Varner-Gruppen AS

Aksjeselskap

Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital...

is the largest actor in the textile retailing trade in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 with approximately 500 stores around the country, including Bik Bok, Carlings, Cubus

Cubus

Cubus is a brand of watches from Croatia.-Company:Cubus was founded as an idea which was supposed to compete to the world's famous brands of watches and their marketing concepts...

, Dressmann

Dressmann

thumb|Dressmann store in [[Umeå]], Sweden.Dressmann is a chain of men's clothing stores owned by Varner-Gruppen. It was founded in Norway by Frank Varner, who opened the first store in Oslo in 1962. In addition to Norway, Dressmann stores can now be found in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Iceland,...

, Solo, Urban, Vivikes, Wearhouse and WOW. The stores are located throughout Scandinavia, the Baltic Countries, Germany and Poland. The group has more than 1,100 stores in total, and operates all of them themselves, without the use of franchising

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

.

History

Varner-Gruppen was founded by Frank Varner in 1962 when he opened his first store. Five years later he launched the Dressmann chain. In 1985 the group entered women's clothing, with the launch of Carlings. This was followed by the purchase of Cubus (1989), Bik Bok (1991) and Vivikes (1994). During the later part of the 2000s Varner has had an average store growth of about 80 outlets. The company has since been taken over by Frank Varner's children Marius Varner, Petter Varner and Joakim Varner. The company is privately held and unlisted.