale.
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Bacon with Parsley Sauce – Now We’re Talking!
On our numerous purchasing trips Åge and I have always shared a room. Apart from it being
cosy and cheap, it has also given us the chance to solve a number of everyday business tasks
– a nice and convenient way of ”killing two birds with one stone”. It was also convenient
when it was time for dinner… and you may ask why. Well, I guess you can say that we’re
both particular about our food – Åge probably a bit more so than me. He always brings
along a portable ”larder”, which we share at the room. There is plenty of rye bread, butter
and cold cuts. It saves us many expensive visits to restaurant and we also get to eat what we
like – and we even get some work done at the same time. However, over the course of time
our suppliers have also learnt about our eating habits and tried to ingratiate themselves with
us by serving us the very finest Danish dishes – almost just like our mothers made them. For
example, I remember an episode in Portugal where a Danish agent wanted to serve us fried
bacon with parsley sauce. He had personally been to the restaurant’s kitchen to teach the
chef how to cook it. But either the chef did not speak any English – or else the agent was a
bad teacher… When we jubilantly sat down at the table, we were served some charred pieces
of fat bacon with cold white gravy and a couple of salted sardines on top. That meant zero
points for both the agent and the chef… The only perfect thing was the ice-cold ”Chablis”
white wine. This was shortly after Larsen Travel had started and I was not able to fill up my
planes to Hawaii due to the Gulf war. So I thought that I’d try to test just how fussy Åge was,
so I offered him a trip to Hawaii if he could eat the food. He couldn’t. Then I offered him 2
trips, 3 trips, and even 4 trips. But no, he did not want to go travelling. After that I offered
him the trips just to eat the sardines… That was not possible either – and he was appointed
the winner among us choosy eaters.
It’s the Details That Count
At a purchasing fair in Frankfurt I had almost agreed with a Danish agent on a lot of goods
and we decided to celebrate with a nice dinner in the evening. But agent Ejstrup also knew
our eating habits – and he tried to exploit this knowledge. He suggested that we doubled
the order if he could serve our favourite dish – ”mock turtle with boiled eggs” - at a German
restaurant in the perfect manner. Of course I was insulted that he exploited our culinary
weaknesses in such a cunning way. However, on the other hand I couldn’t turn down such a
feast after several days of eating German ”sauerkraut” and the like. So I accepted it – but only
on the condition that everything would be absolutely perfect. Søren Ejstrup was a sly fox, so
he had brought along the ready-made dish from Denmark, where he had previously served it
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to us and therefore knew that it tasted just the way we wanted it. So he had in fact prepared
a double order just ready to be signed once we were full. Now he only needed the restaurant
to heat up the mock turtle, boil some eggs, slice them lengthwise and use them as garnish.
The taste was perfect and Søren had the contract ready to be signed.
However, I’m not fooled that easily – orders have to be won through normal business
abilities – and not by using such dirty tricks. So I told him that the dinner was almost perfect,
but there was one serious error so I could not double the order… The eggs had been sliced
crosswise instead of lengthwise! That happened about 15 years ago and we still have mock
turtle at the purchasing fair in Frankfurt. Ever since then the eggs have been sliced in the right
way. However, one year it went all wrong. Søren wanted to do extra well and so he asked
the chef to put plenty of sherry in the mock turtle. However, due to language problems the
chef misunderstood the order and so he put in plenty of chilli instead… It cost us some extra
bottles of red wine to wash it down… and plenty of water.
Even in China they know our eating habits, so we rarely need to bring along our own
”larder”. However, we do bring a little – just in case. For example I remember once when we
went to Indonesia, and a Danish agent who lived there with his family invited us home to visit
him. Åge chose to play it safe and ate 3 large slices of rye bread with cold cuts before we left.
He ended up regretting that. In honour of the occasion, the lady of the house had defrosted
some nice Danish beef and had made a lovely goulash with gravy, beetroots and mashed
potatoes. Our favourite dish – especially after having spent 10 days in the Far East. She asked
Åge if he didn’t like her Danish food, and Åge said something about an upset stomach…
However, the rest of us ate until we were totally full up.
Where Else to Sell Condoms if not in a Bedding Shop?
It was also in Indonesia that we went to visit a factory that made various rubber products
– such as rug stops and oilcloth. However, they also made condoms. Being hospitable, they
gave us a present when we left. The present was a selection of some of their own products
– and among these was a carton of condoms. The next time we had an advertising meeting,
we wanted to take the mickey out of our advertising manager. We were in the middle of
showing products that were going to be in the next advertising paper. As if it were the most
natural thing in the world, we also put the carton with the condoms on the table. Carl Erik
studied it closely after which his face went bright red and he told us that we had purchased
many idiotic things over the years, but this was the worst… We didn’t understand that…
Who better to sell condoms than a bedding shop? We had a long discussion before he gave
in – with the remark that perhaps it was okay, but at least we didn’t have to put it next to the
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My advertising manager Carl Erik Stubkier did not want to sell just anything
till, as he had seen it in some supermarkets. There was no reason to market them. However,
we purchasing agents insisted on putting them in our next paper – there was no point in
buying new products if we didn’t tell our clients about them… However, he would not accept
putting them on the front page… He even had a picture taken and composed a text, before
we let him know that we were taking the mickey out of him…
The Old Spirit and the Crazy Ideas
On the whole, both purchasing and marketing was done in a more primitive way – back then
in the eighties. When we made up an advertising paper of 4-8 pages, there were 8 to 10 of us
who met early in the morning at the table tennis table in the basement and started showing our
new exciting purchases. We spent hours debating what to put in it – and how much it could
cost to make us a bit cheaper than our competitors. Last, but not least – what should go on the
front page. Sometimes a sales person also showed up with a particularly good offer, which he
had just found and thought would be a good offer for the paper… Often we finished off with a
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game or two of billiards, and by sunrise we were ready to sleep for 2-3 hours before duty called
again. Nowadays we make up the same paper in a couple of hours – everything has been plotted
into a computer beforehand. Quality, colour, sizes, quantities, cost price, sales price, arrival date
and even anticipated sales. The marketing department has long designed the look of the paper.
Everything has been streamlined down to the smallest detail, which is certainly also necessary
considering the size of the company. However, some of us ”old-timers” back from the 80’s do
miss the table tennis and billiard table… We came up with a lot of crazy ideas in that smoky
basement – and I got to test each employee’s strengths and weaknesses.
Perhaps this was also where I decided that Hans Henrik Kjølby should be my future financial
manager. In any case he showed a great ability for keeping track of the score at the billiard table…
Åge Nielsen and Ole Nielsen demonstrated skills that would be right for our shops in Germany
and Austria. Carl Erik Stubkier’s skills were suitable for the job as an advertising manager. Hans
Jørgen Jensen was so much in control of my goods that he became a warehouse manager, and
Poul Rysgård was a good solid grocer from Struer so I put him in charge of all the shops. The
people at the tennis table were certainly people
who wanted to get on – even my son Jacob took
part in his own way… The wonderful thing about
these people is that most of them are still making
their mark on the company. Today this old spirit
and knowledge has been thoroughly mixed with
new experts within each area. I am convinced
that this mixture is our strength today and also
will be in the future.
We have also experienced incredible
changes within the area of purchasing.
Right from the towels that I thought were
purchased individually but turned out to
come in dozens. Nowadays the purchasing
department has about 50 employees who
are each specialists in their area. In Germany, Fritze was my first secretary
staff know all about German and Austrian
tastes – and in Denmark we have people from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the Czech
Republic and of course Danes. They each influence the needs of each country – and in this
way we accommodate the differences that will always exist from one country to another. But
we maintain our purchasing strength.
Back in the eighties there was only Åge Nielsen and I, who had to be managing directors
for Germany and Denmark respectively at the same time. However, eventually we splashed
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out and hired a secretary – and one we agreed had to be perfect for the job as she waited
on us at the local restaurant and was always smiling and accommodating. Furthermore, Fritze
– that is her name – even spoke both English and some German and could also type rather
fast, – so we did not think twice about it. It worked well for several years.
Rysse, the Blob and the Others
In 1983 I was looking for staff in Jutland who had the courage to move to Zealand to build up
JYSK. One Friday morning I was paid a visit by a true Jutlander from Struer - Poul Rysgård. He
had just closed down his grocer’s shop. He needed to start on something new and thought
the advertisement sounded interesting. I also thought he sounded OK, so I hired him on the
spot. ”When do I start?” he asked. ”Monday morning” I said. ”Well, okay – then I’ll have
to send for my wife and the children later.” And he kept on working for me in Zealand for
the next 20 years. Poul Rysgård was a quick learner and was happy to work himself to the
bone 18 hours a day. Just what I needed, and within a few months he advanced to become
a manager in branch 12 in Valby – by far our biggest shop back then.
When I brought Åge Nielsen back to Silkeborg, Poul took over the job of regional
manager for Zealand. He hired many
Jutlanders to work for him. Not because
he did not like Zealanders, but mainly
because it turned out that once a Jutlander
had decided to move to the capital, he/
she was nearly always a highly reliable
employee who stayed in the job - often
for many years. However, Zealanders did
that too. One of them was a young 15year old kid named Claus Rasmussen. His
job was to carry goods to the shop from
the basement and fill up while the goods
were being hoarded by the customers.
Sometimes Poul did not think he did it
fast enough. Then he gave the kid a
dressing-down in true Western Jutland
style. However, the Copenhagen kid
would not stand for it. So he put one on
Claus Rasmussen – also known as ”the Blob”!
his boss Poul and told him that if Poul
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was not happy, he could do it himself! He was very close to getting fired, but Poul forgave
him and later took him on as an apprentice. They ended up being good work colleagues for
the next 16 year. Claus served his apprenticeship and promptly got a job as a manager and
later ended up in Silkeborg as a purchasing manager. In the course of time Claus became a
big heavy man - perhaps a bit too chubby. In any case he was always called ”Klumpen” (the
Blob). My purchasing director Jørn Juul Petersen told him that if Klumpen had been his beach
ball, he would not have blown him up as much! However, the kid from Vesterbro kept a stiff
upper lip and worked hard for me for many years, until he started his own company a few
years ago. Today he sells me goods.
Poul Rysgård was always only called ”Rysse” and that was okay with him, even though
everything certainly was not always okay. I frequently had heated discussions with him and
often they ended with him quitting his job. However, he always came to work the next day.
I will never forget the time he quit for the 21st time and left the meeting at my place in the
middle of the night. Shortly later he came back and asked me to move my car as he was unable
to get his own car out . ”Your car” I said -”But Rysse – you don’t have a car anymore. You
just quit your job and lost all rights to your company car. If you start walking now, how long
will it take you to get to Copenhagen?” Then we had a laugh and the meeting continued.
After some years as a regional manager, he was promoted to the position of country manager
– first for Denmark and, later, for Norway, Sweden and Finland. He even started up Poland
for me. Paul was a very “international” inhabitant of Western Jutland, who had just about
the same level of language skills as Åge Neilsen – which was not a lot.
The Biker Gang Hard on His Heels
However, regardless of language problems Rysse and I have had many interesting experiences
together. For example one of Rysse’s first tasks as a regional manager was to get the
Kalundborg shop ready for its opening. That went well. Even outside the shop things were
tidied up, and in order to make the parking spaces look really nice, Rysse ordered a load of
fine shingle and levelled it nicely. It looked nice and it also helped us keep the customers! In
several places the layer of shingle was so deep that the cars sank so that they could not get
away. Fortunately, the shop was located right next to the recovery company Falck. It was not
only JYSK that had a good turnover; so had our neighbour. The next day the fine shingle was
replaced with normal gravel.
And then there was the opening in Nakskov when we went out to celebrate the successful
opening with a nice dinner as usual. Rysse was not particular about his food, but he was
incredibly careful when it came to money. So after I had given people the menus and told them
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that they could choose whatever they liked – no matter what price - Rysse put his foot down.
He gathered the menus together with the words: ”Larsen, Åge and I want the meat balls with
potato salad, so let’s just all have it for the sake of convenience!” It was the cheapest dish on
the menu, so it turned out to be a cheap dinner! Those who had dreamed of a big juicy steak
did not dare protest. Everybody was full up and they had ”almost” made their own choice
from the fancy menu. But at least it meant that there was enough money for a drink at the bar
afterwards. After some drinks Rysse knocked over a biker gang member’s drink by accident,
but he would not buy him another drink. That was a very stupid decision. Rysse ran away with
the biker gang members in close pursuit, but he was sufficiently clever not to lead them to the
shop. He hid somewhere else and did not come back until the next morning. The rest of us
got to know Nakskov ”by night” as we were looking for him all over town.
For Rysse’s birthday, or perhaps it was his anniversary, we gave him a number plate
with his pet name. As fate would have, shortly afterwards he was stopped by the police for
speeding. When the policemen came to his car, one of them said: ”Well Rysse, you were in a
hurry, were you not?”, to which Rysse answered: ”Yes, but where have we met?”
In Norway Rysse had big problems with one of his first managers. Rysse ended up firing
him and asked him to leave the shop immediately but the Norwegian manager would not
hear of it. He refused to leave and in the end Rysse had to surrender and call me for help.
”What should I do? I have tried to kick him out of the shop, but he keeps on coming back
again!” After listening to his problems, I suggested that he had a talk with our Norwegian
solicitor. He told Rysse that employees in Norway were specially protected after turning 50.
You could not even buy your way out of it. I do not know if the manager lasted longer at JYSK
than Rysse – but I know that it was a great strain on Rysse.
Rysse Forgot to Pay for Breakfast
And then there’s the story about the time when we had all been invited to the 10-year
anniversary party for my managing director in Germany, Åge Nielsen. It was a great party
and it continued until the small hours. I had ”of course” gone home to sleep. However, Rysse,
my wife Kris and a few of the regional managers continued partying. The party took place
quite close to the tourist attraction the ”Himmelbjerget”, so Rysse suggested to the others to
go there and see the beautiful scenery that not all of them had seen. So they did. Everybody
was enthusiastic. The ”Hotel Himmelbjerget” is located nearby, so Rysse invited people there
for breakfast. However, as fate would have it, the hotel turned them down as they only had
enough bread for guests who spent the night there. Rysse went crazy and told them off while
the high-spirited party had a cold morning beer. When Rysse later went to the bathroom,
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the waitress jubilantly told them that she
had got hold of some extra bread. One of
the regional managers then had the brilliant
idea of taking the mickey out of Rysse - and
they hatched a plan.
When Rysse came back, John told
him that he had solved the problem with
breakfast and Rysse even praised him
for his initiative. They had breakfast and
watched the sunrise until the paddle
steamer ”Hjejlen” passed by and took
them on a lovely sail back to Silkeborg.
However, the three men never noticed
that. The boat had hardly left land before
they were wide asleep. Meanwhile Kris
was walking about in her evening
gown trying to explain to the other
passengers, who were all dressed in
hiking clothes and wearing rucksacks,
why they suddenly had sleepy men in
dinner jackets aboard. Naturally, they all Poul ”Rysse” Rysgård
ended up at our place. Kris woke me up – a real Jutlander from Struer, at the opening in the USA
and told me that they were taking the
mickey out of Rysse. She asked me to play along and of course I accepted it. Kris then told me
that during breakfast Rysse had asked how John had persuaded the waitress to serve them
breakfast after all. ”Piece of cake,” John said. “I simply booked a couple of rooms. Then they
could not turn us down any longer. Brilliant – don’t you think so, Rysse?”
But as previously mentioned Rysse did not throw his money about. So he definitely did
not think it was brilliant and explained to John in no uncertain terms that he would have to
pay for it himself. And so he did – Rysse thought - but of course John had never booked any
rooms! When I entered the living room where Rysse and the others were, I acted as if I was
furious and really gave it to them and shouted that this was no way to behave. I explained
to Rysse that I had received a call from the hotel telling me that some of my employees had
skipped paying the bill for 2 nights and they had asked whether this was common practice
at JYSK. In fact, they also knew that my wife had been part of the party. No matter how
lively your imagination may be, I can assure you that Rysse’s reaction was 10 times worse…!!
As fate would have it John and Rysse were driving back to Zealand together - but they had
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to make a stop at the hotel first! Rysse demanded that John paid the bill and gave them an
unreserved apology because they had ”forgotten” to pay for the rooms. John kept the joke
going until the very minute when they were taking the turn off to the hotel! John later told
me that Rysse had been fairly nice about it. After all, he was more than happy that the joke
was on him – so that the reputation of the company and I would not be stained.
It was also Rysse who composed our theme song, which is a paraphrasing of a wellknown Danish song: ”We aren’t like the others – we’re a law unto ourselves - by the bedside
we will wander– until the day we have to say farewell.” And this he did in 2002 – he bid
farewell to JYSK and me. Of course I thought that he would come back to work the next day
as usual. But no - the 22nd time he was serious about it.
I Thought My Final Hour Was Near
As previously mentioned, the purchasing job involved a lot of travelling – but it also gave me
unforgettable experiences – both good ones and bad ones. Of the bad ones, I remember my
travels to Pakistan. For various reasons that I will not get into here, there have always been riots
in Pakistan. The first time I went to Karachi, I was met by customs officers and soldiers armed
with machine guns who pushed people through the system – while they were screaming and
shouting at us. A welcome I certainly did not enjoy. But this was only the beginning. From
the top of the Sheraton hotel we could watch riots in the streets, where people were killed
in an inferno of shootings between police, soldiers and various rebels. Often a curfew would
be imposed, and when we finally got the chance to visit factories, negotiations were often
interrupted by local disturbances and we had to be hastily transported back to the hotel. I will
never forget one of these trips when our car was surrounded by thousands of agitated people,
who were throwing bricks and shooting into the air and trying to overturn the car. I have to
admit that I thought that my final hour was near. However, we miraculously made it through
the crowd and made it safely back to the hotel. After that we took no chances and stayed
inside the walls of the Sheraton hotel. We then told our suppliers than if they wanted to do
business with us, they had to meet us at the hotel with their samples – and this they did. We
got a lot of business done in the hotel’s atrium by the swimming pool – closely guarded by
guards armed with machine guns. I have to admit that it took a couple of years before I was
ready for another business trip to Pakistan. But there was no way getting round it. We had to
go there again and again. They did have good quality products at cheap prices… There is no
end to what we’ll do for our customers… Or maybe it’s for the company?
I also remember another time when we arrived in the middle of the night and took a taxi
to the hotel. Luckily, there was not much traffic, because the taxi driver drove like a maniac
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and did not stop at the traffic lights. In fact, he did not stop for anything before reaching
the hotel. Once there, he jumped out of the car and knelt down to thank Allah for getting
us there alive… Afterwards he explained why he had been driving in such a crazy manner
and hadn’t stopped at red lights… ”If I hadn’t done that, we would most certainly have been
attacked by robbers – or even killed,” he proudly explained. We paid him a bit extra for his
courage. After that we were able to check in at the hotel and get a bit of sleep before the
first factory visit of the day.
This was also when the war between Iran and Iraq
raged. On one of our flights to Pakistan we flew across
the area and actually witnessed a major battle, where
the sky was lit up like on bonfire night – only with the
difference that we saw it all from above. In those first few
years we did not venture far into Pakistan – in fact we
stayed in Karachi and the surrounding area. However,
later we became more adventurous and took a plane to
Lahore in northern Pakistan – close to the border with
Afghanistan. Many of the biggest, best and cheapest
textile factories were located here. So there was no
getting round it! Getting there went well, but for
some reason there were no planes going back when
we wanted to fly back after a couple of days of work.
So one of the factories offered to drive us to another
airport a couple of hundred kilometres away. About
4 hours’ drive on bumpy unpaved roads. After driving
a while, I looked out of a small rear window and saw
that the car had a small platform. There were a couple of men with big machine guns placed
here. They were there to protect us from highwaymen and other ”folk”. They certainly made
sure they took good care of us… They did not want to lose a good customer…
Asia Is Decades Ahead of the ”Long-noses”
But except for all these ”minor problems”, both Pakistan and India have delivered countless
beautiful and cheap soft furnishings to JYSK. I have got to know many skilful textile producers
over the years. Most Europeans think that Europe is ”the centre of the world” and that
all other parts of the world are less developed and can only make cheap junk. However,
this is not the case at all – on the contrary. Over the past 25 years I have witnessed the
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industrial development in these countries – whether it is Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Thailand,
Bangladesh, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Egypt, or countries on the other side of the world such
as Brazil. In many areas they are decades ahead of Europe technologically. I will never forget
once where I visited my good friend Bashir in Pakistan and we got talking about a Danish
textile factory. It was, in fact, one of the biggest factories in Scandinavia and was about to
go bankrupt. I asked him whether he would be interested in buying it, so that he could get
some European know-how and machinery at his factory. He then gave me a strange look and
told me that it was no good to him. He had, however, considered buying it and moving some
of the machinery to his factory… He was in fact contemplating setting up a textile museum
so that his employees and customers could see how primitively soft furnishings were once
made. He was actually absolutely right. Each day he produced what Nordisk Textil produced
in a year – and this was with machinery that, in technological terms, was above the European
average.
As previously mentioned, I have always travelled the world to find the best deals – not with
all products, but at first particularly in bed linen, towels and soft furnishings. At first Portugal
– then India and Pakistan and in recent years also China and Vietnam.
