Page 22 - #201 September 2025

Interview

Creating a solutions as they see this as key in supporting their

teams and processes in creating a more agile and
Wonderful World scalable business.
As well as expanding their horizons in the digi-
tal department, they continue to invest heavily on
their sustainability agenda. This has incorporated
the phasing out of several single-use plastic items
and will also phase out offerings in the future that
do not fit their strategy to secure more circularity
in their product range.
“In addition, we recently announced a
Born in Aarhus, As part of this total, they will likely reach 100 45,000sq m distribution centre in the Nether-
D e nm ark ’ s stores in Germany alone this year. They have lands which will help meet our ambitions for the
second largest also announced plans to enter Italy and Poland, sustainability agenda. It will reduce the distance
city, Søstrene along with opening up online shopping in Spain to our customers and stores in southern and cen-
Grene is a retail and Finland. tral Europe. Moreover, the centre will be built as a
chain founded When we probe on the topic of a positive guest state-of-the-art project for sustainable construc-
by parents Inger experience inside and outside of their stores, tion with its own solar panel systems and robotic
Grene and Knud humble is the first thing that comes to Grene’s technology that will wrap our online packages
Cresten Vaupell mind. “We are very humble about the fact that using as little packaging material as possible,”
Olsen in 1973 when they opened a store that many customers very much like our brand, our Grene comments.
turned out to be one of a kind. In this inter- stores and our products. It is a great privilege Focusing on much more than just selling prod -
view, we speak with Mikkel Grene, Group CEO but it also comes with a great responsibility to ucts at affordable prices, Søstrene Grene aspires
& Co-Owner of Søstrene Grene as we discuss continue to meet our customers’ expectations to offer their customers a shopping
the brand’s ongoing expansion, its digital and have them visit our stores repeatedly. It is experience
transformation and sustainability agenda. not something we would ever take for granted.”
O WNED TODAY BY Mikkel and his ous. They are curious about the markets they
He adds to this by saying they aim to stay curi-
brother Cresten, the Creative Direc -
operate in, about how to optimise the spaces that
tor, Søstrene Grene is perhaps best
importantly, they are curious about their custom-
described as a lifestyle brand that offers prod- they have and about digital transformation. Most
ucts in a variety of categories such as home décor, ers and how they can offer them the best possible
small furniture, kitchen, hobby, celebrations, sta- experience online and offline.
tionery, children’s toys, accessories and more. The company did not begin life in the online
They work consciously to continually create realm until 2020, but once they did, it allowed
wonderful worlds unlike anything ever seen them to accelerate their digital transformation
before. To do this, they focus on their concept, the and the omni-channel offering as they look to
retail experience they offer and their products. meet their customers where they are, creating
Each of these three dimensions needs to reflect the best possible synergy across their channels
their values and together they make up the unique and physical stores.
world of the brand. In terms of AI and its influence in the
They also work very hard at making retail market, the company is
sure that no matter where in the world focusing on integrating AI
people visit a store; they will feel they
are taking a little break from the
often-hectic everyday life.
Today the company operates
more than 340 stores across 17 London, UK
European markets. These include their
home country Denmark and England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic
of Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway,
Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
“Back in March, we opened our second central
London store on Argyll St. The store is spread
across 441sq m, has two floors, is one of our flag-
ship European sites and has an Experience Room,
as well as being the only site in the UK to have a
Sensory Room,” highlights Mikkel Grene, Group
CEO & Co-Owner of Søstrene Grene.
Whilst London is of course a very important
city, Grene sees huge potential across the UK
where they are always warmly welcomed. They
have also recently opened in Harrogate and back
in July they opened stores in Wimbledon and at
Canary Wharf.
Discussing the wider expansion plan, they
are targeting 100 stores in total in the UK and Aarhus, Denmark
500 stores across Europe by the end of 2027.

22 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2025