Flying Tiger Copenhagen

Flying Tiger Copenhagen
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryRetail
Founded1995 (1995) in Copenhagen, Denmark
FoundersLennart Lajboschitz (founder)
Suzanne Lajboschitz (co-founder)
Headquarters
Copenhagen
,
Denmark
Number of locations
926[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Revenue4.274 billion DKK (2023)[1]
OwnerZebra A/S
Websiteflyingtiger.com
Footnotes / references
[2]

Flying Tiger Copenhagen (formerly Tiger) is a Danish variety store chain.[3][4] Its first shop opened in Copenhagen in 1995 and as of 2023, the chain now has 931 shops across 42 countries. Its largest markets are Denmark, the UK, Italy, and Spain. According to the company's annual report, it had more than 93 million customers in 2023.[1]

Before June 2016, it operated as Tiger (or Tiger Copenhagen) in most markets, as TGR in Sweden and Norway and as Flying Tiger Copenhagen (or just Flying Tiger) in Ireland, Japan, Belgium, and the Netherlands.[5] Flying Tiger's name derives from similarities between the Danish pronunciation of the animal name tiger (IPA: [ˈtsʰiːɐ]) and the Danish word tier (IPA: [ˈtsʰiˀɐ]), used to denote a 10 kroner coin; in the first stores in Denmark, all items cost 10 kroner.[6]

The chain sells a variety of items, mostly accessories and toys.[7] The layout of its stores resemble mazes.[8][1] Flying Tiger's former CEO, Mette Maix, said the format of the shop is designed to feel "like a treasure hunt" by adding at least 300 random, new items each month to the shop's selection.[2]

History

[edit]
Logo in some countries until June 2016
Tiger shop, Putney, London

In 1988, Lennart Lajboschitz and his wife Suzanne opened their first store, Zebra, in Copenhagen. The store sold surplus goods, umbrellas, and other accessories. In 1995, Lajboschitz opened the first Tiger storefront in Islands Brygge, Copenhagen.[9][5][1]

In 2005, the company opened its first shop in the United Kingdom in Basingstoke, later followed by other parts in the United Kingdom. They no longer operate in Northern Ireland as of 2021 due to poor sales.[10] In 2012, EQT Partners acquired a 70% stake in the company by investing in Flying Tiger's parent company Zebra A/S.[11] In 2014, Tiger Stores Ireland won Company of the Year and Best Small Company at the Retail Excellence Ireland awards.[12]

In January 2015, the company appointed former The Body Shop director Xavier Vidal as its new chief executive officer.[13] In 2016, the company officially changed its name worldwide to Flying Tiger Copenhagen; it has previously used other names due to the name "Tiger" not being allowed in all markets.[14]

The company opened its first store in the United States in New York City in May 2015,[15][16] a 5,000-square-foot/152 mq store in Manhattan's Flatiron District.[17] In November 2018, the company announced the opening of four shops in Massachusetts and planned to open 20 more locations in New England in the next few years.[2] In November 2020, Flying Tiger closed all of its stores in the United States.[18]

In 2021, the company was sold by its founder, Lajboschitz, and EQT Partners to Treville, a Danish investment firm.[19] That year, Flying Tiger also began selling their products online.[20]

Number of shops per country

[edit]
Tiger shop at Amerikamura in Chūō-ku, Osaka.

Flying Tiger operates almost approximately 950 shops worldwide, of which 805 are in Europe.[21]

Country Shops[1]
 Italy 131
 Spain 126
 United Kingdom 80
 Japan 56
 Denmark 51
 Poland 44
 France 42
 Portugal 42
 Sweden 39
 Finland 30
 Germany 27
 Israel 27
 Norway 26
 Ireland 23
 Switzerland 23
 Netherlands 22
 Belgium 21
 South Korea 21
 Hungary 19
 Austria 17
 Czech Republic 17
 Indonesia 16[22]
 Saudi Arabia 14
 Greece 12
 Slovakia 11
 Estonia 7
 Cyprus 6
 Latvia 6
 Lithuania 6
 Iceland 5
 United Arab Emirates 5
 Philippines 6
 Kuwait 3
 Bahrain 1
 Malta 1
 Qatar 1
 Malaysia ?[a]
 Oman ?[a]
 Singapore ?[a]
 Thailand ?[a]
 Turkey 8
 Vietnam ?[a]

Notes

[edit]

a First shop opened 2024, no data in 2023 report.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Flying Tiger Copenhagen Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Zebra A/S.
  2. ^ a b c DeAngelis, Allison (2018-11-21). "'We don't just want to be normal': Danish retailer Flying Tiger expands in Mass". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  3. ^ Booth, Hannah (19 July 2013). "The Tiger who came to town". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  4. ^ Wood, Zoe (30 March 2014). "Posh pound shop: Tiger sinks its claws into UK high street". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b Bang, Nicolai (3 June 2014). "Tiger tjente kvart milliard i 2013" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. Archived from the original on 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  6. ^ "Tiger-koncept opstod ved et tilfælde". Politiken (in Danish). 24 April 2005. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  7. ^ Tiger UK. "About us". Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  8. ^ Young, Molly (21 June 2015). "Flying Tiger Copenhagen: Where All That Glitters Is…Glitter". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  9. ^ "This is us!". Flying Tiger Copenhagen. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  10. ^ Butler, Sarah (20 May 2016). "Danish retailer Tiger eating up competition on Britain's high streets". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  11. ^ Reichman, Carmen (10 October 2012). "EQT buys Danish Zebra's Tiger". unquote.com. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  12. ^ "The Punt: Tiger burning bright with two awards". Irish Independent. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  13. ^ Tugby, Luke (19 January 2015). "Value retailer Tiger appoints Xavier Vidal as new chief executive". Retail Week. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  14. ^ Van Looveren, Yoni (2016-04-18). "Flying Tiger chooses a new international name". RetailDetail EU. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  15. ^ Wolpow, Nina (8 April 2015). "You Can Now Import Your Handlebar Mustache Directly From Copenhagen". Refinery 29. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  16. ^ Hourihane, Ann Marie (9 December 2014). "'We hate indifference': the rise of Tiger Stores". Irish Times. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  17. ^ Xie, Jenny (17 April 2015). "6 Fast Facts About Tiger, the Company Bringing Super Affordable Danish Home Decor to America". Curbed. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  18. ^ Mishkin, Mike (16 October 2020). "Flying Tiger Copenhagen Closing All Stores".
  19. ^ Chopping, Dominic (10 February 2021). "EQT sells Flying Tiger Copenhagen to Treville". Private Equity News. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  20. ^ Glennon, Nicole (28 September 2021). "Flying Tiger launches online store". Irish Examiner.
  21. ^ "Flying Tiger Copenhagen: latest news, analysis and trading updates". Retail Week. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
  22. ^ "Lokasi Toko". Flying Tiger Copenhagen (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-12-13.
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