I started in China around 1990 when the country was opened up to Westerners, or
”long-noses”, as the Chinese called us. I will never forget the first time Åge and I went to
China – that was some test. At the airports not a single word was in English – everything
was written in Chinese characters. Moreover, nobody spoke any English. The first time we
flew from Beijing to Canton, we nearly ended up at a mysterious place that I can’t even
pronounce. We were taken to a plane at random, but fate had mercy on us as the captain
spoke a bit of English and sent us back to the departure hall. We found the right plane at the
very last moment. At the factories and at the trade fairs they did not speak English either, but
hired young students to translate. They were not too impressive, and the interpretation was
all wrong. Even though the goods were cheap, we often did not receive the goods we had
ordered. But then we had to sell what we got…
It was cheap and we were able to sell it. We just could not turn it down, so if anybody
noticed that for a while during the 90s, JYSK looked more like a mixed general store rather
than a specialist bedding and soft furnishings shop, they are not totally wrong. However, we
have remedied this so that today we are once again a good old specialist. But we have kept
the best elements of the Chinese gift items. Nowadays the Chinese can deliver just about
everything – and a bit cheaper than the rest of the world… and of a good quality.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
We Have to Take Care of the Environment instead of Just Talking about It
Today we buy almost all our wooden garden furniture in Vietnam, and we have taught them
that the wood needs to be FSC-certified. That means that the rain forests must be preserved for
posterity so that nature, the inhabitants and threatened species can achieve optimum conditions
for living and making a living from the forests. JYSK was in fact the pioneer of a brand new
international organisation named TFT, which stands for Tropical Forest Trust. The idea behind this
organisation was to act instead of just talking about things. As a member, you pay an amount
depending on how much wood you use. The money is then spent
on replanting, training and securing threatened species. We have
now arranged cooperation between woodland owners, sawmills,
factories and the environmental organisations as well as the local
communities to protect environmental values. At the same time we
have also created an opportunity to do business in a sustainable way.
Acting instead of just talking has become a huge success, which has
meant that colleagues from all over the world now play an active part
in TFT’s work. This is, for example, the case with B&Q and Marks
& Spencer from England, Castorama from France and Kwantum
from Holland. Several American chains are also poised to do what
politicians and environmental organisations have been talking about,
but have never succeeded in doing. That is why we went to London
in 2001 to be presented with the ”Gift to the earth award” from HRH
HRH Prince Charles
Prince Charles who is the patron of WWF – the World Wide Fund for
at the presentation of the
Nature. Even though I purchase a lot from the rest of the world, I have
”Gift to the Earth Award”.
in fact always tried to do as much
of my purchasing as possible in Denmark. Not just for nostalgic
reasons, but mainly because we Danes are among the best in the
world in several fields, and so I don’t see any reason why I should
not buy the goods here. They are easier to control and transport
is cheaper. I don’t mean towels and the like, as the last towel
factory in Denmark actually closed down before I even started
up. No, I’m talking about furniture, mattresses and quilts,
which in fact make up the vast majority of our turnover and
which Denmark is a ”world champion” in producing. With the
constant technological development it is possible to produce
these goods here in Denmark at competitive prices – and even
make a huge export. In 2003 I was awarded ”Dansk Arbejdes FSC-wood
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Initiativpris”, the Danish Industrial Prize for Initiative, for our DKK billion exports. I am rather proud
of that as it is generally claimed that there are too many costs connected with production in
Denmark to have any industrial production. This is not the case. All we need to do in concentrate
on what we do best – and accept the technological development. We have done that in the area
of furniture, mattresses and quilts. However, we have always respected that the Germans must also
be able to buy German products – the Swedes, Swedish products – the Norwegians, Norwegian
products – the Finns, Finnish products – the Poles, Polish products – the Czechs, Czech products
etc. But in all countries we also want to offer the possibility to buy Danish products. JYSK is 100%
Danish and will remain so, and the assortment in the various countries should reflect that.
Growing Pains
In 1988 JYSK’s purchasing department first saw the light of day. We had outgrown the
basement and rented fine new premises – only a few hundred metres from there. We started
out with 200 m2 which quickly turned
into 400 – and in 1996 we had to move
to other premises in Silkeborg of 600 m2,
which was later expanded to 800 m2. Our
economy and marketing department had
the same problems in Århus. Here they
started with 100 m2 – then 300 – 600
– 900. In Odense we had built up the
wholesale and franchise department. In
Copenhagen we also had various offices
Our new head office in Brabrand at Århus
for regional managers as well as personnel
and shop management. Everything was
growing and for various reasons we were
branched off all over Denmark. This was
not rational and when we had various
meetings – and we often did – somebody
always needed to travel to get there. This
takes time and time is money. Something
needed to be done about this. In the late
90s I took the drastic decision to gather
everybody in one building. Århus was
Dänisches Bettenlager’s head office in Germany
a natural choice as most people were
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
working there anyway. To avoid making too much of an impact on everybody who worked
in Silkeborg – including me – I chose a location in Brabrand close to a new motorway to
Silkeborg. For the other employees, suppliers etc. this location was also ideal as this is where
all motorways meet. Then all we needed to do was to start building, but also it needed to be a
project that was adapted for future requirements so there would also be room for expansion.
that’s how it is. In 2002 we moved into our new domicile of no less than 5000 m2 with room
for about 200 employees. Today there are about 150, but there also needs to be room for new
initiatives. To be on the safe side, I have also bought land for further extension when it becomes
necessary – and there is no doubt it will… With an almost parallel development, we have built a
corresponding head office in Germany, and for practical reasons it is located in Flensburg. That
means it’s not too far away from me – and the Danes who work there, are not far away from
home when they’re feeling homesick. All Danish suppliers also have the shortest possible way to
give us a good deal! In Brabrand and Flensburg we also have a specialised department that our
normal customers do not really know about. This is our wholesale department that has a double
figure DKK million turnover each year. This department sells in large quantities to hotels, holiday
centres, relief organisations, public institutions, schools, hospitals, residential homes, nursery
schools etc. as well as to anybody else who needs large quantities. JYSK Engros (Wholesale)
is a specialist in delivering large quantities almost on a daily basis– and at even cheaper prices.
Unfortunately, for many years our biggest customers have been the relief organisations that
acutely need bedding and furniture etc., e.g. for deliveries to refugee camps in cooperation with
Danish Red Cross and many other organisations.
Furniture on the Internet
In 2001 I bought the controlling interest in a newly started furniture company named ”Bolia.com”.
This was a company that had been started up by some young furniture specialists who had the
brilliant idea of combining the outstanding qualities of the Internet with those of a shop. That
means you can see all the furniture on the Internet or go to the shop and see and feel the product
before you order it – either on the Internet or at the shop. The furniture is ordered directly from
the factory and is delivered only a few weeks later – all shiny and new – and a bit cheaper than
others, as there are no costs for a warehouse. Part of the idea is also to locate the shops in the
city centre, so that it’s easy to pop into the shop and assure yourself of the quality – and, if you
like, you can then order the furniture at home while you’re having your evening coffee. Bolia have
their very own design and have progressed further than the traditional furniture shops. Today
we can be found in Århus, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim
and Hamburg. In a few years time we will be found in most major cities in Europe – and will
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have a turnover that will be in billions. In 2003 I set up a new company called ”Interior Direct”,
working alongside one of our biggest furniture suppliers. This company offers complete
furnishing solutions for hotels and holiday centres all over Europe. I believe that this new
company will grow very big and strong within a matter of a few years. It has every chance
of doing so, as JYSK is already among the cheapest in Europe for quilts, pillows, mattresses,
beds, bed linen, towels and furniture. ”Interior Direct” works out suggestions for design
and furnishings along with the customer, after which we use JYSK’s purchasing strength to
conjure up the best price.
Dont Stand Up to Say Hello if You Aren’t Wearing any Trousers
In 1982 Kris and I chose to move, as Aalborg’s location was not very central when you had
shops all over the country. I simply wasted too much time on the road, and I thought I could
use this time much better. Silkeborg was the natural choice as it is located almost right in the
middle of Denmark – and we had many lovely memories from our youth in this lovely city. We
found the perfect house, which had an extra big basement where I could fit in my purchasing
office – and where there was also room for my desks – in the shape of billiards and table
tennis - as well as extra space for various samples.
During the first 5 years of the company’s history I sat alone in the office, but as JYSK grew
big and strong I realised that I needed some assistance. My first assistant was Åge Nielsen,
who was put in charge of Germany. So he was brought ”back home” from Zealand and
settled down in Silkeborg. Then we could work on starting up in Germany together, and he
could help me with the purchasing – a good, convenient solution for both of us.
When we later started selling furniture, I moved my first Copenhagen employee Mads Jul
over to this job. He kept on living in Zealand, but worked in Jutland a lot of the time, as this is
where most of the furniture factories are located. So he often spent the night at our ”office”
in the basement in Silkeborg. As previously mentioned, we were rather new to the furniture
industry and, for that reason, also fairly unknown, so we invited some furniture factories
to visit us in the basement to tell them about our new initiatives. Nowadays, JYSK can buy
furniture from pretty much anyone we want to. However, things were different back then.
We needed to be ”approved” before they would ”let us” do any business with them.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
As previously mentioned, Mads Jul required quite a lot of sleep. As often before, we had
been working until late at night and had completely forgotten that we had an appointment
with a furniture manufacturer the next morning. This was when we realised that people in the
furniture trade get up earlier than a tired quilt dealer. Mads slept in the ”office” and I slept in
my own bed. My wife Kris heard the doorbell around seven, opened the door and asked the
man to wait for a moment. After that she rushed in to wake me up and I ran down to the
basement to wake up Mads who jumped out of bed and started getting dressed… However,
he only just had time to button the shirt before he heard the furniture manufacturer on his
way down to the basement. Mads rushed behind the desk and sat down on the office chair,
grabbed the telephone and looked very active, pretending that he had already been working
for several hours. However, the trouble started when the manufacturer wanted to shake
hands with Mads and Mads, being a polite person, got up – and had forgotten all about
his missing trousers… and was just wearing his shirt and underpants… For some reason we
never got to do any business with this nice Western Jutland manufacturer…
The Fisherman Became a Quilt Dealer in the Faroe Islands
In 1983 a Dane who was living on Greenland asked me if he could open a Jysk Sengetøjslager in
Greenland. Well, he could as long as he could pay for the goods and would treat our company
name with respect. He accepted both terms– and a few more - and this was the beginning of
our franchise department. His name is Svend Junge and
he ran Jysk Sengetøjslager in Nuuk for many years until
he sold it to KNI – formerly the Kongelige Grønlandske
Handel. They opened another couple of shops and also
sent goods to the local grocers in the settlements.
Today the shops are owned by DAGROFA, which is the
wholesale society of the Danish grocers.
The following year, i.e. in 1984, a Mr Poul Jacobsen
from the Faroe Islands came to see me. He had various
shops in the Faroe Islands and now he also wanted
to run Jysk Sengetøjslager on the wind-swept rocky
islands. As I did not want to open shops there myself
anyway, I made a similar deal as for Greenland. These
so-called franchise deals simply meant that they were
given the rights to use the name Jysk Sengetøjslager Jákup Jakobsen started in the Faroe Islands
– since then he has made it to 6 countries
and buy the goods from us.
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Poul Jacobsen had brought his promising son, Jákup, along as the plan was for him to
run the shop. I have to admit that I was somewhat worried as his son had previously been a
fisherman on a trawler – which was in fact one of the biggest in the world, but what did he
know about furnishings? But fair enough, that was not my problem – as long as they paid for
the goods and did not neglect my company, and it quickly turned out that I had nothing to
fear. He opened a huge shop in Thorshavn and the Faroese loved Jysk Sengetøjslager. After
3 days the shop had to close… They had no more goods – everything was sold out. So they
had to put up a sign on the door saying that they would open again when the next ship from
Denmark arrived. The kid did incredibly well. He sold good worth many millions a year in the
small community of only 50,000 inhabitants, and after a couple of tremendous years he asked
me if he could open shops in Iceland. So he did – equally successfully. He managed to fit in
4 shops in a country with 250,000 inhabitants. Rather impressive considering that Iceland
also had a huge IDÉ Møbler, Daells Varehus, IKEA and a host of other competitors. All 4 JYSK
shops still exist today – and sell goods to a value far in excess of DKK 100 million.
When Jákup and I celebrated the tenth anniversary of our working together, my wife Kris
and I went there for a big party. Jákup had often talked about wanting to open more shops,
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but he could not fit in any more. What do you give a man like him for his anniversary… I gave
him Canada… So he could not complain about a lack of space anymore.
After a year of preparations he then opened Jysk Linen’n Furniture in Vancouver, and today
he has 14 shops in Canada as well as several shops in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I think the
conclusion is that the young fisherman was up to the job – and he has far from finished. New
shops keep on coming along almost every month. In a couple of years I believe he will reach
50 shops. Then we’ll have to see whether I should give him Russia – or the United States…?
One thing is certain – he wants to get on and he wants to do it fast. I think both he and
I are moving fast. However, one day Jákup gave me a present that hinted that we ought to
move faster at JYSK. The present was a book about the world’s biggest chain of DIY centres,
the American ”HOME DEPOT”, which has a turnover of about DKK 500 billion, whereas JYSK
has ”only” reached nearly DKK 10 billion – and I am in fact very proud of that. ”Well,” said
Jákup. ”It is impressive, but they started in 1979 just like JYSK!”
While we were opening shops in Greenland and in the Faroe Islands, we also kept on opening
new shops in Denmark. A new shop was opened at least once a month – and often it was 2 or
3 shops. We opened shops from Herning and Ringkøbing in the west to Rønne in Bornholm in
Greenland shop in luxuriant surroundings
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the east. In between that we also fitted in a shop in my native area. In order to make sure of a
sufficient customers base – and not locate it right next to my old master – I chose to locate it in
Vildsund – a small town with a couple of hundred inhabitants. Rent was cheap here and I was
certain that I could attract customers from all of the Thy and Mors areas. This turned out to be
the case and after several expansions, I chose to build a brand new shop. 1200 m2 in the middle
of nowhere – people thought I had gone crazy. But I knew my native area – and their mentality.
In this part of the country people are willing to drive a long way for a good offer.
The Name Alone Is Not Enough
This success was followed later by a similar location in Aggersund – between Farsø – Løgstør
and Fjerritslev. All towns that were too small for a shop. But by locating the shop in the
countryside – between those towns – we suddenly had the customer basis. In Himmerland
and Hanherred people are also willing to drive a long way for a good offer.
After Vildsund which was no. 37, it was time for Randers – and we needed to settle a score
here. A few months earlier a competitor had opened a ”Jysk Sengetøjsudsalg”, with a shop
front in our blue and white colours. We immediately took out an injunction, as we were sure
that it was illegal to copy us in such a manner. We later won the case and ”the enemy” had to
change their name – and later ended up closing down. We had many of these ”wars”. Several
others had their go: ”Dansk Sengetøjslager”, even ”Sjællands Sengetøjslager” – and the very
imaginative ones tried ”Sengetøjslageret”. What they all had in common was thinking that
the name alone would mean success. However, they realised that it was not enough. It took
a bit more, e.g. a good bargain. All the plagiarists have now closed. Now it is not the name
that is fought over, but who has the best deals, and that’s the way it ought to be.
The Specialist Shops Show How Cheap JYSK Is
During the first years our biggest competitors were the specialist bedding, furniture and
curtains shops. This is no longer the case. Today I appreciate these types of shops. They
help show consumers just how cheap JYSK really is. Today our biggest competitors are, in
fact, discount shops and DIY centres due to slide of the trades and the expansion of our
assortment, among other things with various gift items and, not least, garden furniture.
These major expansions of the assortment have never taken place at the expense of our
original assortment – on the contrary, the assortment of quilts, pillows, mattresses, bed linen,
towels etc. has constantly been improved and expanded with an even bigger assortment.
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The bigger assortment came along as the shops became bigger – either by extending
them or by moving them. During the first years of our history, a Jysk Sengetøjslager shop had
an average size of 400 m2. Today they are 1200 m2 and so we are able to fit in room furniture
and garden furniture. These measures were taken in order to achieve a more consistent
turnover month by month. Our original assortment sold best in the cold winter months
whereas business was rather limited in the spring and summer. Being experienced in curtains,
I knew that they sold well in the spring and in the autumn. Similarly, room furniture sells best
in the autumn and in the spring – and a lot of Christmas decorations, hardware and gift items
became part of the assortment to supplement and expand Christmas trade.
Now I only needed the summer months to reach the same level as the rest of the year,
and garden furniture was the natural choice. This has also turned out to be one of our biggest
successes. It only took us a few years to conquer 35% of this market. Now we had created
an assortment that made optimal use of our premises as well as other fixed costs all year
round. This optimisation of the assortment over the past 10 years has unconditionally created
the basis for JYSK’s success in Europe. Of course, it has also helped that, each time a new
shop is opened, the purchasing volume increases. So we are able to buy the goods cheaper
and sell them cheaper and thereby continuously make JYSK even stronger compared to our
competitors. Many people think that I am suffering from delusions of grandeur since I keep
on opening shops (and maybe I do!). However, my competitors also keep on growing, so I am
fully convinced that it’s a necessity in tomorrow’s business world. Several international giants
have expressed an interest in us, but JYSK is not for sale and hopefully never will be.
Knocked Out at a Football Game
In between opening all the new shops we also found time for some pleasure, such as in 1983
when we went to Wembley to see the qualifying game between Denmark and England.
Denmark had to win to qualify for Euro 1984. Allan Simonsen scored the winning goal from
a penalty kick… We were about 50 colleagues and suppliers who went there together. An
experience for life. Everybody was dressed in the Danish colours of red and white and of
course we brought along our own theme song, a good old classic – slightly paraphrased:
””We aren’t like the others – we’re a law unto ourselves - by the bedside we will wander–…”
A song that has followed us ever since. My wife Kris did not, and still does not, appreciate
football, but she wanted to come along. She was sure that she could find something to do
while we went to Wembley. However, I managed to talk her into coming along – not because
of the football, but because of the atmosphere. She has never regretted that, although she
witnessed her beloved husband being knocked out.
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Dressed in red and white
It was on the way to the stadium that a bunch of hooligans saw red. All the red and white
colours were simply too much for them. Like a bolt from the blue I was suddenly hit by a
hooligan, and there I was on the ground all groggy. I did get up again and made it through the
rest of the match – but without my hat and scarf. Kris thought it would be wisest for me to stay
anonymous. It was also at Wembley that I considered changing career, namely to start selling
beer instead of quilts. At half time I went to buy a tray with 12 beers. It took me a very long time.
In the end I succeeded in buying them, but by then the match had long since started again. On
my way in with the beer I saw a lot of people who had given up queuing, and when they saw
me with the tray full of beer they thought that I was in fact selling beer. For the fun of it I said
that they cost 5 pounds (I had paid 1 pound). Some people thought it was too expensive while
others just paid the money and were happy to avoid the long queue. When I got to my seat
with beer for the lads, there were only 4 beers left. I had sold 8 beers at a price of 5 pounds
each! Certainly more profitable than selling quilts. Cost price 1 pound – selling price 5 pounds
– meaning that I made a profit of 400%. You can’t make that kind of profit selling duvets!
However, my friends thought that I was a bit tight-fisted: 4 beers for 12 people!
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If entering the stadium was dangerous, it was in fact a piece of cake compared to
leaving. With a fresh victory in our hand and England knocked out of Euro 1984, I suddenly
appreciated my neutral colours even more. In the end we reached our bus again – with a little
help from the English Bobbies. But this was not the end of it – groups of hooligans tried to
overturn the bus. We escaped from Wembley unharmed, but instead of it being one big party
the atmosphere was gloomy – all night and the next morning. It was not until the ship cast
off with several thousands of Danish red and white football fans aboard that the atmosphere
changed. The whole trip home was one big party where we had to get up and sing the Danish
national anthem, ”Der er et yndigt land”, at least 20 times. Everybody present remembers it
as if it was yesterday. Arrangements liked that helped create a spirit of solidarity at JYSK – and
team spirit. Not just among the employees, but also among the suppliers.
This trip was followed by Euro 1988 in Germany and even a trip to Euro 1992 in Gothenburg
where Denmark sensationally became the European champions – with a smashing 2-0 victory
over Germany in the final. This was also some experience. We were partying in Gothenburg
all night, and I will never forget the confusion that arose between the languages. For example,
we went to a pub and ordered beer. The waiter said grattis. In Danish gratis means free, and
even though the Swedes were supporting Denmark, we had never imagined that they would
serve free beer at the pubs. They didn’t. Grattis means congratulations in Swedish… However,
that did not stop the party.
Going Abroad
In 1983 we reached 48 shops. At the same time, I started planning the first shops in Germany.
There were major challenges associated with such an attempt. We had to find a name, as
Jysk Sengetøjslager would probably not work. The Germans I knew felt that I definitely
could not use the term, warehouse, as this would signify cheap products and the Germans
would definitely not buy those. They wanted quality and quality could not be associated
with cheapness… And people would certainly not shop at a warehouse… But I stuck to my
concept and thought I could teach the Germans to shop at a warehouse, as long as they
were quality products – a bit cheaper than others. However, the term Jysk would probably
not mean much to them, whereas they associated Denmark with quality. Wee Danes were
much appreciated, particularly in furniture. So I changed Jysk to Danish… so that the name
became ”Danish bedding warehouse” – in German ”Dänisches Bettenlager”. In Denmark we
use the slogan ”quality – a bit cheaper than others” – I also tried to use that in Germany…
But it did not work. They did not want to buy cheap products, as cheap to them meant poor
quality. So I quickly changed this to ”Qualität – sehr preiswert”, which means ”Quality – at
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a reasonable price”. I could not see much of a
difference, but the Germans could, and so, of
course, they got it their way.
