Gekås
Encyclopedia
Gekås i Ullared AB is a Swedish
superstore in Ullared
, Sweden
, founded in 1963 by Göran Karlsson as Ge-kås Manufaktur. It has an annual turnover of 3 800 000 000 Swedish kronor (2010),, with a total store area of over 20 000m2 in addition to a 50000m2 storage area just a few hundred yards away. Boris Lennerhov is the current CEO. The store is visited annually by approx. 3 700 000 customers, with the 2007 record of 26 200 for a single day, and the average customer traveling 150 km to get to the store. The store has recently opened a camping ground and a motel to accommodate long distance travellers. It has been known for avoiding conventional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth
. In 2009, a documentary series was filmed during the summer months (with the exception of the final episode being filmed in november), and aired the following spring. A second season was filmed a few months later and aired during the fall of 2010. It currently airs in both Norway and Sweden.
.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
superstore in Ullared
Ullared
Ullared is a locality situated in Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 820 inhabitants in 2005.The village hosts a large department store, Gekås. It is one of the largest stores in Sweden and the growth of the store has made Ullared more or less synonymous with low prices among...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, founded in 1963 by Göran Karlsson as Ge-kås Manufaktur. It has an annual turnover of 3 800 000 000 Swedish kronor (2010),, with a total store area of over 20 000m2 in addition to a 50000m2 storage area just a few hundred yards away. Boris Lennerhov is the current CEO. The store is visited annually by approx. 3 700 000 customers, with the 2007 record of 26 200 for a single day, and the average customer traveling 150 km to get to the store. The store has recently opened a camping ground and a motel to accommodate long distance travellers. It has been known for avoiding conventional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth
Word-of-mouth marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing , also called word of mouth advertising, is an unpaid form of promotion—oral or written—in which satisfied customers tell other people how much they like a business, product, service, or event...
. In 2009, a documentary series was filmed during the summer months (with the exception of the final episode being filmed in november), and aired the following spring. A second season was filmed a few months later and aired during the fall of 2010. It currently airs in both Norway and Sweden.
History
- 1963: Store founded in Ullared by Göran Karlsson
- 1967: The store moves to a bigger building.
- 1971: The store changes location again, to its current location
- 1991 Göran Karlsson sells the company to six employees.
- 2003 The market court forbids Göran Karlsson, who had started a competing business, to use the word "Ullared" in their marketing.
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Sources
- Ullared - byn som blev ett varumärke, Torsten Andersson. 2003. Falkenberg: Ge-kås Ullared AB. ISBN 91-631-3660-0