Normal with big investment: Opens 15 new stores

Normal has opened stores at a breakneck pace in 2023.

– Pre-Christmas shopping is always busy in a positive way for the stores. We have the final push with two store openings this week and one next week before the New Year, says Normal manager Thomas Harsvik to Nettavisen.

On Wednesday this week, a shop was opened in Ottestad near Hamar. Thursday store opening in Sandnessjøen in Nordland. And next week another store will be opened, it will be at Arkaden in Skien.

– Then we have opened around 40 stores since January. Now we are taking a short break, before we have a minimum of 15 stores by the first half of 2024, says Harsvik.

– Good potential

2023 will therefore end with 40 new store openings. There are few if any in the merchandise trade that can match this pace. And according to Harsvik, there is little indication that the pace of store openings will slow down anytime soon.

– How long can you grow so fast?

– It is difficult to say exactly. We still see good potential in Norway and will probably have a good pace of establishment in the coming years.

These are just some of the stores Normal will open in 2024:

• Surnadal: ALTI Surnadal
• Drammen: Torget Vest
• Os: AMFI Os
• Gran: Smietorget
• Brønnøysund: The harbor centre
• Nesbru: Holmen Centre

1000 people in Volda

Nettavisen has recently written about stores being closed at both Coop and Norgesgruppen. The latter has chains such as Kiwi, Meny and Spar.

But at Normal, there are store openings. When they opened a store in Volda recently, around 1,000 people turned up, according to Harsvik.

– What makes you open so many stores at such a fast pace?

– Normal has been well received in Norway and we operate profitably where we have established ourselves. This allows us to invest in new stores and therefore we expand in step with the locations that are interesting and accessible, says Harsvik.

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He says Normal receives many inquiries and wishes for the chain to establish itself in new locations.

– In addition to central areas in larger cities, we are also in demand in smaller cities and towns such as Fosnavåg, Froland and Geilo, he says.

– Norway is geographically large. So we have some holes to fill Now we are going to Kirkenes eventually. Then we are represented from Kirkenes in the north to Mandal in the south.

Challenging the grocery chains

Normal estimates that around 80 per cent of their product range competes with groceries.

– Normal has been good at creating a fun and slightly different store concept that customers want, says branch director at Virke, Bendik Solum Whist. Virke has major grocery players such as Coop and Norgesgruppen as members.

He believes stores like Normal contribute to increased competition.

– A trend in trade in recent years is that the distinctions between the industries are blurring and the competition is intensifying. Normal and other players within a wide range of products have been growth winners in recent years and are strong challengers to the existing grocery players within the product groups they sell, he says.

The industry director believes the development is a positive sign.

– It is often claimed that the competition in the grocery market is too bad, but the fact that stores like Normal can establish themselves and grow so quickly clearly shows that it is possible to establish themselves in the Norwegian grocery market and compete with the established players.