I also tried to find a German advertising
agency as I thought they would know more
about how to market in Germany. However, I
had to give up after several persistent attempts.
I told them about my ideas and showed them a
lot of our Danish advertising papers. That would
The first shop in Germany opened in Flensburg
give them a feel for what I wanted them to do.
But they did not want to do that style as it would
not work in the German market… So I ended up having to ask my Danish advertising agency
to do it. They were quite happy to help me – and a couple of years later they even opened up
a Danish advertising agency in Hamburg and later we took over the task ourselves. Nowadays
we have our own advertising agency – that means we can have things the way we like…
The Men in Suits and the Dirty Kid from the Store Room
However, it was not only the name and the advertising that needed to be sorted out. I had
decided that the first test shops should be located in Northern Germany as that area had a lot
of similarities to Denmark… Shop no. 101 – as we named it for practical – and possibly also
optimistic reasons, as no. 50 to 100 were then set aside for even more Danish shops. So we
located the first shop in Germany in Flensburg for many practical reasons. For example it was
relatively close to our central warehouse in Vejle, from where they would have most of their
goods delivered. It was also easy regarding staff, as we could then borrow staff from South
Jutland where several people spoke German. We would probably need that as my young
Western Jutland managing director did not speak any German.
As the manager for the first shop we also chose a person from South Jutland – Julius Carstensen.
He had previously been a regional manger in South Jutland. He was fluent in German – and he
also knew all our systems and products. Speaking of products – we also needed to procure them.
The vast majority of our Danish assortment was used, but there were certain articles that we were
forced to have specially made for the German market. For example, German pillows are twice as
big as Danish pillows. When the pillows are bigger, the pillowcases also need to be bigger. We
got down to it without much adjustment and market research. Then time would tell whether the
concept and the assortment would stand the test in this huge country.
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The day before the opening we had a reception, and all our fine German working partners
showed up in their pinstriped suits. And of course they all wanted to meet the big Danish
businessman. However, they also wanted to meet my managing director for Germany, Åge
Nielsen… The thing was that we had not quite finished the shop, so Åge did not have time for
all that unnecessary nonsense – the shop needed to be ready before the party could begin. So
he was still wearing his dirty jeans and working in the shop. However, as fate would have, the
Danish consul, the accountant and bank managers and other people insisted on meeting my
man in Germany… In the end I had to go and get him, and they certainly looked somewhat
surprised when I brought along the young filthy kid from the storeroom. Practically the only
words he knew in German were ”Guten Tag”. I do not think they gave him much chance of
doing well in this huge market… However, by now they have changed their mind.
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Closed by the German Police - 100 Fines in the First Year
On March 31st, 1984 at 8.00 am Germany’s first ”Dänisches Bettenlager” opened in Flensburg.
We were extremely excited… What would the Germans think of shop like this… And how
about the goods? But the shop was packed with people all day and many people did buy our
goods. When the police arrived to close the shop at the end of the day, we had sold goods
worth DEM 68,000, which is about DKK 250,000. In fact this was the same amount as shop
no. 1 in Denmark. Our success was in the bag… or so we thought… But alas – we were to
learn otherwise. As you may have noticed, the police closed the shop. In our advertisement
we wrote that we were open from 8.00 am until 8.00 pm so that everybody could make it
– even the police. In Germany they say ”Ordnung muss sein” – meaning that everything must
be in its place. We quickly realised that they were serious about this. The German Shops Act
did not allow shops to be open after 6.30 pm and that also applied to us, even though we
were Danish.
But it was certainly not just the police and the customers who were interested in the shop.
In the morning, the German customs officers came to take away a lot of goods from the
shop. Now, you may ask why! Well, they had been smuggled into the country… It turned out
that we had bought the goods in East Germany, which was far cheaper than West Germany
before the wall came down. It was entirely legal to import them from East Germany to
Denmark, but it was definitely not legal to send them on to West Germany. So they had to
leave the country again – and we got a considerable fine.
The fines were certainly not an isolated case. We were also fined for illegal marketing and
we were fined for having a sale on furniture. We had no idea that German law only allows
a sale for fashion articles – and furniture is not fashion??? We were fined for writing: ”Buy
3 and save 30%”. According to German law you were not allowed to gain more than 4%
from buying in bulk. It is safe to say that we were fined for just about everything. In fact we
received about 100 fines in the first year. We thought that a lot of it was simply malice… and
perhaps mainly on the side of our German colleagues who just saw us as a competitor who
should go packing back to Denmark. We just needed to put a foot wrong, we were instantly
reported to various authorities. However, they were soon to learn otherwise. It’s not that easy
to scare away a Jutlander. So we just paid the fines with a smile on our lips. Meanwhile, we
opened more and more shops in Kiel, Husum, Schleswig, etc. A total of 8 shops in the first
year – and we needed to adjust some things there before opening more.
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Crisis in Germany – Is it Time to Close down?
Even though our sales were reasonable, they were not enough to cover our costs. We needed
a bigger turnover. At some points we thought that perhaps it was the name. Perhaps they did
not actually like us Danes as much as we thought? So we gave the said shop in Büdelsdorf a
new name and black and yellow colours instead of the normal blue and white colours. The
name was ”Bettenwelt” – meaning ”A world of furnishings”. The logo was a globe and it all
looked very dashing. However, this did not increase turnover. So we changed the name to
”Dänisches Bettenlager” a year later. After all, it was easier to have just one company name.
We did have an idea as to what was wrong – although we would not quite admit it. The
products were too Danish. They had to be adjusted more to German tastes. April 1st, 1986
became a landmark day in the history of Dänisches Bettenlager. We had a crisis meeting
where we discussed whether we should close down in Germany, admit defeat and go back
home to our success in Denmark. We had now spent 2 years on adjusting various things to the
German market. But had we done it wholeheartedly? Being a stubborn Jutlander, I decided to
give it yet another chance – in spite of the large deficit. We hired a German financial director
and a German purchasing agent, who would be better at making the assortment ”more
German”. Our advertising agency opened a German branch – based on the philosophy that
it is not possible to do German marketing from Denmark. Our managing director Åge Nielsen
was sent to Germany full-time. For the first 2 years, he and I had been running the German
market from Silkeborg, which was not ideal either. Many other measures and adjustments
were made so that we fully matched the big German market. Now it was kill or cure – and we
survived. By the end of our third year we made a profit in Germany and we could continue
expansion, although we still experienced problems. We were still fined and our German
purchasing agent had a hard time finding the right products. The German manufacturers
would not, or rather did not, dare do business with us. If they did, all the major German chains
of shops would not do business with them anymore. This was exactly the same problem as in
Denmark, with the only difference being that this was a much stronger threat. So almost all
manufacturers chose to turn down Danish orders.
The Germans Wanted to Buy German Products
But it was only almost, because there were actually a couple of Germans who dared to swim
against the tide. One of them was a manufacturer of quilts, who was strategically important
to us, as quilts were our main product. Of course one could ask whether they could not be
made in Denmark. They could, but then the Germans would not buy them. Quilts and pillows,
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The management in Germany: Financial Director Flemming Jensen, group finance director Hans Henrik Kjølby, I,
Director Ole Nielsen and Managing Director Åge Nielsen
in particular, are a matter of trust, as you cannot see what’s inside them – and we had not
yet built up this trust in Germany. The Germans did not want to buy products with Danish
declarations of contents. They only dared buy products with the declarations of contents they
knew. You cannot blame them for that. So this quilt manufacturer was strategically important
to us. Hardy Wienker, as he is called, dared stand up to the pressure – and nowadays he is the
biggest manufacturer of quilts in Germany. Many of the big companies from back then that
did not want to do business with us do not exist anymore. The other unusual German was
Aksel Berthels who dealt in things like bed linen and towels - products that German customers
also wanted to be ”hergestellt in Deutschland”. Freely translated, this means that they had
to be made in Germany so that they could be certain of the quality and read about it on the
declarations of contents. With the help of these 2 unusual German companies our turnover was
booming. We could now present ”Deutsche hergestellte Waren” i.e. goods made in Germany
– and even at a slightly lower price. Now, the German consumers got that message. Mattresses
were also one of our most important products, and here it was exactly the same. Nobody would
let us sell the big brands. So we had to have similar mattresses made in Denmark. The ”HUMALAMA” factory in Hurup, Thy, where my brother Knud happens to work, had the courage to
fight the big German factories. A hard battle in which many of the mattresses were sold at
less than cost price – which was no good. Least of all when we also had to drive them from
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Thy to Munich and all sorts of other places in that huge country. But we succeeded – and this
has also helped make the Danish factory even more competitive in the Danish market as well.
With mattresses we also managed to find a German mattress factory – ”Breckle” - who dared
deliver to us. Today both factories are the biggest in Denmark and Germany respectively. In the
mid-eighties we did not really deal in furniture, but we saw the potential in the German market.
Almost all German furniture shops had a broad selection of Danish pine furniture – and at rather
high prices. So we started seeking out Danish furniture factories to buy directly from them.
Until then it was normal procedure that the furniture was sold in Germany via a wholesaler
and therefore became rather expensive. If only we could avoid this expensive stage, we would
become very competitive and it would give us a major boom in Germany. But this was easier
said than done. The Danish furniture factories were not interested in having their good export
to Europe’s biggest market destroyed, so most of them turned us down. But once again we
succeeded in finding a few who had the courage to do business with us, and others who had
never previously exported and now got the chance. With this furniture assortment ”Dänisches
Bettenlager” suddenly became a highly interesting shop. We were able to sell Danish pine
furniture 30-50% cheaper than the furniture shops. From now on we were successful and were
able to open one shop after another. Soon we had opened the first 25 shops, then came 50,
100, 200, 300, and 400 and in 2004 we will have 500 shops in Germany. There is still room for
many more shops – perhaps double that amount!
Strong Teamwork from Two Danish ”Kids”
When I started out in Germany, I did not want to mix the risky German market with our
success in Denmark. So we set up a second company for the German experiment and, even
today, they still remain 2 totally independent companies – each with their own economy,
company structure and management. In order to support Åge Nielsen, I found a person from
South Jutland, Ole Nielsen, whose strengths lay in marketing and personnel management. He
also had the fantastic advantage of being fluent in German. And just like Åge he knew Jysk
Sengetøjslager from several years of working in the Danish part of the organisation. These two
people have now been working together for 20 years. Each has his strong side – a teamwork
that, of course, I hope can continue for the next 20 years, because it is indescribable what
those two kids have achieved in the German market. Of course I have not always agreed with
them entirely but, in most cases, I decided that their attitudes and knowledge of the German
market would stand the test. I could not pretend to know a market I only knew superficially.
So they have had an incredibly free rein over the years to do what they thought best. Often,
they even felt that I was not sufficiently interested in their work, which was definitely not the
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case. But it was a totally deliberate strategy
on my part. After all, things went well in
Germany.
However, on a few occasions they became
aware of my presence. This was, for example,
the case when I decided that we should
start selling garden furniture. Åge and Ole
definitely did not agree on that at all. So they
asked for a meeting in Silkeborg, where they
told me in no uncertain manner that garden
furniture in Germany was a hopeless market
that nobody made any money from. They
would not accept that such products should
be part of their assortment. We had a long
and sensitive dialogue about it, but I was not
able to change their minds. In the end I had
to explain to them that the shops were, after
all, mine. Then they became all surprised
– they had almost forgotten that. They
ended up finding it reasonable for me to
have a certain influence on the composition
of the assortment. However, as fate would
have it, garden furniture became a huge
success – in Germany too. Perhaps they’ll
give me a chance the next time I interfere in
their work.
A Negative Experience with Positiv Fritid
In 1985 I bought the American owned mail order company ”Positiv Fritid”, (Positive Leisure),
which had an annual turnover of about DKK 80 million in Denmark and Sweden. Almost from
day 1 in the history of JYSK we had been selling goods by mail order and therefore had some
certain experience. It was my experience from Germany and the USA that Denmark was a novice
in this field. In these countries about 6-8% of all retail trade was sold by mail order. In Denmark
it was less than ½%. So my conclusion was that we needed a tremendous expansion of ”Positiv
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Fritid’s” assortment. Previously, they had mainly been selling hardware, but now clothes and
shoes and, of course, a lot of furnishings also became part of their assortment – and then full
throttle on marketing. Now Denmark was to shop by mail order. Within a couple of years we
managed to double the turnover, but there were no profits and stocks increased drastically. For
each new article that became part of our assortment, a certain percentage would always be in
excess. Previously the company had sold so-called commission goods – meaning that what they
couldn’t sell, they could send back to the dealer. That was all very well but I could tell that they
paid far too much for the products in order just to have such a deal. By buying directly from the
factories, I could in fact throw away the last 25% of the products, that’s how much cheaper it was.
But instead of throwing it away, it could of course be sold elsewhere. The result was a small chain
of shops that I called ”Positiv Fritid’s Overskudslager” (Positive Leisure’s Surplus Stores). In record
time we opened shops in Aalborg, Randers, Vejle, Esbjerg, Horsens, Hundige, Nakskov, Vildsund,
Skalborg, Silkeborg and Copenhagen. Here we sold everything from clothes and shoes to china,
as well as all sorts of hardware and furnishings. Basically, the entire surplus from mail order sales
– and a little more. I put my old partner from JYSK, Jørgen Rødhus, in charge of running this new
chain of shops. He did have the experience from the start-up of JYSK. Taking over a big company
like Positiv Fritid turned out to be a bigger task than I had imagined. There were major cultural
differences in a Copenhagen/Swedish enterprise compared to the way we Jutlanders tackled
everything. Today I have to admit that it never worked
out – money was pouring out of the business. To stop
the bleeding I tried to start yet another chain of shops
– this time with shoes. Through our big purchases for
Positiv Fritid we became acquainted with a lot of shoe
manufacturers in Portugal and Italy. Here we could
see that shoes could easily be sold at half the price of
what the traditional shoe shops charged for them.
This was the start of ”Vær’sko”. A chain of shops
that sold shoes of a good quality – a bit cheaper
than others. In fact they were so cheap that it was
not worth cleaning the old shoes and, least of all,
resoling them. At the same time, I sold Positiv Fritid
to a Swedish company after which I no longer had
any need for the Surplus Stores. They were closed
down little by little and some of the premises were
used for Vær’sko shops. I think I got up to about
15 shoe shops before realising what people meant Within a short time
when they say, Cobbler, stick to your last. I was no we opened 11 ”surplus stocks” in Denmark
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shoemaker – so in 1989 I also wound up this failure – and wanted to concentrate my energies
on the bedding shops.
And Then on to Norway
In Denmark we had reached about 70 Jysk Sengetøjslager shops by 1988 – and in Germany
about 35 plus a few more in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
I now wanted to start up in a new country – and only with bedding shops. After
studying the other Nordic countries, I chose Norway – where they now had plenty of oil.
The Norwegians had come into money and they had to spend it somehow. I was more than
happy to help them spend it. After our experiences from Germany with much too little local
knowledge, I did not want to make the same mistakes again. So I formed a partnership with
2 Norwegian businessmen, Ole Nordbo and Arnulf Tjölsen. They had a great knowledge of
the Norwegian retail trade – especially of the furniture trade. As Norway loved Danish pine
furniture just like Germany, the basis for success was definitely there. The first shop opened
in September 1988 in Sandnes close to Stavanger. We chose to call it Jysk Sengetøjslager
– just like in Denmark, as there were certain savings in using the same name. But, just as in
Germany, it was not a success at first and so we quickly started adapting the assortment.
Once again we changed the company name. My Norwegian colleagues believed that , since
the Norwegians had such a strong sense of nationalism, the word Norwegian had to be part
of the name. So we changed the name to ”Norsk Sengetøylager” after just a few months.
We also moved the shop away from the town centre and located it outside of town. In so
doing, we got more space and better parking facilities and there was also room for our office
as well as a small central warehouse.
As Norway was not part of the EU, we could not send part of our product line there
from Vejle. If we did, the goods would become too expensive. We also had problems with
the colours of towels, bed linen, quilts and much more. Danish quilts were blue and the
Norwegians only wanted white or beige quilts. They also had to be made in Norway, i.e.
more or less the same problem as in Germany. Colours in fashion in Norway did not change
as quickly as in Denmark – so our towels and bed linen were the wrong colours…
In Denmark quite a lot of the colours changed every year, whereas the Norwegians loved
dark blue, dark green and bordeaux so much that they would not buy other new fashionable
colours. It actually stayed that way for the next 10 years. You could say that it was an easy
job for our buyers, but they did have to purchase separately for Norway and so we needed
a central warehouse. Of course there was also the issue of pillows. New country = new size
and also a new size for the pillowcases. Of course a lot of other things were also adapted,
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
and then we were ready to expand. We opened a shop in Kristiansand and a couple of other
places. But every time we opened a new shop, more and more Norwegians started showing
an overwhelming interest in the individual shops. Of course I wondered about that quite a
lot, until my partners gave me an explanation. It turned out that they had not had the funds
to open shops at such a speed. So, every time we started up in a new town, Ole Nordby and
Arnulf Tjölsen had to find interested investors for the new shop. I had no influence on this,
just as long as they delivered the necessary capital. But eventually it did get harder to find
investors as results failed to materialise over the first 2-3 years. Ole Nordby, who was in charge
of finances, wanted to pull out after a couple of years – and eventually Arnulf Tjölsen also had
to sell his shares. It simply required too much capital to keep up with that many new shops
- especially when there were no profits.
Very Different Mentalities
If anybody thinks it is easy to start up a business abroad, well, think again. Perhaps I kind of
thought it would be easy in Norway… but I was soon to learn otherwise. Even though Norway
once used to be part of Denmark and even though we almost speak the same language, the
mentality is extremely different. You have to realise that, and respect it before you can be
successful. So we did, and today Norway is one of our best markets. 62 shops distributed over
several thousand kilometres from Kristiansand in the south to the world’s northernmost JYSK
shop in Kirkenes. An incredibly distance, which is equivalent to the distance from Denmark to
Africa. It also means that goods from Vejle will not reach the northern part of Norway until a
week later… So here you have to be abreast of what you expect to sell the coming week.
All the shops do in fact get deliveries from Vejle nowadays – not all goods – but all goods
that are made in Denmark, and now all imported goods too. These goods were previously
sent to Sandnes. Now they are sent to our central warehouse in Vejle, where we have a kind
of duty-free area. From there we can send them on to the rest of Europe – depending on
whether it’s needed in Norway or e., for example, Poland.
Hello – My Name Is Lars Larsen
In 1987 a brand new media arrived in Denmark – TV commercials. I had followed this abroad
for many years and now it was here. At first it was only in the TV-Syd area in South Jutland,
but I thought it was worth a try. When it started on October 1st, Jysk Sengetøjslager and Lars
Larsen were there from day 1. We had had many long meetings discussing how to handle
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this. Since, right from the start-up of JYSK, we had used me – the businessman - in our
advertisements successfully it was, in fact, rather logical to use this same concept on TV. We
were convinced that everybody else would make colourful, highly professional commercials,
as was the practice in other countries. We wanted to make a difference and so we did the
opposite – very simple and down to earth commercials. It was not exactly what Saks Film
(who produced them) was used to.
I thought this ”TV stuff” was terribly expensive. In fact it cost me several thousand DKK…
per second. So I could not speak too much nonsense. So we decided that it would only last
10 seconds, which was in fact the least you could buy. This meant that we could afford to
show the commercial a lot of times. This is where I really learned to be brief. I had to introduce
myself and tell people that I was the owner of Jysk Sengetøjslager. I also needed to give the
customer a good offer, for which JYSK was already famous and I had to say goodbye and
see you later – all this within 10 seconds. After discarding a lot of superfluous words, the
commercial ended up having the following wording: ”Hello – my name is Lars Larsen and I’m
the owner of Jysk Sengetøjslager – I have a good offer for you – 2 quilts and 2 pillows DKK
999 and the stuffing is natural – I’ll see you at Jysk Sengetøjslager”.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
The advertising industry laughed at it and said that it was way too simple. But the
customers flocked to my shops and bought the various offers. Lars Larsen quickly became
world famous in South Jutland, which I could instantly feel as soon as I sat foot in the area.
Everybody would stare at me, and many said Hello Lars Larsen – do you have a good offer.
Best of all – turnover rose by 15-20% in the TV Syd area compared to the rest of the
shops in Denmark. Later they started analysing which commercials people remembered the
best and indeed - Jysk Sengetøjslager was among the best and often on top. The media
people who at first had laughed at these amateurish commercials suddenly changed their
mind and started praising them. Some even said that they were brilliant – and before long
our TV commercial was nominated for TV commercial of the year and all of South Jutland was
speaking about a good offer. Even at nursery schools the kids wanted to play Lars Larsen – I
have a good offer for you.
World Famous in Denmark – and in Paris, Miami and Thailand
In 1988 TV commercials became national and I had to decide whether I wanted to become
a public figure in all of Denmark. I did not like the thought of it – after all it was tiring to be
From the nomination for commercial of the year together with Hans-Erik Møller-Hansen
from Reklamebutikken and Hans Erik Saks from Saks Film og Video
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always recognised and spoken to. They all meant well, but it was still tiring, especially for your
privacy. However, I was a businessman and with the sales figures the shops in South Jutland
boasted, there was no other way.
