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The UK high-street continues to wrestle, with stalwarts reminiscent of Claire’s, River Island, and WH Smith saying closures in latest months, and a median of 38 outlets placing their shutters up for good, each single day.
However Danish-born homeware model, Søstrene Grene, is bucking the development.
Their shops are like a warm-hug: cutesy trinkets, low-lighting and cosy delicate furnishings. It’s a welcoming slice of hygge amongst a bleak retail image — and crucially, at wallet-friendly costs.
A classy bread basket for £3.60, a cleaning soap dispenser for £2.94, and mugs (a fan favorite) for £4.94. Nothing appears low cost, although: Søstrene Grene isn’t fairly as funds as Primark or Flying Tiger, nevertheless it’s one way or the other giving Zara House, with out the value tag.
Based in 1973 by Danish couple Inger Grene and Knud Cresten Vaupell Olsen, the corporate’s ethos relies on the personalities of a pair of fictional sisters, Anna and Clara, impressed by Inger’s aunties.
Whereas Anna is inventive, Clara is sensible and organised. The concept is that they characterize all that Søstrene Grene has to supply.
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Beginning with one retailer in Aarhus, Denmark’s ‘second’ metropolis, Inger and Knud’s sons, Mikkel and Cresten, slowly took over the enterprise from 2003, evolving it into a global model.
Between 2024 and 2025, Søstrene Grene opened 47 new places, largely within the UK and Germany, and greater than 100 million clients walked by their doorways.
Right now, it has 386 outlets throughout 17 international locations — and there’s extra to return, with extra shops opening throughout the continent. In 2025, it opened 22 new outlets within the UK alone.
‘It’s a small break from hectic day by day life’
Chatting with Metro, founder, Mikkel Grene, says the corporate is promoting an ‘expertise’, relatively than particular merchandise. He says greater than half of their clients stroll in, not realizing what they really need to purchase.
Mikkel explains: ‘It’s a small break from hectic day by day life. They only need to see what we’ve give you for the reason that final go to, so there’s at all times one thing new coming in.
‘It’s extra like a market. You by no means actually know what you may discover, and a few folks confer with it as a small repair that they want each month or each week, so it’s the form of feeling they get after they enter the shop.’
The Ikea-style structure of the shops has been there for the reason that very starting, and the aim has at all times been to take the shoppers on a ‘journey’ by the completely different classes, from magnificence and homeware, to arts and crafts.
Mikkel says that the preliminary intention was to create a sense of being in a market in Southern Europe, the place the shopper ‘by no means is aware of’ what they could discover across the nook.
‘It’s like a treasure hunt, the place you’re making your approach by the shop. We’re additionally intentionally making it fairly darkish and closed, so that you form of lose route fairly rapidly, and also you’re immersed in it. That’s one thing that’s actually interesting to our clients, particularly girls,’ Mikkel explains.
The UK has had a protracted love affair with all-things Scandi, however Søstrene Grene say they think about themselves to be a lot greater than only a quintessentially Danish model.
‘We’re tapping into a whole lot of completely different cultures,’ Mikkel says. ‘I nonetheless assume that the Danish design custom is a vital a part of who we’re, and that strict cleanness that there’s to the colors, and the aesthetics.
‘However we’re additionally fairly whimsical, and also you’ll discover the entire palette right here.’
In relation to the merchandise stocked in-store, Søstrene Grene make use of a crew of 10 designers.
They’ve actively rejected utilizing digital or AI designs, in favour of a extra ‘genuine and tactile expression.’
Mikkel provides: ‘We like to make use of pure supplies, like wool and cotton as a substitute of polyester, and we’ve at all times been this natural model, all the way in which again to the Seventies.’
So, how do they maintain costs so low?
In fact, the key promoting level of Søstrene Grene is that costs are low.
On-line, a candleholder prices simply £6.60, whereas a four-pack of egg cups goes for £5.52.
There are different cute, kitsch-y issues on provide, too, like tea strainers (£3.59 every), bread baskets (£2.89), and ornamental ceramic mushrooms (£1.28).
When requested precisely how they maintain their merchandise wallet-friendly, a spokesperson instructed Metro that the model ‘avoids costly intermediaries’ — that’s a third-party, or the center man between the suppliers, to be able to maintain ‘margins as little as potential.’
They’ve additionally persistently chosen to not up their costs regardless of an unstable financial panorama. The spokesperson stated: ‘When inflation went up in 2022, and over the previous couple of years, we determined to soak up a lot of the worth will increase as a substitute of passing the invoice on to our clients.
‘We determined to try this as a result of the price of residing was on the rise, and we didn’t need to put any extra stress on our clients.’
And it’s a enterprise mannequin that’s working for them. Søstrene Grene is little question benefiting from ‘little deal with’ tradition — the ‘f*** it’ mentality, notably inside Gen Z circles, who’re all too conscious that they’ll seemingly by no means be capable of afford a home deposit, so why not take pleasure in a tiny deal with each occasionally?
A examine from Subsequent discovered Brits’ deal with themselves at the very least as soon as every week, with 18% shopping for themselves a bit one thing as much as 3 times every week, spending £5 on common.
What’s subsequent?
Wanting forward, Søstrene Grene has huge plans. This 12 months, it’ll be launching in Poland and Italy with bodily outlets, and on-line in Spain.
And, by 2027, it’s aiming to have 100 on British soil, which Mikkel describes as one of many model’s most ‘thrilling markets.’ Thus far, although, he’s pleased with each single success they’ve had – and he by no means takes any of it without any consideration.
‘We’re humble, as not a whole lot of retailers are seeing these numbers as of late, so it’s superb,’ he says. ‘It’s even exhausting for us to know.’
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Get in contact by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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