On March 24, Rusta opened five new stores in its home market Sweden. The expansion follows strong growth in all markets in 2020.
– Our expansion plan remains, we will grow by 16-20 stores per year, primarily in Germany, Finland and Norway. In Sweden, the goal is to become the most sustainable low-price player this year, says CEO of Rusta, Göran Westerberg.
The five stores opening on March 24 are located in Kristianstad, Kristinehamn, Ljungby, Västervik and Södertälje. The stores in Kristianstad and Västervik are reopenings on new premises, while Kristinehamn, Ljungby and Södertälje are new establishments.
As a result, the group is up to a total of 173 stores in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany. The plan is a growth rate of about 10 per cent in new stores per year.
– We want more people to be able to buy quality products at the lowest price. In Norway and Finland, we expect to double the number of stores, while continuing to work our way into the German market. In Sweden, we see room to go from 100 to 120 stores, says Göran Westerberg.
The expansion comes after a 2020 when sales in the second half of the year increased by 14 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.
– Our employees have done a fantastic job creating a safe workplace and secure stores for our customers. We cancelled Black Friday and have had guards at our 30 largest stores to avoid crowding. The fact that we still had such a good year is entirely thanks to our employees, says Göran Westerberg.
Rusta’s stores
With the new openings, Rusta has 173 stores, including 103 in Sweden, 37 in Norway, 29 in Finland and 4 in Germany. The five new stores are between 2,100 and 2,250 square metres in size and are located in Kristianstad, Kristinehamn, Ljungby, Västervik and Södertälje.