So Lars Larsen became ”world famous” in Denmark on 1st October 1988. Everybody was
talking about him – everybody greeted him – and everybody turned their heads to look at
him. In fact I also felt that everybody was staring at me. I could feel it, even though I turned
my back on them. It was very hard getting used to. At times I was wondering whether it was
all worth it. But once again the businessman got the better of me – and I also talked to several
celebrities. Among these were the singers Keld and Hilda Heick who told me that you got
used to it and eventually would not even notice it – and they were right. However, I did decide
that this would remain a Danish phenomenon. My marketing people had already started
translating to ”Guten Tag – mein Name ist Lars Larsen – Ich habe ein Gutes Angebot für Sie”
etc. In Norway they were joking with ” Hei på deg! På gjensyn hos Sengetøylageret mitt.”
But by keeping it in Denmark, I could always take a trip abroad, if I felt it was getting too
much – or so I thought. But as they say: ”It’s a small world” – and I certainly found out that this
was the case. Once, Kris and I went to Paris on holiday. Normally Danes do not notice whether
there are other Danes in Paris, unless they’re carrying Danish flags. But now I was no longer a
“normal” Danish tourist, and I can tell you that there are many Danes in Paris – lots of them.
There were Danes everywhere I went. It is possible that I had got used to being a celebrity in
Denmark – and that the Danes had got used to me. But this was not the case in Paris. ”Hello
Lars Larsen – do you have a good offer”. It’s rather funny to be able to say that outside ”Notre
Dame”, ”L’Arc de Triomphe”, ”Champs Elysées”, the ”Eiffel Tower”, ”Louvre”, etc…
As I mentioned, there were lots of Danes in Paris. Then we tried Miami Beach – which was
exactly the same - Hawaii, Thailand, New York, etc. It is actually rather fun having the “ability”
to see and hear how many Danes are travelling the globe. Perhaps I can get a part-time job
with Statistics Denmark.
It Was Difficult to Turn Down Free Marketing
But the more exposure I got on TV – the more famous I got. According to the magazines, one
year I was even the second most famous person in Denmark – only surpassed by Her Majesty
the Queen of Denmark. And no, His Royal Highness Prince Henrik did not complain. But I had
many offers to participate in other companies’ commercials. Everything from toothpaste to
washing powder and building societies, even the weekly magazines and all the TV channels
and radio channels, all the Danish newspapers and magazines tried to win my favour. I have
to admit that it was difficult to set a limit. After all, it all offered free advertising for Jysk
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Sengetøjslager, as I was synomonous with JYSK. I drew the line at toothpaste and washing
powder. It had to be about Lars Larsen in relation to Jysk Sengetøjslager. The magazine
”Billed Bladet” immediately picked up on this limitation – and I was all for it. Their idea was
to increase the circulation of ”Billed Bladet” and at the same time Jysk Sengetøjslager got
marketing worth millions of Danish DKK – and hundreds of thousands of potential customers
into the shops to pick up a free towel of our finest quality. The whole idea was for the Danes
to collect a number of stamps from ”Billed Bladet” – and then they could pick up a free towel
at Jysk Sengetøjslager – which in return got innumerable free pages of free marketing. Both
parties gained huge successes from the campaign. All of Denmark was collecting towels from
JYSK – even the comedian Victor Borge helped market our ”Beaver” towels.
As previously mentioned, the TV stations were also on the ball. They wanted Lars Larsen
to participate in everything - from talk shows to all sorts of entertainment programmes. I have
to admit that I found it difficult to turn down TV. I was a chef on TV along with Kurt Thorsen
and Asger Aamund. Speaking of cooking, it is definitely not my strong side – in fact I consider
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it to be my weakest side. I can just about manage to fry some potatoes and eggs but that’s
about the limit of my cooking skills. So suddenly having to cook on TV was certainly quite a
challenge and training was necessary. I chose to make my mother-in-law Kaja’s stuffed leeks
and my wife Kris was in charge of training me. I do not know whether it was due to Kris’ good
advice or my hidden cooking talents, but the fact remains that Kris gave me top marks for my
work. I distinguished myself by adding an extra touch to my mother-in-law’s somewhat dulllooking grey boiled minced meat with boiled carrots and fresh green parsley. This was not
quite the way my mother-in-law cooked it, but it added a bit of extra colour to this wonderful
dish. If any interested readers would like to try it, here’s the recipe:
Recipe for My Mother-in-law Kaja’s Stuffed Leeks
(Serves 4)
4 leeks
4 carrots
parsley
500 g minced pork
3 tbsp flour
2 eggs
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1½ dl milk
1 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
Fat
Greaseproof paper
Bon appetit!
Mix the minced pork with eggs, flour, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and milk. Boil the leeks for a couple of minutes
until they go soft. Grease the greaseproof paper with a bit of fat. Spread the minced pork on the paper and put a
leak on top. Roll the paper around the leek and boil it (in the paper) for 20 minutes. Remember to add the carrots
to the water. Keep the stock and use it for making the sauce. Take the paper off the roll, pour over the sauce and
garnish with carrots and parsley. Serve it with white bread. And be sure to make plenty – it tastes great the next
day breaded and fried. Bon appetit.
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I also took part in the most popular programme of the time, ”Eleva2eren”, with Michael
Meyerheim and many other famous TV stars. After that it was ”Vis mig dit køleskab”, (Show
me your fridge), where Pernille Aalund and Henrik Boserup went through my refrigerator
and the rest of my home. Then there was Johnny Reimer in the programme ”Kun for sjov”,
(Just for fun), – Poul Thomsen in ”TV Quiz” – ”Jagten på den gyldne kanin”, (In search of the
golden rabbit), where the boxer Jesper D. Jensen and I were competing against the TV hosts
Morten Stig Christensen and Jes Dorph-Petersen. ”Wheel of Fortune” with Bengt Burg – a
programme with Klaus Rifbjerg – ”Billedjagt”, (Picture Hunt), with Orla Harregaard and ”Så
skaf dog en stork”, And then the stork turned up). A whole lot of entertainment programmes,
talk shows and quizzes – and in between all this I also made my very own TV programme.
The newspapers also needed their stories. At some point it got so bad that I almost felt I did
not have time to run Jysk Sengetøjslager. However, eventually it became a bit calmer and I
also learned to say no – even when it would give me free marketing…
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I have appeared in many TV programmes over the years
I Am Proud to Be the Main Sponsor for Dansk Handicap Idræts-Forbund
(The Danish Disabled Sports Association)
But along with all this attention came disadvantages. One of them was that I actually had to
hire 2 people to reply to begging letters and applications for sponsorships from all sorts of
organisations. Everything from serious football
clubs to organisations for the preservation of hops
– and who was I to please and who to disappoint?
In 1988 I read about the Danish disabled sports
organisation, ”Dansk Handicaps Idræts Forbund”,
which had been very successful at the Paralympics
in Seoul in South Korea. They had a lot of trouble
finding enough money for these big international
events. People would rather sponsor the big
famous sports clubs. They probably reckoned this
type of sponsorship would be more profitable. I
A lovely but far from unusual sight at Olympic
stadiums when the Paralympics are on
thought it over and then contacted Dansk
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Handicap Idræts-Forbund to hear if they were interested in joining forces. They definitely were,
and before the end of the year we had agreed on a four-year partnership. They got a fair amount
of money for their preparations for the next Olympics, which were to take place in Barcelona,
Spain in 1992. In return they would get me as much publicity as possible. This was sponsorship
on the same terms as in all other sports clubs. For this amount we became the main sponsor
– and it has been a source of great pleasure to us. Kris and I went to Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta
in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 and of course we will also attend Athens in 2004. Every single
time has been a fantastic experience that has given us memories for life. It’s one thing seeing
what normal sportspeople
achieve – and it is, of course,
impressive to see what
they can do. However, it is
nothing compared to what
disabled people achieve.
To see these fanatics swim
faster than most other
people – with either no arms
or legs. There is, for example
the Danish swimmer who has
neither arms nor legs – and
is therefore nicknamed ”the
whisk”. Or how about the
high jumper who jumps 2
metres on one leg – or the
archer who matches the
best. Only, he’s only got one
arm and has to use his teeth
for bending the bow - etc. A
world that only few people
experience – and which I
would like to help make more
visible. The easiest way to do
that is by achieving some of
the best results in the world.
We all like that – and Dansk
Handicap Idræt is at this
stage today. Not just because
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of my sponsorship, of course, but it does help provide the best training facilities. I am proud to
be the main sponsor for the sports organisation in Denmark that wins the most medals at both
the Olympics and world championships. I feel that I get great value for my sponsorship – and
would like to continue for many years ahead. At the same time as making this agreement, I
composed a standard letter to everybody else asking me for money. In this I explained that
I had chosen to put all my sponsor money in one basket – namely Dansk Handicap IdrætsForbund, which was in great need of the money – and which was also represented from all
over Denmark – just like Jysk Sengetøjslager – and that I hoped they would understand this. I
got this understanding, and that meant I no longer needed 2 people to distribute money – to
causes that might be good ones. It also saves me countless inquiries. Those who still ask are
sent my standard letter. Now, that is a sponsorship that benefits both parties, and that is the
way it should be. If any of you readers have any doubts as to whom it pays best to sponsor, I
have a good suggestion for you.
DKK 100,000 from the Spies Foundation
At the same time as the attention due to the TV commercials, the business community also
started paying attention to what we were doing in Denmark and Germany. In 1988 we were
awarded the most distinguished business award in Denmark, ”MMM-prisen”,(the MMM
prize), that is awarded to ”Companies and persons who have been of special importance
to the retail trade in Denmark”, as it
said. Later we got ”Erhvervsbladets
pris”, (the Prize for Industry), and
the ”PR prisen”, (the PR Prize),
”Årets Pjerrot”,(Pierrot of the Year),
”Global AWARD”, ”Entrepreneur
of the Year”, ”Eksport prisen”(the
Prize for Export), and not least
”Livsglædens pris”, (the Happiness
Prize),of DKK 100,000 from the
Simon Spies Foundation in 1989,
which was financed by the late
billionaire and tour operator
Simon Spies. An award that I
later joked, gave me the capital
The award “Årets Pjerrot” is presented by the minister
of communication and tourism then in office, Arne Melchior
to start ”Larsen Travel”.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
The award ”Livsglædens pris”
Bitten by the Snob Sport
By the mid eighties there was a lot to keep track of, and I spent more and more of my time
at the office – and so less time on exercise. Kris thought something had to be done about
that. She knew perfectly well that she could not make me run about in the forest without any
purpose. No, it had to have a competitive edge to it. After careful consideration she dragged
me along to Silkeborg Golf Club – for a trial membership. She thought that this sport, which
was rapidly growing, would be just the thing for me. It had a competitive edge, you did 4-5
hours of walking with plenty of exercise – and last but not least, I could do this sport together
with my family, which was a bonus as I did not spend much time with them as it was – two
birds with one stone.
I did think that many of them – especially the older people - were quite snobbish – and
spoke in a strange – almost royal way. I did not have to spend time with them, though.
My family was all I needed. After a few lessons, Hans-Erik Møller-Hansen, who owned the
Reklame og Marketing Butikken which we used for our advertising, invited us to Gatten in the
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Yes – it is me together with my golf colleagues Agent 007 aka Sean Connery and the opera singer Tony Dalli.
Himmerland area. He had bought a golfing house in a relatively newly built holiday paradise,
”Himmerland Golf & Country Club”. I thought it sounded somewhat snobbish, but I was
willing to give it a chance.
At this time we had a summerhouse in Grønhøj – in the area by the North Sea between
Løkken and Blokhus. The kids had reached an age where they wanted constant action, and I
did not feel that Grønhøj offered them enough challenges apart from walks by the North Sea.
There was not much to do for the children, which meant that their interest was waning. When
we came to Himmerland, we practically did not see them all day. There was a swimming pool,
horses and much more. So I thought that it had to be just the place, where we could do our
new sport and the kids also thrived. So, by the end of the day, we had bought one of the 300
houses surrounding the golf course, and we have never looked back. We became members
of the golf club and Jacob, who was about 11, quickly got interested in golf and Mette, who
was 8, loved the horses – an excellent way to spend time together as a family in my meagre
spare time.
We went to Himmerland as much as we possibly could and were quickly bitten by the
golf bug, but we also loved the fantastic scenery in the area. Of course I was not able to keep
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
my hands off of the well-being of the golf club and the centre, which was definitely nothing
to write home about. Himmerland Golf & Country Club had been designed and set up by
the big building group of the ’80s, ”Flexplan”, and financed by the rising bank of the time,
”Kronebanken”. They had both got involved in a number of big building projects – both in
Denmark and abroad and at great risk… Too great… In the mid ’80s the bubble burst and
they both went bankrupt, and the golf centre would go down with them unless something
was done – very quickly. After many long and hard negotiations, two other members of the
club and I– Birdie Thinggaard and my advertising manager Hans Erik Møller Hansen – ended
up buying the centre + several houses and the golf course. At the same time, all the members
also bought a share at DKK 10,000, and in this way the golf centre survived an imminent
bankruptcy and I was suddenly deeply involved in tourism. There were 300 houses in the
area surrounding the golf course, of which the majority had been sold to private persons.
But about half the houses were rented out through the centre when the owners were not
using the houses themselves. There was also a big influx of new members and we quickly
realised that we had to make an additional golf course to fully exploit the many facilities that
were already there. Since then we have made an additional course for beginners as well as a
bowling centre, squash courts, tennis, sauna, gym, spa, indoors and outdoors swimming pool
Palle Hove, Hans-Erik Møller-Hansen and I
in golfing outfits from eighteen something or other, together with my colleague at
the golfing centre, Birdie Thinggaard, at the opening of the second course.
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and much more. There is
something to suit every
taste, even if you don’t
play golf. In 2002 we
opened a big new golf
hotel with 150 beds, and
today Himmerland Golf
& Country Club is one of
the biggest golf centres in
Northern Europe.
Himmerland Golf & Country Club is one of the biggest golf centres
in Northern Europe today.
Netto Rejser Became Larsen Travel
The golf centre gave me a taste for tourism, so when, at the end of 1989, I was visited
by Annelene Hein Larsen and Kurt Steffensen, 2 former employees of the travel agency
Tjæreborg, , who wanted to start up a new travel agency and needed capital, I thought it
sounded so interesting that I could not turn them down. The name of the company would
be ”Netto Rejser” (Discount Travel), and it would sell cheap package holidays – without any
guides – and no service whatsoever – and would then be sold through Jysk Sengetøjslager.
I thought the idea of cheap prices sounded great and it matched Jysk Sengetøjslager’s
price policy, but I did not like the thought of no service whatsoever. JYSK’s slogan was
”quality – a bit cheaper than others” – and it would be difficult to live up to that with
this concept. Ever since the beginning of the
package holiday industry in Denmark in the
’50s until 1990, the industry had been strongly
personified – mainly by Eilif Krogager – better
known as ”Tjæreborgpræsten” - and the
eccentric billionaire Simon Spies. Now they
were no longer part of the industry and we
thought they had left a void. As I had become
one of the most famous persons in Denmark,
it seemed an obvious choice to use the name
”Larsen Travel” – ”quality a bit cheaper than
others”. This was in fact a nice article to Annelene Hein and Kurt Steffensen
stock at JYSK. It took up almost no space – in started up Larsen Travel together with me
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
contrast to quilts, mattresses and beds. It provided an incredible amount of media attention
and attracted hundreds of thousands of happy holiday customers to an otherwise ”sleepy”
shop, and there was a good chance that people would buy some furnishing articles since they
were there anyway. All these were elements that appealed to me and which made me plunge
headlong into an industry that I knew nothing about – except from when the little woman,
the children and I occasionally went to Rhodes for a week. I knew perfectly well that it was
going to be hard – and could end up costing me money – but I was willing to pay the price
– based on the philosophy that the amount of attention and influx of customers it would
bring would be nearly priceless.
A Loss of DKK 2-300 Million or a Good Investment?
We founded Larsen Travel A/S in early 1990. Annelene and Kurt each had 25% and I had 50%.
They mainly paid with their ”know-how” and a bit of cash. And so it was me that had to cough
up the money… and so I did… Plenty of money… The press has calculated that it was DKK 2-300
million and that is probably true… But I also feel that it has been worth it… Jysk Sengetøjslager
suddenly became ”world famous” – a shop that people talked about, heard about, wrote about
and read about almost every day for 10 years. Anybody who knows marketing prices will probably
admit that it was ”a good offer” if they think about it. I reckon it was about half price – DKK 20-30
million a year for the marketing of 200-300 shops gives the modest sum of about DKK 100,000
per shop, which is the price of a one-page advertisement in the newspapers Jyllands-Posten and
Berlingske Tidende or a couple of TV commercials. Why 2-300 shops, when there are only just
under 100 shops in Denmark? Well, we also made ourselved known in Germany, Norway and
Sweden… We also attracted hundreds of thousands of happy holiday guests to the shops here
to pick up holiday brochures – and so they got to know some otherwise fairly unknown bedding
shops… The foreign press also wrote page after page about these weird bedding people, who
sold holiday trips… even radio and TV marketed us. However, there was more to it than simply
setting up a limited company – we also needed some holidays to offer. We devised a strategy for
the summer - which was that all holidays should cost the same – and last 14 days – in June, July
and August. Irrespective of the hotel category and destination, they would all cost DKK 2995. We
found 3 popular destinations: Majorca, Ibiza and the Costa Brava. Kurt Steffensen was sent to
find nice middle class hotels and flats and negotiate flight prices etc. At the same time Annelene
Hein Larsen started looking for suitable sales premises, hiring personnel and last, but not least
– teaching the bedding personnel how to sell holidays. They only had about 2 months to get all
this together. We were already running late if we were to start selling by Easter, which was the
final call as regards marketing, as we had to fill up the first flight on June 3rd.
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Secretiveness and Hysterical Interest from the Media
I cannot claim that we fully succeeded… But in for a penny, in for a pound… At the same
time as all this, Hans-Erik Møller-Hansen from Reklame Butikken and I started developing
a happy Danish logo. My idea was for Larsen
Travel to signal happy Danish flights. The result
became what most of you probably know:
Sun – palm trees and a happy Danish flag. But
everything was done in the utmost secrecy.
Nobody was allowed to know anything about
Larsen Travel until we were on the streets with
big advertisements in 4 colours – just before
and at Easter.
Of course it caused certain problems to
keep such a big sensation secret – not least
at Reklame Butikken… Why did they need to
spend their time on this nonsense – instead of
making up good bedding advertisements…
Hans-Erik Møller-Hansen - my partner from
Himmerland Golf & Country Club - had told
his staff a little white lie. When we bought
the golf centre, he had a logo made for
himself, just for the fun of it, with the
name ”Hansen Travel” which he used,
when he arranged various ”study tours”
in Europe where the shareholders could
see and try out various golf centres. So
he told his staff that Larsen also wanted
a logo like that– for any arrangements
he might have to arrange. The staff
understood this all right, but they did
not understand why they had to come
up with 20-30 different suggestions and
a lot of people had to spend days and
weeks on it… ”Well, Larsen can be a bit
hard to please”, Hans-Erik mumbled…
But they did finish the logo. We believed Opening advertisement for Larsen Travel, April 1990
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
that all this secrecy was necessary – so that our competitors would not have time to make a
countermove. We knew that Spies had registered the name ”Netto Rejser”(Discount Travel)
– and there was probably a good reason for that… But as the time came nearer, it became
more and more difficult to keep it a secret. There were simply too many people who knew
about it… and one fine day the bubble burst. It happened, to be precise, on Tuesday 3rd
April, 1990. I had left work early to go to Himmerland to play some golf… Suddenly a
lady came running across the golf course – which made us think that some disaster must
have happened. This was not the case. It was merely the journalist Birgit Rostrup from the
newspaper Ekstra Bladet who had heard that I wanted to start up in the travel industry – and
she would like me to confirm it…
That was the end of the quiet life – I knew there was a big interest in the travel industry
– but it took me by surprise that things were so hysterical. Over the coming days – even
weeks - I was besieged 24 hours a day. Sometimes they even rang the bell at my house – after
midnight – and then I had to give interviews in my dressing gown – at my bedside. After 8
weeks I was sent the result of a market survey. It showed that Larsen Travel was now the bestknown travel agency in Denmark – a position that it would normally take years to reach… I
guess you could say that the basic idea of attracting attention had gone according to plan.
Larsen Travel Had Come to Stay – for the Next 10 Years
Apart from directing attention to Jysk Sengetøjslager, of course I also wanted to create a new
dynamic travel company… Spies and Tjæreborg had merged and now controlled 80% of the
charter market – and there was talk of major price rises. This could not be true – they needed
competition. Until the very last minute, the whole trade thought that the name would be
”Netto Rejser”.(Discount Travel).
Everybody was very surprised when we had a press conference to introduce Denmark’s
newcomer to the industry – ”Larsen Travel” – ”Quality a bit cheaper than others”, i.e. not any
no-frills holiday company, but a good alternative to the colossus, Spies-Tjæreborg. In fact, they
panicked and got Discount Travel together in record time – purely because of the rumours
surrounding a new discount company – and had their press conference before us… and had
the name Discount Travel registered before us… That was an easy task, as we never tried to.
