Denmark’s Normal is latest Nordic retail giant planning a push into the Irish market

Normal was founded in 2013 and is controlled by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen. He also owns Danish group Bestseller, which operates well-known clothing chains Vero Moda and Jack & Jones. He acquired his majority stake in Normal in 2014.

Normal currently has about 900 stores across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Finland, Portugal and Spain. It has added about 600 stores to its network in the past five years.

It generated revenue of €1.6bn in the financial year to the end of last July and made a €91m profit after tax. It paid a €55m dividend. Its parent company is Heartland, the holding and investment company owned by Mr Holch Povlsen.

In the current financial year, Normal anticipates growing its turnover and profit by between 10pc and 20pc.

It will join other Scandinavian retailers, including Sweden’s Ikea and Denmark’s Jysk, that have made successful forays into the Irish market. Ikea’s Dublin outlet is now the busiest in the world. Last month, Jysk announced that it will open five new stores in Ireland this year, bringing its total to 30.

Another Danish retailer, Flying Tiger, also has a major presence in Ireland.

Normal sells top brands at what it says are fixed, low prices.

“The assortment includes well-known brands within categories such as skin care, hair care, oral care, shampoo, make-up and cleaning,” its website notes.

The chain employs a similar maze-like structure to that of Ikea, providing a forced path for customers through its stores.

Normal expanded beyond Denmark for the first time in 2017, when it opened its first outlet in Norway. The following year, it entered the Swedish and Dutch markets. In 2019, it opened in France, while Finland followed in 2021, Portugal the following year and Spain in 2023. Sweden is currently its biggest market, with almost 190 stores.

The chain opened 222 new outlets in its last financial year, a record number for the group.

Jesper Due, Normal’s chief executive, said in the group’s latest annual report that the success of the group’s geographic expansion “serves as a confirmation of our belief that our existing markets still hold potential for further expansion”.

Normal has been asked for comment.

Mr Holch Povlsen’s Heartland also owns stakes ASOS, a British online clothing retailer, and Klarna.

Klarna, the Swedish buy-now, pay-later credit provider that’s widely used by a range of retailers around the world, is positioning itself for a stock market flotation in the United States this year.

Its transaction and service revenue in the first nine months of 2024 hit €1.53bn, a 25pc year-on-year increase. It posted adjusted operating income of €140m.

Despite the exit of British retailer New Look from the Irish market this week following what it said were several years of sustained losses and challenging market conditions, the broader retail market in Ireland has been resilient in the past number of months.

In December, sales of clothing, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and hardware products all rose significantly year-on-year.