The first Iceland Foods store in Norway, located in Asker, in the Greater Oslo region, opened its doors for the first time on Wednesday 23 May.
The 280m2 store, operated by Iceland’s new franchise partner Ice Nordic, has 33 freezer cabinets carrying a wide range of Iceland’s own label frozen food, and also sells Iceland own label groceries and a selection of locally produced products.
A second store in Larvik, Vestfold county, is scheduled to open on 7 June, and Ice Nordic is seeking further store sites across the country.
“It was great to see the new store receive such a hugely enthusiastic response, with sales on the first day far exceeding expectations,' said Iceland Group operations director Ewan McMahon. 'It was particularly pleasing to see so many young people in the store, and to experience everyone’s very positive reaction to our iconic Iceland frozen food range.
“This is a particularly exciting development for Iceland International because, although we have operated a successful franchised store model for very many years, most of our existing overseas franchises are in areas with substantial British expatriate communities,' McMahon continued. 'While we do have a growing following among non-British customers in countries like Spain and Portugal, there is no question that in Norway we are appealing overwhelmingly to Norwegians – and we are really delighted that they have given us such an outstanding welcome.
“Our new franchise partner has ambitious plans for expansion and we look forward to a long and profitable relationship with them.”