But as Annelene and Kurt had thought of this name from the beginning, we did use it as the
working title – and booked hotels and planes, employees and advertisements under the name
Discount Travel, only to change it at the very last minute. I am certain that Spies-Tjæreborg were
convinced that they had really taken us by surprise. However, the fact remains that nothing
much ever came of Discount Travel – after a year they decided to close it down…
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Some might say that I
should have done the same…
But that was not how it was
meant to be… Larsen Travel
had come to stay… For the
next 10 years… To fight the
giants by creating cheaper
prices… I think that even
the most sceptical person
will acknowledge that. Over
the coming years ruthless
competition took place that
meant increasingly cheaper
package holidays – all to the
vast pleasure of many Danes.
In the ’90s people travelled
like never before and when
the charter industry was at
its peak, more than 1 million
package holidays were sold.
Today that figure is about
30% lower - and prices about
30% higher. The sale of our
holidays started officially
on Maundy Thursday and
over Easter we sold 5,400
holidays – a good result for
a brand new company, which
started selling far too late as
about 70% of summer sales
normally took place during January and February. We had booked planes with Sterling for about
10,000 guests. Ibiza and Majorca went well whereas the Costa Brava was a disaster… After
the Easter sales we had only sold about 50 tickets, whereas lots of people wanted to go to
Rhodes, which was not even in our programme. We made a quick decision, stopped selling
and sent the few guests, who insisted on going to the Costa Brava, by a scheduled flight. A
costly solution, but necessary unless we wanted to lose our credibility. This was the first time
that Larsen Travel lost money…
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Unfortunately, it was not going to be the last. Many planes weren’t full during the summer
. The reason was that I did not want to sell last minute tickets at a reduced price. This had
always been common practice and I had always felt that it was highly unfair to all the many
faithful guests who booked early and thereby made it easier to organise everything. Once
these guests met by the pool, they would sooner or later start discussing what they had each
paid for the trip. I would not accept that other guests had only paid half the price… So I would
rather have empty seats, until I realised that we definitely could not afford that… better half
price than nothing at all.
However, I stuck to my belief that a low price also meant a low standard. In order to fill
our quota with Sterling we also started selling holidays to Rhodes, which was far better than
the other destinations. In hindsight, my partners should probably have realised this from the
beginning… Bur fair enough – everybody’s allowed one mistake…
Employees Came Along on Maiden Trip
We had the press conference a bit earlier than planned – due to Spies’ starting up Discount
Travels. All of the Danish press was present - newspapers, magazines and the national TV
stations DR1 and TV2. It gave us so much publicity that we sold the first thousands of holidays
before the brochure came out for Easter, and optimism was high. Once the Easter sale was
over, we had sold 2/3 of all our travels, but then it started getting difficult. We still needed
to sell the off-peak season, i.e. the first 3 weeks of June and the last weeks of August. Not
even our maiden trip at the beginning of June was sold out. I had reserved seats for all of the
press and then also decided to invite along an employee from each of my 73 Danish bedding
shops to give them a first hand impression of our new product. That would also give them
a better understanding of selling holidays and they could familiarise themselves with the
destinations. This strategy paid off – everybody gained a good understanding of the industry
and brought it home with them to their shops where they taught their colleagues about this
new ”product”… and then we were in action…
There was also the charter war – which was good and bad – mainly bad… The big old
established companies tried to stop the new annoying upstarts by any means. They chased
us away from the hotels we had booked – with legal proceedings and the like – claiming that
they had a monopoly – and the press ran a smear campaign claiming that we were not serious
about it and amateurish and could not carry through our programme… There were practically
no limits as to how clever they were when it came to us… But it took more than that to scare
away a stubborn inhabitant of Thy…
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Hawaii and Mexico at the Same Price as Gran Canaria
So while we were carrying out our summer programme, we started planning a gigantic
winter programme of about 35,000 holidays… Quite a tall order for a travel agency which
was only half a year old – and it also turned out to be too much… As well as the traditional
Gran Canaria, we also wanted to create something new and untested in the travel industry…
Package holidays to Hawaii and Mexico at the same prices as for Gran Canaria. In order to
do so, we needed to find a big long-haul aircraft that could fly like a shuttle service between
Copenhagen – Los Angeles and Billund – Los Angeles. The plan was for people to either
choose to stay in Los Angeles and have their holiday there – or they could move on to either
Hawaii or Mexico… We did find the plane at ATA – American Trans Air – and signed a contract
for a double figure million Danish crown sum. A fantastic programme and probably the
biggest gamble in the history of the travel industry… In order to fill up with 4-5,000 holiday
guests we needed more countries to sell travels in. In record time we opened sales offices
in Norway, Sweden and Germany… Then sales could begin – and things went quickly. 4000
holidays were sold in 2 months – most of them to Hawaii – in fact so many that it was equal
to the number of Danes that had been to Hawaii throughout the entire history of the travel
industry… We also sold a similar number to Thailand – and even more to Gran Canaria…
From our silver wedding anniversary party in Thailand
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Sales at Larsen Travel were certainly brisk… and I started dreaming of the day we would be
the biggest in Denmark… But this was not to be… Selling the holidays was one thing – but
carrying them through was an entirely different matter.
As we approached the start-up of the many incredibly exciting destinations, I realised that
misfortunes never come singly… We had nothing but problems. Some undeservedly – but
even more were self-inflicted. It was the autumn of 1990 and the Gulf war was about to start.
133
People were afraid of flying, many planes were cancelled and people did not feel like travelling.
More and more people cancelled their holiday – and there I was with all my contracts worth
millions and which could not be cancelled. The Gulf war had nothing to do with Hawaii and
Mexico – the airline felt… So I had to swallow the bitter pill and go through with the flights
with planes that were only half full. I certainly hadn’t counted on doing that…
I Was About to Run Away Screaming
I also have to admit that I had been too naive as regards my faith in my partners’ abilities in the
travel industry. I fully trusted that, after more than 10 years in the industry, they knew what
they were doing… They didn’t. We never got permission to fly from Billund to Los Angeles
and so we had to divert the plane to Hamburg and then transport our guests from Jutland
and Funen to Hamburg by bus. In Los Angeles a national airline refused to fly to Hawaii at the
agreed prices, so I had to pay 2-3 times as much for this transport – an amount corresponding
to what my guests had paid for the whole trip… So planes that were only half full and triple
price from Los Angeles to Hawaii, sold at the phenomenal price of DKK 5,995 for 14 days…
That would never make me rich… In fact, neither did the trips to Thailand.
My colleague Kurt Steffensen claimed that he had a great contract with the world’s
biggest airline… However, shortly before the guests were about to leave, it was to prove that
the contract didn’t hold water. It was a desperate situation… DKK 1 million was the price
I had to pay to rent a plane from SAS so that my guests got the Christmas holiday we had
promised them… At the same time my guests in Mexico were freezing to death. We had
promised them temperatures of 20 degrees and it was, at most, only half that. These were in
fact the lowest temperatures ever in Mexican history, but my guests couldn’t care less. They
just wanted a nice warm quilt and a coat until they could get back to Los Angeles, where
temperatures were more humane… Oh yes, the little big travel agency did ”well”…
If 1990 was bad, it was nothing compared to the beginning of 1991 when the first Gulf
war started – and the travel industry collapsed… Quite a start in the travel industry… And
DKK 30-40 million poorer. That later proved to be only the beginning… I have to admit that,
at that point, I was just about ready to run away screaming – and leave the travel industry for
good… However, that is simply not an option in my family… You have to be accountable for
whatever you do… And so I was.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Jysk Sengetøjslager in Struer Has Made More Money
than the entire Package Holiday Industry over the Past 15 Years
In order to set up things again and get a grip of it all, I then hired Jens Veino who had
previously been a managing director with Tjæreborg Travel. After studying things, he
recommended letting Larsen Travel go bankrupt. That way I could save a double figure million
Danish crown sum… I then had to explain to him that this was not what I had hired him for
– on the contrary, he was supposed to get things into shape – and make Larsen Travel one
of Denmark’s best travel agencies. I actually think he succeeded in doing that… Financially,
it never became a success, but I blame that on the industry. For some reason the package
holiday industry has never made any money since the days of Eilif Krogager and Simon Spies.
Over the past 15 years the package holiday industry as a whole has made less money than
one of my smallest bedding shops in Struer… Even after big international companies taking
135
over… We Danes certainly have access to cheap package holidays… So – make sure you get
out and see the world while prices remain where they are… As previously mentioned, they’re
going up.
As we experienced one loss after another, I had to put more and more money into the
company. Annelene and Kurt were not capable of doing this. So, by 1991, I already owned
100% of the shares. . When I hired Jens Veino, I tempted him with the possibility of buying
up to 30% when the company eventually started yielding a profit – which never became an
issue. However, it was a major bonus for him if he succeeded. I also did it because I realised
that I would never spend too much time on the travel industry… I wanted to spend most of
my time on what I did best – and that is selling furnishings… and so I did…
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Marketing at Full Speed in East Germany
In Germany the wall was down and a big new market with 18 million potential customers
was waiting with open arms and wallets filled with useless East German marks that had been
exchanged for Europe’s strongest currency – the West German mark. The exchange rate was
“only” in the ratio of 2-1, but it still created an amazing amount of purchasing power and that
money had to be spent. One day, people had nothing and then, overnight, they suddenly became
able to pick and choose among all the excellence things from the West. Many people flocked to
our shops in the eastern part of West Germany and that quickly taught us what was top of their
wish list. We wanted to be among the first to have shops in East Germany, but it was hard. There
were no premises available – just about everything was ramshackle and therefore impossible to
use for business. The few premises that were suitable had totally ridiculous prices. So we had to
use untraditional methods over the first couple of years. We rented some highly peculiar premises
– everything from sports halls to ramshackle factories. Advertising was also hopeless – the few
newspapers around quickly learned to insert advertisements, but we never knew when it would
appear in the newspaper. They could only tell us that it would be inserted when they could fit it
in – not which day – in fact hardly even which week. “Of course” those who paid the most got
their advertisements in first – and paying under the table often worked miracles. Everything was
sellable – people had nothing. Money had to stretch as far as possible, so price was an important
factor. So we decided to clear all our warehouses in Germany and Denmark of discontinued goods
and goods that did not sell well and sell it in East Germany at heavily reduced prices. Everybody
was happy. The East Germans got their low prices and we managed to weed out our stock
thoroughly. Once these goods had been sold, we contacted our suppliers to help them get rid of
all their surplus stock. Even garden furniture sold like hot cakes – even in the winter. They used it
in their living rooms. When we
started up in a new town and
did not have a clue when our
opening advertisements would
appear in the newspaper, we
made up leaflets and posters.
My brother Knud from the
mattress factory HUMALAMA then drove around in
town in their big truck with
stickers with our opening
offers on it and sounded the
horn. It attracted attention When we started out in East Germany, Åge Nielsen got a new ”company car”
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and sales were tremendous from the very first day. We weren’t always able to find a hotel in town
that could fit in our staff. Then they had to live between the quilts and the mattresses. Water,
lights, heating and telephones rarely worked, so it was just like coming to the Klondike during
the gold rush… In fact, in some towns we had no premises at all and so we just put up some
sales tables and sold the goods straight from our trucks. Even banks were a rare occurrence and
sometimes we did not feel quite so safe depositing several hundred thousand DKK in what they
called a bank, so often we had to drive several hundred kilometres to be able to deposit the day’s
turnover in a West German bank. But we were there from the beginning and so we also learned
to negotiate premises with the old Communist regime. Let me tell you - it was not easy. However,
over the course of time we have succeeded in neutralising many social and cultural differences,
although there is still a long way to go. Our big advantage in the first hard years was definitely
being Danish. It was more acceptable doing business with Danes than West Germans. So we
managed to build a big healthy chain of shops in the former East Germany in only a few years.
Today we have more than 100 shops in this part of Germany – and more are on their way…
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
Swedish Willy Towels
At about the same time as we moved into East Germany we also decided to capture IKEA’s
homeland – Sweden. It was a risky business as the world’s biggest dealer in our trade – IKEA
- dominated this market completely. But
my philosophy was that if we could make
it in the Swedish market, we could make
it everywhere in Europe. No sooner said
than done – In 1991 we opened the first
shop in Malmö. We chose this city based
on the simple philosophy that it was the
closest to Denmark so that lot of potential
customers would perhaps have heard of
Jysk Sengetøjslager. At the same time it
was also the shortest distance from our One of our newest
Danish central warehouse and we could shops in Sweden
borrow Danish employees during the start-up phase. Practically everything was based on
the Danish model and then translated into Swedish. Even the company name was translated
directly to Jysk Bäddlager. However, this direct translation from Danish into Swedish also
caused some misunderstandings.
For example, our opening advertisement was quite a disaster… Throughout all the years
it has been our practice to give every customer a present on the opening day. Usually 3
tea towels – and so we also did this in Malmö… or so we thought… In Swedish tea towels
are called ”kökshanddukar”. This was all very well – except for the minor problem that we
had because the opening newspaper was printed and laid out in Denmark. For inexplicable
reasons the Swedish ö became a u – a trifle that
none of the Danes noticed… But our Swedish
customers certainly did… Now it didn’t say
tea towels… Instead it said – pardon me my
language, but it did – ”WILLY TOWELS”.
At the opening of a new shop we have also
always advertised that our “helper” would serve
coffee and a cake in the morning to those who
showed up early. Naturally, we did the same
in Sweden… Or so we thought… But for
some inexplicable reason ”helper” had been
-and one of our first in Danmark
translated into ”TOMTEN” – which is an entirely
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different person… He could certainly also be useful – at a certain time a year such as December. But
this was January – when ”SANTA CLAUS” does not normally serve coffee in the morning…
Now We Pay our Taxes in Sweden – and Are Happy to Do so
I do no know whether it was because of these exciting new initiatives – or whether it was
because of ”Jysk Bäddlagers” other opening offers. But one thing is certain – the Swedes loved
this strange new shop – with the somewhat advanced offers… Our success was in the bag, at
least in terms of turnover and attracting customers. As
regards profit, it was a disaster… Unfortunately, the
Swedes devalued their currency by no less than 30%
a few months before we were about to open… What
was the impact of that on JYSK? Well – all the goods
were delivered from Denmark which meant that our
Swedish shops suddenly had to pay 30% more for
the goods – without being paid a penny more for
it. IKEA and the other Swedish competitors bought
most of their goods in Sweden and so it did not feel
for them as if the value of the Swedish crown had
decreased by 30%. If I had not been so stubborn,
JYSK would probably not have been what they are
in Sweden today – one of Sweden’s biggest chains
of shops with more than one hundred shops and
a turnover of DKK 2000 million and a profit of
more than 100 million a year. But before this
fantastic result, it took 10 hard years with one
loss after another. At its worst, we had a deficit
of more than one hundred million. We have now
recovered that money – and today JYSK pays large
double figure million crown sums in taxes to the Swedish state… and we are happy to do so…
After all, you only pay taxes if you actually make money… We have also learned the Swedish
language… sort of… There was one episode some years ago when we had the Christmas party,
and my Swedish employees gave me a nice leather bag. My Danish master of ceremony, Kurt
Møller, delivered the bag to the reception at the hotel where my wife Kris and I were staying.
He went home before us, so in order to make sure that I remembered the bag, he asked the
reception to call my room and remind me to remember the bag…
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The nice lady in the reception looked terrified and refused to make the call… However,
after some talk they realised that it was a confusion of languages… In Danish a bag is called
a taske, but in Swedish this actually means “a man’s private parts”… I guess it was no wonder
that the receptionist refused to pass on the message…
The American Dream
Things were incredibly busy at the beginning of the ’90s. This was also when I wanted to test
my strength ”over there” – in the USA. I went there several times to study the market and
concluded that they definitely needed Jysk Sengetøjslager… For instance, they had no quilts…
They merely slept in annoying blankets and sheets… This had to be just the market for ”THE
QUILT KING”. I contacted my skilful manager Ulrik Madsen in Vildsund close to Thisted, who had
previously expressed a desire to see the world and open Jysk Sengetøjslager shops. He was all
for it and was sent to Sweden for training, where he could see how to tackle the task – opening
shops in a new country. At the same time, some of my employees and I once again went to
the USA to prepare everything. There is a lot that has to be put into place before being ready
to start up in a new country – and we quickly realised that there was even more when it was
in the USA. We had to find suitable premises, gain permissions from the authorities, talk
to the bank, accountant, lawyer, advertising
agency, etc. We also needed to find some
American suppliers – which turned out to be
by far the trickiest part…
In Europe we had experienced how
difficult it could be when we started up in a
new country - the big well-known suppliers
did not dare do business with us. However,
if this caused us problems in Germany,
Norway and Sweden, it was nothing
compared to the USA. Most suppliers
simply laughed at us when we wanted to
buy goods for delivery 3 months later…
We couldn’t just do that… They had their
regular clientele and didn’t just take in
new customers.
However, we did find some suppliers
– probably not the best – and definitely Ulrik Madsen - my man in the USA
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not at the best prices, even though I told them about our high standards in Europe – that we
were among the biggest and it would provide them with big opportunities for the future. Not
just in the USA, but also in the European market, which in fact they did not know at all.
Swings and Roundabouts in American
I will never forget a visit to one of the big manufacturers of towels, who graciously let us buy
a series – consisting of facecloths, towels and bath towels. We agreed on quantity and price.
They explained to me that shops sold most bath towels, which I did not understand as we
sold twice the number of standard towels as bath towels in Europe – to which he replied: ”I
understand – but now you are in America” – and explained to me that here in ”God’s own
country” they used bath towels as special offers and so they sold twice as many of that size.
I then summoned up my courage and asked him if he could help me price the series.
No problem. You have paid $4.95 for the bath towel – then you have to sell it at $3.95…
??? I had to chew on that for a moment… buy at $4.95 and sell at $3.95… You would
certainly never make any money from that – which I carefully tried to explain to him. To this he
replied: ”You will, as long as you make enough money on facecloths and standard towels”…
I thought it over, and then I told him that meant that I had to charge almost the same price
for the facecloths and standard towels as for the big bath towels… ”Yes, now you’re getting
the hang of it”.
The next day I went to various soft furnishings shops to do some research. Very true. If
a bath towel cost $3.95, a facecloth would typically cost $2.95 and the towel $3.45. That
meant that a facecloth of 30x30 cm cost more than half the price of a bath towel of 70x140
cm. A quick calculation will tell you that a bath towel is about 10 times as big as a facecloth
and therefore ought to cost about 10 times as much, since all sizes are bought at the same
kilo price.
I do know the expression that what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts.
We use the same principle at JYSK, but a somewhat different version. A European would
never accept having to pay such a relatively high price for the facecloth and towel but would
just buy the bath towel, and there wasn’t much business in that. We had to learn this kind of
trick if we wanted to make it ”over there”.
At first I thought that almost all Americans were more or less ”crazy” to go for such obvious
advertising tricks, but they simply love shopping in this way, where they get something in
return for paying too much for something else. The more insight I gained into their crazy
ways of attracting customers, the more frustrated I got. It was quite common to advertise
a mattress for $1 and then write underneath in small print that it was on the condition that
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they bought another mattress for $199. We advertised the same mattresses for $89, but the
customers were not interested. Or how about a free quilt – if you bought a pillow for $49.
We sold the quilt and the pillow for $39 - unsuccessfully. Or how about a free watch – as
long as you also bought bed linen for $29. We sold the watch for $5 and the bed linen for
$19 - not interesting.
In the US we were called Jysk Bed’n Linen
The Americans Pull the Consumers’ Leg
I just felt that the American marketing laws were pulling the leg of the consumer – the law
could be interpreted in a few words: ”EVERYTHING IS LEGAL – but you cannot lie about
your competitors”. It did not say anything about not being able to take your customers for a
ride. I have to admit that it might be one of the reasons why we were never successful ”over
there”. However, I refused to use this ludicrous form of marketing. Today I still wonder who
is the most “crazy” – the Americans or me. They do say ”when in Rome, do as the Romans
do” – and so I ”forgot”.
However, we did find several suppliers – some more serious than others. I particularly
remember one of the – so to speak – untraditional suppliers. We found them on 5th Avenue
in a commercial house on the 5th floor – some experience. We were a whole delegation of
”silly Europeans” – I am sure that’s what they thought. And they made sure to tell us so. The
company was run by a family consisting of a father and his 3 sons. I told them what we were
there for and about all the European shops we had. Now we wanted to try our luck in ”God’s
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own country” and were hoping they could help us. ”We can – our first piece of advice is…
forget about it… Go home and stick to your nice, healthy company in Europe… You will
never make any money here”. Then I had to tell them about how stubborn Jutlanders are and
asked them whether they wanted to do business or not… And they did. Then there followed
something that was most reminiscent of a ”Monty Python” show. The 3 sons started digging
out samples while the father sat in his office with the calculator and shouted prices to the big
showroom. We also ended up finding some surplus stock we thought could be sold at just
the right opening prices.
