The Swedish discount chain Lager 157 has 75 stores in the Nordic countries today and a growing e-commerce presence. In December, the chain will be expanding outside the Nordic region when it opens its first store in the Waterfront mall in Bremen, where H&M and Primark are already located. The chain’s first German store will be 2,300 square meters, slightly larger than the norm for Lager 157.
CEO Stefan Palm says there will be more stores in Central Europe “as soon as we find the right store location.” Meanwhile, to complement the store in Bremen, the company has launched a German e-commerce site.
Lager 157 sells mainly fashion but also has a growing sports segment. Its began shell jacket, with 10,000 millimeters of water column, retails for €50, its sports bra for €7 and its bicycle pants, with built-in bib, for €40.
Palm established the company in 1999, opening the first store in the small western Swedish community of Gällstad. The name Lager (warehouse) 157 comes from the road that runs through town. Right from the start, the focus was on maintaining both low prices and quality – something the company still conveys on its website, which speaks of products with “long-lasting quality” and “a price everyone can afford.”
Since 2014, when the stores stopped selling other brands, sales have skyrocketed. In 2014, Lager 157 had a turnover of SEK 5.8 million (€0.5m). Ten years later, with 75 stores in all Nordic countries except Iceland, turnover reached SEK 2.4 billion (€210m) and profits SEK 2.5 million (€220,000). Today, the chain has 75 physical stores – 51 in Sweden, 13 in Finland, seven in Norway, four in Denmark – and e-commerce in all of the Nordic countries except Iceland.
The design of typical Lager 157 garments have been simple from the start – like the color schemes, which have kept to a small palette. Many of the garments are in black, white or gray. The idea is that as many people as possible should be able to wear them and match them with their existing wardrobe. The store decor is sparse, and the marketing has always been minimal. “Our brand should be spread by word of mouth by our customers,” Palm has said.
Palm explains that if things go well in Bremen, as he believes they will, more store openings will soon follow in Germany.
