Hi-Fi Klubben arrives in Hamburg

Danish companies often launch their German business in Hamburg. Hi-Fi Klubben’s Managing Director, Svend Erik Kristensen, said: “For Danish companies, northern Germany is the first address for expansion in Germany. Also, the understatement in Hamburg matches our high-quality products perfectly.” The managing director of the Hamburg Business Development Corporation (HWF), Dr. Rolf Strittmatter explained: “Danish companies count traditionally among the most important international investors in Hamburg. More than 160 start-ups with Danish investment were registered in the Hamburg commercial register between 2012-2015.”

Hamburg is in the immediate vicinity and has a high purchasing power making it an ideal launch pad for Swedish retail groups in Germany. The Swedish lifestyle department store, Clas Ohlson, is due to open its first German branch in the former Streits cinema on Jungfernstieg this summer. Two more stores are planned in Altona and the Alstertal shopping centre. 

Sweden’s biggest sporting goods supplier, Stadium, is already operating successfully in Germany. Launched in autumn 2014, the company is now opening its third branch in Hamburg. Swedish rival, Fjällräven, took over the Hamburg Globetrotter Group via its Fenix holding. Sweden’s world famous H&M brand also launched its business on the Elbe before taking Germany by storm. 

Large Scandinavian retail groups are not the only businesses opening branches in Hamburg. Many medium-sized enterprises dealing in fashion, interior decoration and catering are among the newcomers. They include the Danish coffee and the fruit-juice chain store, Joe and the Juice, or Denmark’s Steakhous Mash. Sandra Bækby-Hansen, a representative of the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce, said the trend is noticeable in retail and gastronomy. The planned fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt will bring even closer connections and northern Germany and Scandinavia will continue to forge stronger commercial links.
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