At the end we discussed the terms of payment… ”We only use one type of payment…
Cool cash”. That was okay, but being a businessman, I wanted a 5% cash discount… The
oldest son shouted this to the father, who immediately shouted back… ”Give them 10%…
They will probably never pay anyway”. That’s how it ended up… We did pay, but we got 10%
when we asked for 5%. I have to admit that we were somewhat sceptical when we left and
thought that the goods would never be delivered… But they were. Today I sometimes wonder
if my Jutland business talents could match those of an American business family…
The Shops with All the Odd Products
We sent the vast majority of goods there from Denmark. A few products were successful, but
the vast majority of them were impossible to sell. The customers simply did not know what
to use them for. For example a customer asked me where she could find the paste for the
oilcloth???? She thought it was waterproof wallpaper… Or how about the man who came to
pick up a tool cupboard… He had bought the very finest wardrobe in solid lye treated pine…
Or the customer who complained about the dishcloths – they were the worst facecloths she
had ever tried… Or all the customers who complained about the dirty name of our very finest
series of towels, ”Beaver”. We had no idea it was American slang for the female genitals…
I could go on and on with stories like that. We had certainly crossed the ocean – and it was
probably further away than we thought. But in for a penny, in for a pound…
Reception with Hans Christian Andersen, but No Victor Borge
After almost a year of preparations we were ready to open JYSK Bed’n Linen in Shrewsbury in
the state of New Jersey, about 1 hour’s drive south of New York. On Friday March 13th, 1992,
all of the USA and Denmark is invited to the reception. From Denmark a huge delegation of
about 50 people arrives to see what Quilt Larsen is doing now - a mixed gathering of suppliers
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Unfortunately Victor Borge could not make it
and employees from JYSK, who are there to help with the opening. They also brought along
a replica of Hans Christian Andersen and a nearly authentic Viking playing the lure. From the
USA came the mayor of Shrewsbury and other prominent guests, as well as the few brave
American suppliers, the accountant, lawyer, bank connections and advertising people. I had
also invited along the Danish foreign minister, Uffe Ellemann, and Victor Borge. However,
they did not have time for it. So they sent their apologies. However, we made it through the
reception without them.
The lure was sounded, Hans Christian Andersen’s poems were read and I crawled on top
of a stack of mattresses with a pea underneath and gave a speech in my best school English
– and the Americans really are such nice people. They claimed they understood my speech…
and at the end the mayor gave a speech and wished us well in the States.
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Which we would certainly need… Already the very next morning, on the opening day, his
police officers came along and took away our opening banners and goods from the street. You
could not use such things in God’s own country. However, we partied all day and had plenty of
Danish beer, schnapps, herring and liver pate and everybody had a great time… Some of the
employees and Kris and I were staying in New York, where the party continued all night…
Vikings and Hans Christian Andersen came along for the opening in the USA
Two Openings and a Deficit of 50 Million
On Saturday 14 th March 1992 at 8.00 am we then opened the world’s first JYSK in America. I
had agreed with the mayor that he and I would inaugurate the shop at 8.00 am and a Danish
TV crew would film this historic event. Fate would have it differently… The TV crew did not
arrive until after 9. They got lost – or some sorry excuse. However, I did not want them to
miss this world sensation. So I got on the phone, and at 10.00 am the mayor and I were ready
once again… This time in the presence of the TV crew.
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That’s how it came about that our first shop in the US was opened twice. Whether that was
the reason for the lack of success or whether it was the Jutlanders’ lack of understanding of
the Americans’ shopping habits will remain unknown. The fact remains that we never learned
”the American way of business”. It was not that we did not give it a try. In fact, we fought for
eight years to make it work. We tried different locations – different company names – different
assortments and different marketing strategies. But it was all in vain. At its height we had 6
shops with a, by all accounts, interesting assortment that consisted of the best from Europe
and the USA. But it was impossible to make any money – on the contrary, we accumulated an
increasingly bigger deficit, which in the year 2000 was almost DKK 50 million, before I put my
foot down. In 2000 we decided to close down for good… and yet… The stubborn guy from
Thy would not quite let go of the USA. After all, we had learned a lot about the Americans over
those 8 years. When we started up in 1992, I put Ulrik Madsen in charge of the USA but also
hired the young furniture expert Torben Ovesen as his right-hand man. They both thought that
we had opportunities in furniture. After some market research that showed that the Americans
would like to buy Scandinavian furniture, we decided to give it one last chance. The result was
an interesting furniture shop of about 1000 m2 – filled with the best of Scandinavian furniture
– combined with Italian leather furniture as well as smart tables and chairs. We named it
”Inspiration”… This was just the thing for the Americans… Shortly afterwards, we opened
the second shop of 3000 m2 and now we have opened no. 3 – and more are still to follow.
We never taught them to sleep under Danish quilts, but now we hope that, in future, they
will decorate their homes with ”Danish designs”… The start-up looks promising… And who
knows?… Perhaps some day they will also learn to sleep under Danish quilts…
For that reason we haven’t stopped keeping an eye on the American market. As late as in
2001, a big delegation from JYSK went to the USA to see if we could learn anything from the
Americans. You always can. But I have to admit that I also learned that it can be dangerous
for a company to travel with so many people from the management together. On the study
tour my son Jacob and I, the managing director for JYSK Nordic, Jan Bøgh, and the managing
director for Germany, Åge Nielsen, as well as another handful of people from management
all participated. We all went for dinner together in the restaurant on top of the World Trade
Center – and we all know what happened a few months later.
Larsen Travel - an Alternative to the Big Companies
While I open up shops in East Germany, Sweden and the US, Jens Veino and Co. work intensely
on turning Larsen Travel into an exciting alternative to the big package tour operators. As
early as 1991, we launch one of Denmark’s most exciting travel programmes, which I and
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a bunch of employees introduce all over Denmark from an old English double-decker bus.
Among the biggest news was New York for DKK 1998, as well as the West African state Sierra
Leone – one of the poorest countries in the world but with some of the world’s most beautiful
beaches. In November 1991, I invited the Danish press and a bunch of employees down there
so that everybody could see what it was like… It was the experience of a lifetime… It was
very poor – and it was a true paradise for us Scandinavians.
I will never forget when we needed to exchange to their local currency, Leones. They were
not counted, but instead the thickness of a stack of bank notes was measured. 9 cm equalled
DKK 100. Every bank note had a value of about 10 øre…their biggest bank note, that is!
Sierra Leone only had about 10,000 tourists a year, and now a Scandinavian they had
never heard of wanted to double their tourism. That really attracted attention. In fact so
much so that we were invited to an audience with President Momoh, to whom I gave 2 lovely
down pillows from JYSK. I later went to visit the president’s wife for afternoon tea, where
among other things we talked about disabled sports, which we were both, interested in.
Before going home I gave the president and his wife a standing invitation to visit our home in
Silkeborg. A few months later the president was toppled and a civil war had started – a war
that is still raging. But I have to admit that for a long time, whenever the doorbell sounded
I wondered if it was President Momoh and all his family waiting outside having decided to
accept my invitation.
Unfortunately, Sierra Leone was a brief encounter. However, I think that everybody who
visited this primitive country saw it as a fantastic experience and will remember it for the rest of
their lives. I also remember Sierra Leone from a visit at Jysk Sengetøjslager on Amagerbrogade
in Copenhagen. I had just come back from my press trip and an elderly gentleman came to
me in the shop and asked me if I could advise him where to go on holiday… Then I started
on my sales speech – about all the excellences of Sierra Leone – I was virtually impossible to
stop… But finally the elderly gentleman got to say something… ”I don’t like black people”…
There I was with all my business talents… And after collecting my thoughts for a minute, I
managed to stutter that he probably should not choose Sierra Leone…
Man of the Year in London – and Dragged Through the Mire on the Radio
But things were happening in Larsen Travel. At the end of the year we were able to present
a world sensation in the Scandinavian travel industry – package holidays to Japan – at prices
from DKK 5000. Previously the cheapest prices had been around DKK 15,000. It was also at
the end of 1991 that I was elected man of the year in the Scandinavian travel industry at a
big ceremony in London. The so-called ”Global Award”, which is awarded each year at the
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Jens Veino and I in a promotion for Japan
”World Travel Market” to people who have helped renew the travel industry. A total of nine
people from the travel industry from all over the world were given the award – and among
these also the quilt dealer from Silkeborg. I was rather proud of that, but one of my arch rivals
in the travel industry, Poul Erik Madsen – also known as ”Honest Madsen” – definitely wasn’t.
He had been in charge of several of the big package tour operators and was clearly frustrated
that a JYSK quilt deal was rubbing shoulders with people in his industry. In a radio show with
Lars E. Christiansen, which many people probably remember under the name ”Trafikradioen”
(Traffic Radio), he abused me, using every name under the sun. He said that I would get a
”thrashing” and told me to go back home to Jutland to my quilts that were all I knew anything
about – and to leave the travel industry to the experts, etc. I then explained to him that this
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Travelling the country
on the back of a camel
was a free country with freedom of competition and asked him if ” it wasn’t just a case of sour
grapes”. Some years later we met again… He was now the managing director for the merged
Larsen Travel – Herning Charter and Simons Charterkompagni… and I was chairman of the
board… Time heals all wounds, so we just laughed at our old controversies. In 1991 Larsen
Travel jumped on the ”money back in 10 years” bandwagon. . This idea came from Great
Britain and meant that the customers could buy a holiday trip now and then get a full refund
10 years later. We paid some percentage of the turnover to an English insurance company and
then they would refund the money. However, it was quickly prohibited in Denmark – and it was
just as well, because it turned out that Danes have a better memory than the British. Assisted
by the press, which was good at reminding the Danes that they were owed money. After the
10 years, far more people remembered it than the British insurance companies had anticipated.
It wasn’t just holiday trips that were sold in this way, but also carpets, radio, TV’s and white
goods. Some insurance companies went broke – others tried to repudiate claims in one way
or another – e.g. if the guarantee had as much as a tiny fold or the like. Our British company
did not like the situation either and tried to drag out the payments. Of course, the customers
eventually lost patience so that I had to fork out some millions to settle this affair. These were
in fact the last millions I had to pay in connection with Larsen Travel…
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Headman from Borneo and Quilts in Gran Canaria
In 1992 Larsen Travel launched the most comprehensive programme so far – containing at least 20
destinations in Europe as well as interesting destinations such as Borneo, Sri Lanka – even travels
around the world. To market this fantastic programme we had to use untraditional marketing
methods. So they put me on the back of a camel and off we went with big Larsen Travel shows
in sports hall – starting in Hjørring in the north to Århus in central Denmark, Åbenrå in the south,
Esbjerg in the west to Odense and finally the Forum in Copenhagen where 3000 people came to
hear about the excellences of Larsen Travels. In each town we started out with me on the camel
surrounded by Larsen guides who were distributing holiday brochures and programmes for the
evening’s big show. We had a full house in every town – which means at least 1200 people a
day. On stage, in the evening, Jens Veino told people about all the excellences of Larsen Travel.
I was driven to the stage and told people about all our new initiatives. We had made a ”shop in
shop” at all branches of Jysk Sengetøjslager – and hey presto – suddenly we had 73 Larsen Travel
shops in Denmark whereas our colleagues only had a few. We guaranteed quilts in the beds at
several European destinations. The customers hated the annoying blankets and sheets, and with
the connection with Jysk Sengetøjslager, it was the obvious thing to do. I also told people about
initiatives like now being able to rent a coffee machine and video camera at the reception at the
hotels. None of these initiatives had been seen before in the travel industry. We had procured a
true headman from the rain forests of Borneo who did a rain dance. We were showing movies
from the exciting destinations – and served exotic samples in the lobby, where our sales people
were ready to give people further information. Naturally they could also book their trip here,
if they knew where they wanted to go – and naturally people were given a small discount in
honour of the occasion. On stage the evening ended with me and my employees singing a song
that had been especially composed for the occasion, with the incisive lyrics ”Around the world
with Larsen”. We certainly worked hard to turn Larsen Travel into a success. To market our trips
around the world we arranged a world tour for the Danish group Shu Bi Dua… etc. There was
no lack of creativity and over the following years we grew big and went to destinations all over
the world – from Australia and South Africa to Kenya and Egypt in the south, to Greenland in the
north – to Singapore, Bangkok, China, Malaysia, Borneo, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India and Nepal
in the East, and to New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Canada, Cuba, Hawaii, Mexico and Venezuela
in the west - and of course to about 20 destinations in Europe. An incredibly interesting time
where I was constantly closely followed by the press – not least when we went on press tours all
over the world. They have given me an invaluable amount of marketing. Not always in the way
I wanted it – but often with a hint of sensation – and headlines I’d rather have been without.
However, in retrospect I understand the thought-provoking words of the late Simon Spies: ”Bad
publicity is better than no publicity”.
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HE L L O M
Y N AM
E I S L ARS L ARSE N
ere ahs eben o
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bthcricst m
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raise in h
et rpess over h
et last25 ey ars
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Holiday in All Sorts of Ways
At the same time as I was building up Larsen Travel, I started developing alternative holiday
products. In this way I felt that I became less dependent on the weather – and ups and downs
in the travel industry. The first step was buying ”Difborg Tours” in 1992, which was a small
travel agency that had specialised in individual holidays with scheduled flights – mainly to the
USA. We renamed the company ”Larsen Special Travel”. Here we arranged holiday trips for
individuals – or big and small groups who wanted a different holiday from what could be found
in the traditional holiday brochures. A nice small niche production, as it was easier to calculate
a price because we mainly used scheduled flights and so we knew all the fixed costs. At almost
the same time, I bought a small company in Hjørring called ”Trip Away”. It had specialised in
holidays at hotels and inns in a new kind of way. The idea was to make deals with Danish hotels
and inns that didn’t have enough people staying overnight or customers in their restaurant. It
was the latter that made many of them join us. We agreed on a price for the stay, which had
to be at least as cheap as when they were running promotions themselves. The offer was that
if you paid DKK 250 for the stay, you could eat for free up to a maximum value of DKK 250
if you bought a coupon for DKK 50 at Jysk Sengetøjslager. We would then earn the DKK 50
and the hotel or the inn would earn the DKK 250 as well as any money they earned from the
sale of beer, soft drinks and wine which people bought to accompany the free food. Often the
customer bought a slightly better wine than they normally would have done – after all, the food
was free and the accommodation was cheap. When I took over the company, we changed the
name to ”Larsen Hotel and Inn Holidays”. We began a tremendous expansion of the chain as
well as similarly extensive marketing in national newspapers and in Jysk Sengetøjslager’s own
papers. We organised it in nice big catalogue that people could pick up at JYSK. Later, North
German and Swedish hotels and inns were also included so that we got up to about 150 hotels
and inns. We marketed it under the slogan ”Have a cheap stay – and eat away the money”. A
good product which people can still buy at JYSK, but today it’s owned by Jens Veino, to whom
I sold it when I decided to end all my involvement in the holiday sector.
Larsen Travel Yielded a Profit – One Year
In 1992, I started in the summer house industry with ”Larsen Sommerhusferie” (Larsen Holiday
Homes). After a couple of years we were among the biggest and had a huge brochure with 3-4000
summerhouses. Everything was run from Løkken, where I bought a course centre and turned it into
the head office. We also opened a sales office in Flensburg under the name ”Larsen Ferienhäuser”
and all my German bedding shops distributed the brochures – just like they did it in Denmark,
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Norway and Sweden. A huge project with a
turnover of several hundreds of millions of
Danish crowns… and a huge deficit. But once
again what mattered to me was to attract
people to all my shops – and it worked…
People flocked to the shops in hundreds
of thousands to pick up holiday brochures,
and brochures for hotels and inns as well as
summerhouse brochures. The following year
they also distributed ”Larsen Kør Selv Ferie”
(Larsen Self-Drive Holidays), which was the
next addition. This was a company that, in
association with a big English company,
offered camping holiday all over Europe
– and mind you, without needing to bring
along a tent or a caravan. In fact, all you
needed to bring was your toothbrush
– everything else was ready and waiting
for you at hundreds of camping sites. In
1995, I bought a holiday centre in Gedser
together with a friend – John Nissen.
It consisted of 56 houses, a camping
site, swimming complex, restaurant and
cafeteria. Now we had a complete holiday
collection that covered nearly every type of holiday so that we were no longer dependant on the
weather and the customers’ financial position. We were able to offer holidays for everybody – in
all price groups – and both in Denmark and abroad. Jysk Sengetøjslager could offer it all… Even
Larsen Golftours was on offer… Since we were arranging holidays to all sorts of countries anyway,
it did not take much to choose some of the most popular golf destinations and sell an additional
package with golf – a very exciting product that we actually made money from… which was
in fact very difficult – or practically impossible in the entire holiday sector. Every year I thought
– possibly somewhat naively – that now I would succeed – but the fact remains that almost every
year something came up which ruined my calculations… First it was the weather in Mexico, then
the first Gulf war, then airlines that broke the contract or went broke, then earthquakes, revolution
and war, tourists being killed in Egypt etc. However, there was one year – 1994-95 – when I did in
fact succeed in making a small profit of about DKK 5 million at Larsen Travel… This was an isolated
occurrence, though…
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Made up on the Quilts What We Lost on the Holiday
While money was pouring out of the holiday sector, all my good bedding employees actually
succeeded in making even more money than what the holiday sector consumed. In fact I
have to admit that my bedding employees were incredibly patient – and gave me a very
long rope. However, it could not last in the long run, of course. Even though it was my own
money, meaning that I could spend it as I wanted, it was not exactly a motivating sight. So,
even by the mid ’90s I had in fact started looking around for an opportunity to escape from
the holiday sector in a nice balanced way, so that I did not lose customers and credibility.
However, it was not that easy getting rid of it – and it turned out to take 3 years before
somebody ”swallowed the bait”. I never dreamt that it would be my ”good friend” ”Honest
Madsen” – the guy who rubbished me on the radio – who would become my rescuer… But
I will come back to that. My partners from the beginning, Kurt Steffensen and Annelene
Hein Larsen, worked for Larsen Travel for some years. However, in the mid-’90’s our ways
parted. Both Jens Veino and I agreed that we needed a change. With the benefit of hindsight,
their acquaintance had cost me dearly. Instead competent people from the travel industry
took over and, together with Jens Veino, they actually managed to turn Larsen Travel into a
good, trustworthy travel company. In 1996, some former employees of Larsen Travel started
up a new travel agency – Calypso Travel – and it soon turned out that my old partner, Kurt
Steffensen, was also involved in this company. Even though we knew that they would have a
short life span, they destroyed the market completely with totally unrealistic prices. We were
forced to either accept a heavy decline in the number of holidays – or in our earnings. Once
again I had to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea – and once again I chose to
lose money. By matching their prices. Another year with a deficit was a reality once again
– and yet another travel agency went bankrupt – and with a big bang in the process. Probably
about DKK 20-30 million in a few months – this was in fact a new record for Mr Steffensen,
who ever since then seems to have vanished from the face of the earth. As far as I’m aware,
nobody’s missing him…I for one certainly don’t. But he was not the only one… In the ’ 90s,
bankruptcies in the travel industry were actually a monthly event. Each time we others had to
pay for it. We paid an amount per each holiday we sold to the travel guarantee fund, which
made certain that the customers would be indemnified. That is okay, but the problem is
the incredibly small risk a new company runs. These are rules that should be changed if the
industry wants a chance to develop for the better. The way rules were and still are today, it is
in fact possible to start up a travel agency without having a penny. By letting the customers’
prepayments finance the company, the travel guarantee fund pays with all the millions that
the serious companies pay in year after year. It’s a mystery to me that people let it continue
in this way.
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In 1996 it is the end of Spies and Tjæreborg. Their funds are exhausted and they are
sold to a big English company. Suddenly ”Larsen Travel” is the biggest Danish owned travel
agency. Not that you could make a living from it.
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Alletiders Larsen Travel
In 1998, I am contacted by my ”good friend” Poul Erik Madsen, who represents one of
Europe’s biggest travel companies – the Swiss company, ”Kuoni”. They are interested in
establishing themselves in the Scandinavian market. After months of tough negotiations, they
end up buying Larsen Travel and a couple of other companies. They merge them into one big
travel company named ”Alletiders Travel”. Poul Erik Madsen is appointed managing director
and I become chairman of the board. My payment is some shares in the new company – as well
as a lovely big sum of Swiss francs. An amount I found entirely satisfactory and that covered
the majority of the losses that had accumulated in Larsen Travel throughout the years.
With my retreat from the travel industry, I decided to retire completely from the holiday
sector and concentrate on furnishings instead. Kuoni also bought Larsen Self-Drive holidays.
Jens Veino, who stopped at the same time as Larsen Travel, bought Larsen Hotel and Inn
Holidays. Dancenter bought Larsen Summer Homes, and Gedser Holiday Park was also sold.
The only thing left in the holiday sector was Himmerland Golf & Country Club, which I still
own together with my friends. I don’t intend to change that…
Back to the Quilts
As previously mentioned, it was not a case of everything else being on hold on account of the
travel industry. We still opened shops non-stop in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden.
By 1995 we were ready to conquer Finland… we thought. But there was the issue of the
language… There may be phrases in English, German, Norwegian and Swedish that I do not
understand. However, it is nothing compared to Finnish – oh dear. The company name alone
gives an idea of the problems - ”Jysk Vuodevarasto” – how about that. But it was like this
all the way… I didn’t understand a word and the words were so long that advertisements
that were translated directly from Danish took up 10-20% extra space. In TV commercials
we also needed to buy extra seconds – speaking in Finnish simply takes longer than any in
other language… So I decided from day 1 not to learn Finnish… Instead I chose to hire Finnish
managerial staff who also spoke Swedish, and that did the trick. We opened the first shop in
Turku – and had reasonable sales. Nothing extraordinary, but sufficient for me to dare move on,
so that today we have more than 40 shops. I expect to reach 60 in a few years time. However,
it wasn’t only the language that caused us problems. We were far away from home – and had
to learn all about tastes, mentality and, not least, competition. We spent several years and a
lot of money on that, and we now look set to succeed. I hope to see the first profit in Finland
in 2004, so that we can also start paying taxes there, which is my favourite hobby…
The travel industry was expensive – but good fun. Source: BT
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100 Dollars for a Bunch of Roses
In 1996 we open the first franchise shops in Moscow, and after a couple of years we reach
12 shops and everything look promising. However, one day the Russian currency – the rouble
– looses its value. From one day to the next, our goods suddenly cost 4 times as much. The
people who had invested in this Russian adventure had to give up and close down all the
shops. However, I am certain that in a few years time this country, with its huge potential,
will once again have JYSK shops.
