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The mail order business that Clas Ohlson started in 1918 in Insjön is now an established European retail business. There are about three thousand staff working in Sweden, Norway, Finland and the UK who all follow our company motto “Making things easier for people to solve their everyday practical problems”. You are warmly welcome to read about the journey we have made, the future challenges we face and the values, concepts and responsibilities on which our business operations based.
Clas Ohlson is a rapidly expanding retail business with sales of over SEK 5 billion in Sweden, Norway, Finland and the UK. The Head Office lies in the same town where its business operation began in Insjön, Dalarna County. The company has been listed on Stockholm's Stock Exchange (OMX) since 1999.
Our Media Centre contains an overview of our press releases, current store openings, relevant company information and other news of interest. Images, video clips and important contact information are also found here. You are welcome to contact us regarding any of your media related requests. Ring our switchboard at +46 (0)247-444 00 or e-mail us with any queries at press@clasohlson.se
Do you share our view that helping people solve their everyday problems whether big or small is one of the most satisfying things one can do? Then Clas Ohlson may be the company for you with exciting multifaceted roles and job assignments on local, national and international levels. At Clas Ohlson the possibilities for advancement, training and personal development are endless.
There are several ways to contact us. Click on the link that best suites your needs and you will access your information more quickly. Uncertain about who to contact, call our main switchboard at +46 (0)247-444 00 or Customer Services at +46 (0)247-445 00 and you’ll receive the assistance that you need. We look forward to hearing from you!
It should always be easy and convenient to find what you need at Clas Ohlson. In Sweden and Norway, we sell a wide array of home, multimedia, electrical, leisure and hardware products both though our online store and by mail order. In both Finland and the UK, sales are conducted through our expanding retail network. All our purchasing, transport and goods are handled responsibly according to strict environmental and sustainability standards.
Environmental Indicators
Clas Ohlson’s direct environmental impacts are related to goods transportation, product responsibility, energy consumption, waste, packaging and printed materials. We work actively to minimise our environmental impacts in each of these areas.
Our environmental policy demands that an environmental perspective be taken on all major business decisions in order to create long-term value for Clas Ohlson’s customers, employees, shareholders, and for society as a whole. We apply a lifecycle approach that encompasses the entire lifespan of our products, from manufacturing, transport, use and eventual disposal.
Clas Ohlson sources products from approximately 600 suppliers in 30 countries. The products are transported by sea, air, road and rail to the distribution centre in Insjön, Dalarna, where they are sorted. Around 85 percent of the goods arriving in Gothenburg by sea are transported by rail to Insjön. The goods are then primarily transported to our stores by road, although the proportion of goods transported by sea and rail increased from 1.9 percent in 2009 to 16.4 percent in 2010. Our overall emissions per kilometre decreased, from 6.2 grams per tonne-kilometre in 2009 to 5.5 grams per tonne-kilometre in 2010, largely due to increased sea and rail transportation. Our overall transport objective is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per tonne/kilometre by 30 percent between 2007 and 2020.
The EU’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulation includes an increasing number of chemicals. Clas Ohlson works to educate our manufacturers about restricted chemicals and how they can keep updated on future changes in legislation. Clas Ohlson is phasing out substances that are considered to be potentially hazardous by REACH by setting a maximum limit of 0.1 percent by weight. Even stricter requirements are imposed on toys, cosmetics and pesticides, and materials that may come into contact with skin or food. Clas Ohlson has continued to promote the phase out of conventional light bulbs through various marketing campaigns. Customers are provided with in-store information or offered assistance from knowledgeable personnel to find the right alternative for them.
Clas Ohlson offers a product repair service to its customers, which allows products to be repaired and reused. The service, which avoids the creation of waste, environmental pollution and the manufacture of new products, includes a range of 9,000 spare parts.
Clas Ohlson monitors and strives to reduce energy consumption in all its owned and leased properties. Electricity consumption in the distribution centre in Insjön has decreased from 24.2 kWh/pallet in 2009 to 22.6 kWh/pallet in 2010. The Clas Ohlson head office and flagship store in Insjön switched to bio-based district heating in 2009 in cooperation with Dalakraft, which decreased the combined consumption performance indicator for electricity, district heating and oil by 42 percent between 2008 and 2010, from 233 to 134 kWh/m2/year. The switch to district heating reduced Clas Ohlson’s annual CO2 emissions by 1,000 tonnes, compared with the previous oil-based heating system.
Store annual energy consumption continues to increase - from 139 kWh/m2 to 150 kWh/m2 between 2009 and 2010 (excluding the UK). To promote store energy efficiency and reverse this trend, we have recently appointed an operating and maintenance coordinator to monitor efficiency and established new IT monitoring systems. We have also successfully implemented a lighting efficiency project in Norway, which has demonstrated significant energy savings.
Clas Ohlson abides by the WEEE directive (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and assumes its producer responsibility through the membership of national waste collection systems in each of its markets. The distribution centre in Insjön employs efficient waste recycling systems that sort waste into ten fractions. Surplus cardboard and plastic packaging are separated and pressed into large bales that are sold as raw material for new products.
Clas Ohlson, together with its suppliers, reduces the proportion of environmentally damaging product packaging by avoiding plastic packaging and by replacing PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) with PE (Polyethylene) or PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastics. The majority of the 8.4 million carrier bags Clas Ohlson sells each year are manufactured from PE, and 17 percent of the bags sold are made from paper. Sales of the new reusable bag reinforced with PP (Polypropylene) plastic increased to 80,000 in 2010. The packaging sent to our mail order and internet customers consists of 50 percent recycled fibre packaging and bio-based glue.
The proportion of recycled fibre packaging used in Clas Ohlson’s mail order and Internet services increased from 38 percent to 51 percent between 2009 and 2010, and all adhesives used are bio-based.
Clas Ohlson is working to increase the proportion of customer and shareholder communication issued via the Internet in order to reduce the printed materials it produces. However, all printed materials are manufactured with technology and substances that have a low environmental impact and the materials are fully recyclable. Clas Ohlson’s catalogues are printed in accordance with the Nordic Swan ecolabel and are primarily distributed along with regular deliveries to our stores. The Annual Report is also printed on Nordic Swan ecolabel paper and is only distributed to shareholders who have specifically requested printed information from the company, which has reduced the number of reports printed by 70 percent.