I particularly remember a funny episode from our Russian adventure. Kris, my franchise
manager Ole Poulsen, and I were in Moscow to see all the shops. In the evening we went
out for dinner with the Russian management – and no expenses were spared (they were
paying). There were about 20 of us – of whom 6 were ladies. At some point in the evening
a flower lady came into the restaurant and I thought I would splash out a bit after the
formidable dinner we had been treated to. So I called over the flower lady, who happened
to have 6 long-stemmed red roses… I took them and elegantly gave them to the ladies,
who bowed and thanked me and were all smiles, and probably thought that Mr Larsen was
incredibly gentlemanly. However, it didn’t last long… I also had to pay for the roses… The
small shy flower lady told me the price – without as much as lowering
her eyes: ”100 dollars”. Everybody at the table went deadly silent… I
tried to explain to the lady that I wasn’t paying for all the ladies in the
restaurant but only for the 6 ladies at our table. She was fully aware of
that but they still cost 100 dollars. Then I had to try to explain to her
that it was much more than in Denmark, which she didn’t deny… But
here they cost 100 dollars… It became increasingly embarrassing – and
the ladies also became embarrassed that they had put me into this
situation. I thought it over carefully. Should I pay with a smile – and, in
so doing, show my staff how careless I was with money by paying the
same for a rose as they were paid for several days’ work? I made a quick
decision, stood up and went around the table, collected the roses and
returned them to the flower lady. However, she merely turned around
to the neighbouring table where 2 Russian gentlemen immediately
paid 100 dollars and gave each of their ladies 3 roses…
I do not know what the ladies at our table thought of the whole
situation but the following day I gave them each a big bouquet of red
roses, which cost me less than half of the other ones… In the space of
2 days I guess I saved the situation - or did I? In any case, my man in Ole Poulsen. The Royal Family
never flies together
Russia claimed that his staff learned a lot that evening…
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My franchise director, Ole Poulsen, nicknamed me the ”Rose Cavalier”. However, dear Mr
Poulsen had never been one to hide his light under a bushel. Once he went with me to the
Faroe Islands - and we were sitting at the airport in Torshavn waiting to fly to Iceland. We
started talking about how this airport was very difficult to fly and there had previously been
plane crashes, after which he remarked that we probably shouldn’t be on the same flight.
Suppose we crashed… Then there would be nobody left to run the company… And it was
no coincidence that the royal family never flies together…
Quilts for DKK 50
I remember August 6th, 1998 better than other red-letter days. I turned 50 and I wanted to
celebrate it – at any cost! It ended up costing me DKK 10-12 million + a fine of DKK 175,000.
I think it was grossly unfair, but that’s an entirely different matter.
I decided to give my dear customers an extra good offer on the occasion of my 50th
birthday – and what was more natural for ”Quilt Larsen” than selling quilts for DKK 50 – just
like for the company’s silver jubilee when I will of course sell quilts for DKK 25.
I had chosen 3 different quilts – some patterned quilts, which I normally sold for DKK 99,
as well as some white fibre quilts that cost DKK 148 and DKK 198 respectively – in total just
over 100,000 quilts. On August 5th I then appeared on TV with this fantastic offer, where I
showed the 3 quilts in question. I explained the following and it was also shown in writing:
”Quilts – regardless of the previous – now DKK 50. Take your pick.” – implying that of course
it was the 3 quilts I showed… But the press and some of the customers interpreted the TV
commercial in a somewhat different way, which ended up being somewhat more costly
– namely that the offer included every quilt in the shop. No matter whether they were white
or patterned – and no matter whether they previously cost DKK 500 or DKK 5000… ”Quilt
Larsen” may be known for his good offers – and I, along with 99% of our customers, thought
it was a good offer – but for me to be so generous that all quilts at Jysk Sengetøjslager would
be given away for DKK 50 – that thought had not even crossed my mind even in my wildest
dreams. However, with the benefit of hindsight, I am honoured that the press had such a
high opinion of my offer. But saying that, I am also disappointed that the same people could
in fact believe that I would have missed out on telling them that it also included quilts that
cost several thousand Danish crowns.
As the day progressed and the newspapers came onto the streets, and radio and TV
told about the best offer of the century - the more customers became convinced that it
did, in fact, include all quilts. By the end of the day it was total chaos at JYSK. We even had
customers who barricaded themselves in the shop and refused to leave the ”battle field”
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until they got their quilts worth DKK 5000 for DKK 50. This was, in fact, a somewhat comical
situation, as the most expensive quilts would, of course, have been gone within 2 minutes of
opening, if the offer really was as the press described it. Then only the cheapest quilts would
have been left in the afternoon when panic was spreading. So you could ask yourself, who
was actually cheated?
In any case it was not those who did their shopping in the early morning, as they rightly
got the best quilts. Even better than I had originally planned, as I decided to include all white
and patterned quilts in the shop – no matter whether they were much more expensive than
DKK 198. By doing so I took into account that there could be various misunderstandings and
the customers in the afternoon got what would have been left anyway. I have to admit that,
even today, I still wonder how the deuce I lost this case. However, business goes on – and it
has not discouraged me from still giving a good offer.
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GO’DAW JEG HEDDER LARS LARSEN
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Oh No – Is He Dead?
At around the same time I also started studying another country – Poland. Remembering
Russia, I did not like the idea of making the entire investment myself. Then one of my suppliers
and good friends, Søren Eistrup, suggests having a talk with a Polish businessman, whom
he had heard was interested in investing in JYSK Poland. No sooner said than done – Søren
Eistrup, Ole Poulsen and I go to Lodz in Poland and spend all day negotiating a partnership
in this big, interesting market. It must have taken its toll on me because when we returned
to the hotel in the evening to have a shower before going out for dinner, I was ready before
the others and went down to the reception to wait for them.
But, as fate would have it, I fell asleep. Shortly afterwards, the others come down and
Søren Eistrup looked all red-eyed with crying, as he had been told that one of his dear work
colleagues had just died…
I have no idea about that as I am still fast asleep. But the lady in the reception notices and
asks him what has happened. Then my good friend Søren sobbingly stutters: ”My friend is
dead”. The receptionist takes a terror-stricken look at me… ”Oh my God – is he dead”? A
scream resounds in the room as I jump up from my sleep, and the lady is all confused – and
very upset at Søren who in vain tries to explain the situation to her. Meanwhile Ole Poulsen
smilingly looks at the scenery and senses a certain similarity to ”Fawlty Towers”.
No arrangements for working together ever came out of the meeting in Poland, but my
interest in the country was aroused… In 2000 we opened the first shop in Gdansk ourselves.
However, before we made it that far we had been through more than a year of preparations.
Things were difficult in Finland, but here we faced a challenge of entirely different
dimensions. Here it was not just the language that caused problems. Here we came across
the remains of the Communist system with all the problems it implied. It involved everything
from negotiating leases to various authorisations that needed to be sorted out in order to be
allowed to import foreign goods into Poland, make a computer system work, train personnel
etc. We found a Dane, Mogens Sass, who had helped set up other Danish companies in
Poland and we also found a Pole, Piotr Padalak, who spoke Danish fluently and who had
been working in Denmark for many years. A perfect combination, which in cooperation with
the entire Danish organisation, solved the job in the best possible way. Today Piotr Padalak
is the head of all of Poland, which now has nearly 50 shops. As the Polish economy gets
better, there will be room for several hundred shops. However, first we need the first shops
to become profitable before moving on.
In 1998 I turned 50 and my managing director in Germany, Åge Nielsen, turned 40.
So it was quite natural to combine the 2 parties into one big party - the 90th birthday.
For the occasion we did the German sketch, “Dinner For One”, with Åge and I in the leading roles.
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A Blessed Shop
For the opening of our first shop in Poland I invited all of the Danish and German management
as well as our Danish and Polish suppliers, accountants, bank connections, etc. to a reception
in Gdansk in the Northern part of Poland – just like I did in the USA. A big, exciting day for
everybody. We had many fine speeches and lots of well-intentioned well wishers etc. All
this wasn’t new to me. What was new was that the local priest also showed up to bless the
shop in true Catholic fashion… So I dare say that everything will be successful after such a
ceremony.
The next morning at 7.00 am we opened the doors and expected hundreds of Poles to
rush into the shop but there were only a few people. It was almost embarrassing – after a
year of preparations. We had distributed hundreds of thousands of our own leaflets – great
numbers of TV and radio commercials – and then we had just a handful of customers waiting
to get in…
The queue did not start until 8 am in Poland!
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I have to admit that, at that point, I was ready to start packing and go home, but as time
passed by and it got closer to 8.00 am, things started happening, and after 9.00 am we
actually had to let people in in shifts – there simply wasn’t enough room in the shop with its
1200 m2… Then Mr Larsen started smiling. It turned out that in Poland not everybody has
a car, and as the shop was located in a big shopping centre outside of town, the customers
had to wait until the busses started running – and they didn’t start running until 8.00 am…
They ran to the factories, but not to the shopping centre as all the other shops did not open
until 8.00 or 9.00 am. It all had a happy end. Turnover was more than satisfactory when we
closed the shop at 8.00 pm… A new big country with 40 million potential customers was in
motion…
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A New Shop Every Week, but in Need of Challenges!
For the first couple of years the Polish shops had most of their goods delivered from Denmark
– a relatively expensive solution, which we had chosen to use until we were certain that JYSK
had a future in Poland. Today they have their own central warehouse, and in 2005 we will finish
building a brand new warehouse that will deliver to all of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia
and Hungary. An investment of more than DKK 100 million, so I suppose I must believe that
these exciting new EU countries have a big future ahead of them… By 2000 we had reached
more than 300 shops in Germany and we continued opening more than one shop a week
– very successfully. However, the German management needed some new challenges and had
heard that I was about to ”sell” Austria to a franchisee and they would not accept that. They
thought that Austria was their domain as Austria is also a German-speaking country – and that
it would be possible to use almost the same product line as in Germany. Therefore they got
Austria – on one condition – that they would not slow down expansion in Germany. On April
4th, 2000 – shortly after the opening in Poland – it was Austria’s turn to have its first JYSK shop
– which is called ”Dänishes Bettenlager” – just like in Germany. In order to save costs, their
goods are delivered from one of our German warehouses and all financial management etc. is
also carried out from our German main office. This has proved to be a clever move. Even though
it is never easy opening shops in a new country, Austria is in fact the country where we started
making money the fastest. Already after 3 years – and 30 shops – we had a profit – a fantastic
piece of work from the German-Austrian organisation, which rapidly opens one shop after the
other. In 2004, we will reach 50 in Austria and 500 in Germany. Their aim is to have doubled
these numbers by 2009. If everything goes according to plan, this part of the organisation
will open the first shops in Italy a couple of
years from now – starting in the northern
part of Italy – in South Tyrol, to be more
precise, where they also speak German…
Then we’ll have to wait and see if they’ll also
learn Italian. In 2003 it was then time for the
Czech Republic and things are looking very
promising – professionally run by Roman Puri
in cooperation with the Nordic organisation.
This was, in fact, the first country in JYSK
Nordic where we were hit by the language
barrier. Previously we had been able to
speak Danish with all the countries, but
A shop in Austria with the beautiful Alps
in the background
now we had to start using English. We had
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I H A VE A GO O D O F F E R
been privileged in that we could communicate in Danish with Norwegians, Swedes, Finns and
Danish-speaking Poles. I am convinced that in -23 years we will have reached 50 shops in the
Czech Republic, after which it will only be natural for Roman to move on to Slovakia. I wonder
if these 2countries will not reach the first 100 shops in few years’ time.
And It Goes On
In 0
205 we will start up in Hungary, and it’s set to be England’s turn in 0
207. A major challenge
with a huge potential where there ought to be room for at least 500 JYSK shops… Why such
a rush – am I suffering from delusions of grandeur?Well, perhaps. But that is not the only
reason. If I don’t, somebody else will. In ten years time the whole world will be one big market
place where it’s essential to have enough strength to survive – and I do want to survive…
One Small Failure
However, not everything comes to me that easy… I have also had my share of failures…
Even in the bedding industry. In 19
87 I opened a shop in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in
1 69
Southern Spain together with a former supplier – and friend – Finn Skovgård. He wanted to
retire from the Danish rat race and settle down on the Costa del Sol. However, he was worried
that he would be bored and so he suggested opening a JYSK shop down there together.
About 50,000 Scandinavians were living in the area, so it ought to be a good market. I
accepted, and then we started up. His sales went well and I sent him more and more goods.
Occasionally he also did send me a bit of money. However, I soon realised that his debt kept
on growing, and so I had to go to Spain to see how things were. I was not met by an inspiring
sight. I immediately saw that there were not goods to the equivalent value of what I was
owed. I spoke to other Danes around town who told me that my ”good friend” Finn Skovgård
was doing fantastically well. He had bought a big new villa and had no fewer than 3 big cars
– among these a Mercedes.
However, he did not have the money to pay me – and that was the end of that adventure
– with a deficit of about DKK 1 million. I tried to get the money back, but soon realised that
it was not so easy in the Spain of more than 15 years ago, after which I wrote off the money.
I had become all the wiser – and was reminded of what a wise man once said: ”If you want
to keep your good friends – never lend them money” – or something like that.
However, I did not lose interest in the Costa del Sol and quickly found another Dane who
would like to run Jysk Sengetøjslager in Spain – and today we still sell well down there. So I
dare say I have recovered the money… But I have never since allowed anybody credit – not
without having a banker’s guarantee.
When I Became a Manufacturer for DKK 498
It was also during the ’80s that I tested my skills as a furniture manufacturer. As previously
mentioned, the furniture factories were very reluctant to sell furniture to people like us who
only wanted to ”give” it all away – at unrealistically low prices – and therefore wouldn’t pay
a good price either. However, I did find a manufacturer of beds in North Jutland, who was
willing to deliver to us - namely ”Toudal
Møbelfabrik” in Nørresundby. He had
good prices and soon we were his biggest
customer… until he went bankrupt.
Perhaps his prices were a bit too cheap. But
I suddenly had a major problem. We sold
quite a lot of his beds and so we could not
be without them. So there was no other
way but for me to buy the factory so that
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supplies would not stop. I established a partnership with 2 of the senior employees, as I will
probably never be much of a manufacturer. We distributed work so that I helped market their
products – i.e. for all the beds they produced extra over and above the deliveries to JYSK. The
beds would, first and foremost, be sold at the Danish furniture fair, where purchasing agents
from many countries were present.
The problem was – and this is, in fact, still the case today – that at a fair you are not
allowed to put prices on the products. However, products are always more interesting when
you can see the price. So I pondered a lot over how we could bend this rule – legally – and
thereby be the only one at the fair with prices on my products…
The solution was to rename the factory and give
it a new logo. I called it ”Møbelfabrikken 498,- kr.”
– and the logo was a bank note saying DKK 498. Our
assortment was different models of beds which all cost
DKK 498. In this way all the purchasing agents could
see the price of our beds from a distance. We simply
put up big posters with our company logo and that was
totally legal… Our sales person was, in fact, my future
partner in Spain, Mr Finn Skovgård. Anyway, I was fully
convinced that I did not have a future as a manufacturer
and stuck to being a businessman, which is why I sold
my share of the factory to my partners after a couple of
years. However, I managed to save my supplies of beds
and managed to get the factory going. This was the
closest I came to becoming a manufacturer…
The Perfect Argument for Free Abortion
Although – I did also have a time as a manufacturer of
blankets and curtains… This was a somewhat situation
to the beds. Together with a blanket and curtain factory
in Skjern, we had developed a brand new curtain
system. It meant that the curtain looms could weave
a fully finished curtain – with running strings and the
lot – ready to hang up. It became a huge success for
JYSK and we sold about 50,000 sets of curtains a year.
The loom could only make them in dralon and acrylics
Helge Tofting – has other skills besides making curtains
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with different striped patterns or in one colour. In the middle of this success the factory went
bankrupt and I could not get the curtains from other factories. They were the only ones who
were able to produce them. So there was no other way… I had to start up as a manufacturer
again. After some years, dralon and acrylic curtains went out of fashion. Now we could only
sell cotton curtains. I sold all the looms and then decided to turn the factory into a workroom
so that JYSK could offer ready-made curtains in just the width and length people wanted
– and with different types of running strings. People could choose from several hundreds
of different curtain materials – of course a bit cheaper than others. After only a few years
this workroom – ”Ready Made”, I named it – has become by far the biggest in Denmark.
Ever since I took over the factory, the former owner, Helge Tofting, has been working as a
managing director and he has kept on developing new exciting products – among these
pelmets and, of course, sets of curtains – tailored for any window… The business in Skjern
is certainly doing well. Helge Tofting is a man with a lot of self-knowledge. On his business
card he has a picture of himself – with the caption: ”Helge Tofting – the perfect argument
for free abortion”. But one thing is certain – despite his looks, he and his employees deliver
superb curtains… And at the end of the day I suppose that’s what matters.
There was, in fact, also a mattress factory in Zealand, which I bought for the same reason
as the other two factories. JYSK sold an incredible amount of a specially made foam rubber
mattress named ”Super Quick”. When the factory experienced money problems and was
about to close down, I had no other choice but to buy the factory so that production could
continue - and JYSK could continue selling the popular mattress.
In order to increase the production of this special type of mattress, I gave the company a
new name: ”Marie Tudor of Scandinavia”. It was made in different qualities to the rest of the
mattress market – i.e. my colleagues/competitors. However, they never became very keen on
buying their mattresses from me, so after a few years I decided to have the mattress made at
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our main supplier of foam rubber mattresses, K.B.E. in Maribo. After that I closed down the
factory and continued our successful sales without being a manufacturer myself.
In 1999 I bought another Danish company, ”Kronborg”, which is one of Denmark’s bestknown soft furnishings brands. The advantage with this company was that it did not make
products itself so I did not have to become a manufacturer once again. The attentive reader
has probably noticed that the title of manufacturer is not exactly one of my favourites. I prefer
being a free bird who can always do business where it is most profi table. It is not always
certain that you can produce goods cheapest yourself - on the contrary. Today ”Kronborg” is
an integrated part of JYSK and a name we cherish. The name can only be used for to produce
goods of a quality that I can personally vouch for.
In 1994, I invested in a very exciting company – ”Back Tee”, which specialises in golf clothing.
Today they sell in 10 countries – and, hopefully, in many more countries in a few years’ time.
To assist in this, I’ve entered into a partnership agreement with the golfer, Thomas Bjørn,
who is now world famous. Thomas will give advice on the comfort of the clothes and be
a guarantee of their quality and performance. At the same time, he will guide Himmerland
Golf & Country Club on ways to improve its golf courses. I have great expectations of this
partnership and it will contribute to making ”Back Tee” known internationally.
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The World’s Biggest Quilt Scandal
In the ’80s I did a lot of business with the world’s biggest quilt factory – ”Nordisk Fjer”
– which had factories spread over most of the world. A company of which Denmark was
proud and which, in our trade, has the same position as, for example, ”Carlsberg” has in beer.
Nordisk Fjer was listed on the stock exchange, but it was run by just one person – Johannes
Petersen - who considered the company his personal property. Being one of their biggest
customers, I was invited to their headquarters in Frihavnen in Copenhagen once a year for a
good dinner. It always consisted of roast duck – a by-product from his down production, as
he always said. Usually his only trusted employee – Inga Lydia Rasmussen – also participated.
However, none of the directors that I normally dealt with were present and I wondered about
that and asked several times whether it wouldn’t be fair for them to be involved. But no, this
meeting was only for the ”top management” where we’d discuss international strategy and
visions for the future.
Out of a general interest in my big suppliers I had studied Nordisk Fjer’s fantastic
internationalisation closely. I have to admit that I, as did many others in the trade, wondered
at the figures that appeared in the annual accounts year after year. In the late ’80’s it was
a common subject of conversation in the trade that something was very wrong. However,
every year the accounts were backed by the board – and were approved by the accountants
without any annotations.
At the same, yet another director started attending our meetings – the now deceased
director Basse from Magasin. The meetings were no longer annual, but almost quarterly.
Now it was time to discuss ”real business” – together we would conquer the USA. Nordisk
Fjer had factories there, but felt their market share was too small and therefore suggested
that we created a national chain of shops together, whose main product would be products
from Nordisk Fjer. The meetings became more and more intensive and were in the future to
be held in London, so that nobody learned about them. I did not quite understand the reason
for all this secrecy.
However, later I realised that Johannes Petersen was trying to establish whether he would
be able to get hold of some of all my money. As somewhat naïve thought, which remained a
thought, as the bubble burst in 1990. It turned out that this grand Danish company had made
a living from lying and swindling for several years. The company had obtained billion DKK
loans on the basis of forged accounts with inflated results –Johannes Petersen had created
turnover and ”earnings” by selling the stock and machinery at ridiculously inflated prices
– from one company to the other in his worldwide company. Johannes Petersen himself had
such charisma and charm that nobody could contradict him – not even the company’s board
or the auditors.
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But in 1990it was over and Johannes Petersen realised that the game was up. However,
he was too proud to be accountable for one of the biggest stock exchange scandals in Danish
history. He shot himself and that was the end of the roast duck in Frihavnen. I did not intend
to give up the USA on account of that though - and as previously mentioned I started up
on my own that very year. In spite of
huge deficits it was probably cheaper
than a partnership with Johannes
Petersen - and Nordisk Fjer.
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A New Management Structure is Necessary
Ever since JYSK started up in 1979, and up until 1995 I was involved in everything in the
company. I was the Managing Director, Purchasing Director, Human Resource Director,
Marketing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Logistics Manager, Analysis Manager,
Communication Manager, Shop Design Manager, Sales Director, etc. The only things I left
to other people were finance and IT. Naturally, I could not perform all these jobs on my own
and was surrounded by plenty of competent employees who gave me an incredible amount
of support. However, they did consult me regarding just about everything.
However, in 1995 I realised that my company had, in fact, become a big international
group with a turnover of several billion DKK and that a completely new managerial structure
was necessary for JYSK to continue developing and become even bigger and even more
international. The first step was taken on 1st October 1995, by hiring a purchasing director
for JYSK. We chose Jan Bøgh who, until then, had been a purchasing director with Metro
Danmark and who wanted to come back to Jutland after 3 years in Copenhagen. We had
many suitable applicants, but I had no doubt that Jan was just the right person for taking over
this important job from me. However, Jan had some misgivings about taking over my most
important job. Before accepting the job, he wanted to make certain that I was serious about
it. I must have been able to persuade him that I was, because he started on 1st October 1995.
There was plenty of work for him; JYSK had just started using bar codes on all the goods, and
it was far from working the way we wanted it to. On the whole, we were years behind with
IT – and everything related to stock control systems.
Until then I had more or less simply memorised what we had in stock. However, every six
months we were able to form a general idea of our stock. Then it was time for stocktaking
where all the goods were counted by hand… It was always incredibly interesting to find
out what we had in stock. I always thought that being a purchasing director meant that
you needed to do all the purchasing yourself, but that’s not how Jan saw it. For a former
Metro chef, it was management tools that mattered. Then you could hire people to do the
purchasing. However, as a manager you also had to know everything about the products –
from the construction of the textiles - the compositions of down – the structure of a mattress
– to the stability of furniture. Within a few months he knew more about our products than
even experienced purchasing agents… That made people respect him.
At this time I had 6 purchasing agents. All of them were incredibly independent – as
their old boss, Lars Larsen, had many irons in the fire and therefore had much too little
time to organise the purchasing function. This independence became the reason why most
of them left JYSK. Now they had a new boss who wanted to change their – more or less
– self-appointed tasks. One by one they were replaced by new employees who took it for
176
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
granted that the boss decided on the division
of responsibilities. Only 2 of them survived.
One of them was my son Jacob who had
just started a month before Jan and had,
therefore, not yet fallen under the ”bad
influence” of the others. The other person
was Lars Herluf – purchasing agent for quilts,
pillows and mattresses – by far the biggest
and, for that reason, most important area.
An area that I have never quite given up, so
the division of responsibilities between Lars
and I was a bit special. I helped him with
the purchasing and he helped me with a
bit of everything. I guess you could say the
he was my personal assistant and I was his
purchasing assistant. A division of labour Jan Bøgh.
that, in fact, worked until 2002, when Lars Managing Director of JYSK Nordic
Herluf decided to become self-employed.
By then he had been working for me for 12 years. At first he helped in the USA, and later I
brought him back to Silkeborg to work as my ”secretary” and purchasing agent for quilts.
Do You Want to Talk - or Do You Want to Do Business?
Jan Bøgh was probably right to a certain extent to have misgivings about a businessman
and owner of JYSK being not supposed to interfere with the purchasing department. It was
impossible and at first it was probably an advantage for Jan to have me by his side so that he
could consult me regarding various problems.
For example, I remember the first time Jan came along to Thy to visit our biggest supplier
of mattresses. We were going to negotiate prices for the coming year and look at new
types of mattresses. Now, both the owner of the factory, Hans Oluf Thøgersen, and I are
inhabitants of Thy, so we understood each other – and as Hans Oluf was also a man of few
words, we did not do much talking that day. We did have both morning coffee and lunch,
and when we drove back in the afternoon, Jan cautiously asked me how we had done. He
felt that very few words had been exchanged. Fortunately, I was a native and could, therefore,
tell my new purchasing director that everything had gone according to plan. He did not quite
understand how we could agree on 27 different products and even add a new mattress to
177
our assortment at an extra favourable price in so few words. Then I told him about the many
years that we had worked well together, and explained to him that continuing this way did
not require much conversation… I think he is still wondering about that one… Another time
he and our purchasing agent for bed linen went to Odense to see Nordisk Textil with whom
I had also worked right from the beginning. Unfortunately, I did not have time to attend this
meeting, so when our new purchasing director arrived at the factory, the only comment the
sales director and the managing director had was: ”Oh – is it just you?”… Meaning that I
normally participated in these meetings. In India, Jan also had start-up problems. He was very
proud of his new IT initiatives and gave the Indian supplier a row because his system wasn’t
able to ”communicate” with ours. To this the Indian replied that they had long since upgraded
to a newer version… Or how about Mustajab from Pakistan who sent one container of goods
after another – without having received any orders for the goods… He couldn’t see any
problem in that. He always settled that with Mr Larsen. He needed to send the goods from
Pakistan at a certain time to avoid customs duty. If he had not sold it, he just sent it to me
anyway and then we ”haggled” over the prices the next time he came to Denmark. This was
not quite what the former purchasing director at the German owned Metro was used to… In
fact Jan’s most important task in the first years was to limit our purchases. Until then we had
purchased in abundant quantities when the right offer came along – without quite realising
how much space it took up – and whether we had enough similar products.
Tough Bøgh, Mr Popular and the Businessman
With me helping out in the purchasing department, there was also more time for Jan to build up
his management tools – such as SAP, SBOSS and many others. At the same time, he also introduced
a number of new guidelines for our suppliers. For example, they could no longer send us goods
until they had received the final order. They could be fined for just about everything – and so they
were… Goods that arrived too early – goods that arrived too late – delivery of the wrong goods
– bad quality etc. At one point both the suppliers and I thought that these fines would become
JYSK’s biggest source of income in the future. However, all these measures were simply introduced
to correct our old bad habits. But year 1 at JYSK was definitely not the year that Jan became Mr
Popular. On the contrary, I often heard people refer to him as ”Tough Bøgh ”. But deep down
purchasing agents and suppliers both knew perfectly well that it was a necessary process. However,
even though Jan was very ”cool” and seemed to have everything under control, I did occasionally
observe that he was human after all. Not least when it came to his great sense of humour – a gift
that has always been highly appreciated at JYSK – and then his small ”blunders”. He was not proud
of them… And perhaps they only occurred because things were new to him.
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
In his previous job he was used to sitting behind his desk, organising everything – and then
leaving it to the purchasing agents to travel the world and find what he needed to organise. At JYSK
I insisted that he came along to purchasing fairs and visited factories, so that he got to know our
suppliers better and, in so doing, knew what they represented. That was how I had always worked,
and I also believed that in many countries it was easier to get an extra couple of percent discount
if ”the big boss” was there and showed an interest in the factory’s products. It was on these trips
that I noticed his lack of experience… We were going to a fair and met at Karup airport. Jan had
his wife Lene drive him there, kissed her goodbye and then went inside to check in. Here they asked
him if he didn’t have any luggage. After that we only saw the back of Jan – out he went on the
road chasing Lene. But no – she had left and so had Jan’s suitcase. It was still in the car… And Lene
did not have a mobile phone. I guess you could say that Jan had a double purchasing trip – first for
clothes and toiletries – and then furnishings. On our next trip we went to East – to visit Hong Kong
and some other places – and this time Jan brought along his luggage but threw away the luggage
receipt… However, he did manage to find it again after having searched for an hour in every single
wastepaper basket at Hong Kong airport. All that travelling took some getting used to…
Jan Bøgh keeps himself in shape. You need to be fit to take over the “The Businessman’s” job!
179
Father and son
We Both Feel Good about It
As previously mentioned, my son Jacob had just started in the purchasing department when
Jan was appointed purchasing director. I quickly made an unwritten agreement with Jan to
train Jacob in all the facets of purchasing. It was my clear stance that he certainly should not
work under his dad’s wings.
By 1998 Jan had been assigned so many new tasks that we had to get a new purchasing
director, and Jan was promoted to Strategy and Development Director – with a clear
declaration of intent that, in 2000, he would take over my job as managing director. At this
time Jacob was only 26 years old and not quite ready to take over Jan’s job. So, together
Jan,, Jacob and I hired a new purchasing director – Tom Gravesen – and Jacob was appointed
product manager. This set up only lasted until 2000, when Jan took over as managing director
and quickly decided to stop working alongside the purchasing director. Jacob was now 28
and had more experience. I had a in-depth talk with Jan who worked well with Jacob, and
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
he believed that, with some support from him, Jacob would be able to carry out the job, so
that’s how it ended up… The son had now taken over an important part of his father’s job
– and we both felt good about that… In fact, our managing director was pleased. Now he
could get involved in developing his purchasing director – especially in the administrative and
managerial part of the job – while the father could be his sparring partner regarding products
and business acumen. It has in fact worked well ever since, and I am convinced that it will
also work for many years ahead. Personally, I have always considered purchasing and sales
to be among the most important functions at JYSK, and I can tell that Jacob does not just
follow in my footsteps, but is constantly working on developing the purchasing organisation
so that it is up-to-date and geared for JYSK’s continuing great expansion in both old and new
markets. They work hard on developing the assortment but also on making sure that it meets
our customer’s needs and desires and that prices remain the best in the market. At the same
time, they also work intensely on marketing – so that it also keeps up with the times. Many
people have probably noticed a boost and a freshness in our advertising leaflets, reflecting
the new generation. I am the guarantee that we will not forget all our ”good old customers”
who have created our success. The way I see JYSK in future, the assortment will become even
bigger and more varied with room for the young generation, but certainly also for the rest of
us. There has to be something for every taste – and of course a bit cheaper than others.
An Improvement of 50% Is not Bad at All
For those of you who never visit JYSK, I’d like to recommend it. You will be pleasantly
surprised. Among our new slogans you will find words like ”Design does not have to cost
you extra”. In the ”days of old” JYSK did its purchasing according to what could be found at
the right price. Today our size makes it possible for us to design the goods ourselves – without
paying more for it.
Another important area that our new purchasing director focuses on is safety of delivery.
It’s no good for us to advertise good, nice, smart and cheap goods if they’re not in the shop
when people want to buy them. I have to confess that that was often the case only a few
years ago. With new technology – and IT that can tell the purchasing department what
has been sold on a daily basis - the safety of delivery is also improved. Previously it was not
uncommon for us only to be able to deliver 6 times out of 10… Today we are able to deliver 9
times out of 10 – and you can’t get much better than that. There will always be unpredictable
things that even the finest IT systems can’t do anything about - things like power failure, fire,
flooding and all sorts of other accidents – both at Danish factories and on the other side of
the world. But an improvement of 50% is not bad at all…
181
Before
… and now
Hopefully We’ll Last the Next 25 Years
With this renewal of the design – and a bigger assortment - I felt that it was also time for a
new design for our logo. For 25 years we have been named Jysk Sengetøjslager – and that has
worked well – especially in Denmark. However, as we have spread out in Europe, we have had
to translate our company name to the most incredible names in each country – and so it was
impossible to carry out international marketing. In most countries we were called Jysk and
then the word Sengetøjslager was translated. By deleting the word sengetøjslager and being
named simply JYSK, we kept the recognition of the company name – and also shortened it
drastically. We also kept part of the goose, yet another recognition factor – and to show that
we are still down quilt specialists . By removing the somewhat old-fashioned headboard and
font, our new logo became a reality. A logo that is meant to indicate a new way of thinking,
new design and a new future, and which we hope will last for the next 25 years.
182
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
You Can Only Die from Stress and Old Age
But back to 1st January , 2000 when Jan Bøgh takes over the management of the company,
and I become executive chairman for JYSK Holding. A nice and relaxing job where I have
time to see everything from a bird’s eye perspective… I can now participate in what I feel
is necessary, but also in the things that I find the most interesting. A fantastic position of
freedom that I would recommend to stressed-out company owners and other people in
leading positions where work pressure has become too hard. Start passing things over to the
next generation as early as possible – that way it can be carried through better. For my part,
I started on the process when I turned 50, and I am actually proud of that. Many people wait
until there is no going back – and that is far too late.
I have always lived by a philosophy that says that you can pretty much only die from stress
and old age. I believe that many diseases are caused by stress. When the whole mechanism
has to do more than it can cope with, things go wrong. And I don’t want to put myself
through that so there is almost only old age left – and that can be used for many lovely things.
For example pursuing your hobbies. But as a ”young pensioner” you can also continue at
the company at a lower pace and work on the things you do best and pass your experience
on to the next generation. I am privileged in that I can decide on the pace of my retirement
myself – and I would not be surprised if I am still working at the company 20-30 years from
now. Then it would not be because I have to be there, but simply because I like it. A privilege
that, unfortunately, very few people get but which I think politicians ought to consider. I
think this formula would benefit the whole of society. You cannot set fixed time frames for
the pension ages of all citizens. Some people get worn down earlier than others and other
people do not even want to become worn down and have made financial arrangements,
so that they can partially opt out at a young age. If legislation was introduced that focused
on the individual, I believe it would be possible to make pension age a far more individual
thing– and even benefit society. However, it is a long process that would take generations to
implement. That is why it is important that we get started on it – so that we will not have to
put up again and again with various stopgap solutions that save individual politicians instead
of saving individual citizens.
And thank you, but no – I do not intend to go into politics in my old age. I want to work
with what I like… Anyway, back on track. As well as myself, I also took along a few employees
to JYSK Holding – among these Kjølby, who will in future use his knowledge and experience
of keeping track of the finances of the whole group. He will have his hands full as we will
soon start showing double figured billion DKK sums. A number that is so big that not even I
understand it… A few years ago a wise man tried to explain it to me when I reached the first
billion. He said that the number was so big that, even if I started now, I would not even be
183
able to count to it in the course of the rest of my life – even if I lived to be old. I guess it’s a
good thing we have calculators and computers nowadays…
Our Danish management consists of Financial Director Henrik Naudndrup, Managing Director Jan Bøgh,
Businessman Lars Larsen, Logistics Director Henrik Bøgelund and Purchasing Director Jacob Brunsborg
New Times Ahead
At the same time as were getting organised in Holding, Jan Bøgh started getting organised
in JYSK Nordic. We had agreed that new measures were needed when he took over, so
that we were ready for the further expansion. He introduced so many new concepts that
I did not even know existed: We got a Financial Manager from IKEA, an IT Director from
Mærsk, a Logistics Director from Lego, a Human Resource Director, a Retail and Market
Director, an Analysis Manager, a Marketing Manager, a Media and Event Manager, a Concept
Development Manager, a Project Manager, a Shop Operations Manager, a Regional Manager,
a Communication Manager, a Property Manager, a Country Manager – and many more new
managers and directors.
I was almost worried there would be no work left for Jan… But there was – plenty of work
– just keeping track of all these managers…
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I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
But joking aside, not a single manager has been hired who I’d go without. In fact, I did
authorise every single one of them.
However, with all these new managers coming onto the scene, there were, of course, also
people who had to take a step back. That was not all fun… Nearly everybody had been at the
company for 15-20 years and had worked themselves to the bone for me – often 24 hours a
day. I could not just fire such employees. Together Jan and I found their strongest sides and
then created a new ”sub manager” job for them. A job that most of them accepted – without
being happy about it – but today they enjoy it. Deep down they knew that with a company
of this size we needed specialists with the right qualifications. A few of them chose to leave
JYSK and you can’t really blame them for that. We were all ”self-made” – and had more
or less been randomly assigned a field of activity when the company was still small, which
we then performed to the best of our abilities. As the company grew, these ”home-made”
managerial titles did of course become increasingly more difficult to perform. Language skills
became increasingly important and IT technology had to be learned and implemented in our
daily work. Even Lars Larsen had to surrender and step back, but I would rather do that than
die from stress…
Now we experienced people can once again do what we do best – to the benefit of the
company – and ourselves. Then Jan Bøgh and the other specialists will have to do the hard
work – and consult us experienced people when experience is necessary… It does happen
regularly. Fortunately, that will never go out of fashion…
185
HE L L O M
Y N AM
E I S L ARS L ARSE N
Businessmanship – Colleagueship – Team Spirit
In connection with Jan taking over my job, we decided to write down the vision and strategy
of JYSK as well as the basic values on which it was all based. All managers had to write down
what they thought I meant. We expressed it as if Jan had turned me upside down onto my
head and shaken me so that all my thoughts, visions and values etc. fell out of me – after
which we wrote it all down. Everybody agreed that it was incredibly important to commit
it to paper – especially as the company was growing and spreading over several frontiers.
The result of all this was a bulky piece of work that we embodied in a ”goose egg”, and we
186
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
called our values KKK which stands for Købmand – Kollega – Korpsånd. (Businessmanship
- Colleagueship – Team spirit)
The three K’s are very easy to understand and work as the basic values at all levels of the
company. Of course it is all about being a good businessman, making the customer happy
with their purchase and preferably having a twinkle in your eye. Colleagueship is essential in
our shops. It is this teamwork of both old and young employees together that can make our
daily work more fun and easier for each other, and ultimately also for our customers. And
then there is of course team spirit. It should be fun and give a certain pride to be part of a
big, successful international company and for it not to feel remote and distant. Three values
which are all down-to-earth and a natural extension of our culture and history.
We called the 2-year long phase before Jan took over after me an anchoring of things – not
a change. It was important for us both that the ”spirit of JYSK” remained in the company and
was carried on into the new countries… I hope we have succeeded. In any case, I can tell that
it also lives in the best of health in the new countries – such as Poland, Austria and the Czech
Republic where business acumen, team spirit and colleagueship is also part of daily life.
Over the past 25 years many people have asked me: ”How do you cope with it – how
can you manage it – how is it even possible?” To this I can only reply that it has only been
possible with the help of competent and loyal employees. For a company this big, it is even
more important than at small companies that all employees are considered equal players
– nobody is worth less than their boss.
This is my understanding of the spirit of JYSK. All employees are part of the chain – and
all parts are equally important. If even one part is weak, the whole chain might fail. I am
convinced that all my many thousands of employees work on the basis of this philosophy
– that every single one of them has a vital function, which helps create international business
success. At JYSK we only have one major function: to please our customers. We fight to do
that every single day by finding the right product, at the right time and at the right price.
Or as we say at JYSK: by giving them a good offer!
Thank you for your attention… and I’ll see you at JYSK.
Lars Larsen
187
Logos over…
188
I HAVE A GOOD OFFER
…the last 25 years
189
SKAGEN
SANDVIG
ALLINGE
HIRTSHALS
GUDHJEM
HASLE
SVANEKE
HJØRRING
FREDERIKSHAVN
RØNNE
NEXØ
SÆBY
BRØNDERSLEV
LÆSØ
HANSTHOLM
NØRRESUNDBY
AALBORG
SKALBORG
THISTED
HIMMERLAND
NYKØBING M GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB
AARS
HURUP
ANHOLT
HADSUND
HOBRO
SKIVE
LEMVIG
RANDERS
STRUER
VIBORG
BJERRINGBRO
GRENAA
HOLSTEBRO
HADSTEN
HAMMEL
SILKEBORG
ÅRHUS
EBELTOFT
IKAST
HELSINGØR
HERNING
HELSINGE
RINGKØBING
ODDEN
SKANDERBORG
SKJERN
HUNDESTED
HILLERØD
FREDERIKSVÆRK
NYKØBING S
ODDER
BRANDE
SAMSØ
HORSENS
JUELSMINDE
TAASTRUP
ISHØJ
KALUNDBORG
VARDE
FREDERICIA
BRAMMING
VEJEN
ESBJERG
MIDDELFART
MIDDELFART
KØGE
SORØ
KERTEMINDE
RINGSTED
SLAGELSE
ODENSE
HASLEV
RIBE
VOJENS
NYBORG
KORSØR
HADERSLEV ASSENS
NÆSTVED
SKÆLSKØR
LOHALS
FÅBORG
NORDBORG
AABENRAA
SVENDBORG
VORDINGBORG
TØNDER
SØNDERBORG
BAGENKOP
HØRSHOLM
FREDERIKSSUND
BALLERUP
HOLBÆK
KØBENHAVN
ROSKILDE GLOSTRUP
GRINDSTED
VEJLE
HUMLEBÆK
NAKSKOV
MARIBO
NYKØBING F
RØDBYHAVN
GEDSER
An environmentally friendly book
The paper in this book has been produced from raw products
that come exclusively from environmentally certified Scandinavian forestry.
No materials or chemicals that are harmful to the environment have been
used in the production of this book.
192
Lars Larsen became known throughout Denmark when,
in the middle of the ’80s, he went on national TV
and gave viewers a good offer.
In the book, Larsen tells of his childhood and his modest beginnings,
of starting up Jysk Sengetøjslager with money he had borrowed,
of his time with Larsen Travel,
of dreams, failures and experiences, great and small,
on the road to JYSK becoming an international group of companies
with almost 1000 shops in 18 countries.
An adventure stretching out over only 25 years.
Lars Larsen has written the book himself and, in so doing,
reveals a whole new side to himself.
FORLAGET
HANSEN
MEJLGADE
ISBN: 87-91532-03-5

my name is – I have a good offer

Transcription

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