SUPERBRUGSEN ASNÆS
Large utility association is upgrading on all fronts
At the head of the biggest money tank in the convenience stores is Brian Johansen, Director of Asnæs og Omegns brugsforening. The association has had to upgrade on several different fronts to ensure a healthy development with stores that are up-to-date – electronic shelf labels are an important tool here.
Transformation and growth have always been a driving force for Brian Johansen, who has been with Coop since he started as a bottle boy in Brugsen at the age of 12. Since then, he has worked his way up. To this day, he still enjoys working hard and closely with both employees and customers.
Today, Brian Johansen is the director of one of the largest cooperatives in Coop with an equity of DKK 135 million. – This makes Asnæs og Omegns brugsforening the independent cooperative with the largest equity in the country.
In addition, the director of the cooperative has also been both a distributor and district manager at Coop with advisory responsibility for SuperBrugsen stores on Zealand. After 15 years as district manager, Brian Johansen thought it was time for a change of direction, so it didn’t take long to decide when a position as director of the independent cooperative in Asnæs became available.
– I enjoy being back in the stores again, and I’m happy with my job as director, as it also gives me the opportunity to be out on the floor among employees and customers, says Brian Johansen.
"We know the system well and have only positive things to say about electronic shelf labels and the collaboration with Delfi Technologies. The technology works as it should, we avoid pricing errors, and the central Coop campaigns run fully automatically in the system."
INVESTMENTS BASED ON A CLEAR STRATEGY
Asnæs og Omegns brugsforening has existed since 1908 and has grown to become one of the country’s largest cooperatives. Over the years, the association has invested heavily, and today it owns several grocery stores, gas stations, a car wash and several different properties. All based on a clear strategy of diversifying interests in order to have more legs to stand on.
Today, the cooperative has 9,000 members and employs more than 200 employees in stores in Asnæs, Fårevejle, Vig Lyng and Kundby.
The cooperative’s strategy of spreading its interests beyond grocery shopping is also expressed through local involvement. Here, investment in apartments will help create settlement in Asnæs and keep the wheels turning.
In addition, the cooperative invests heavily in the town’s local shopping center, Asnæs Centeret, where the association’s parent store is also located. SuperBrugsen Asnæs also has 33 employees working in the bakery alone and also runs the center café, which sells more than 1,100 cups of coffee to the center’s guests every week.
ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELS HELP
Local commitment requires knowing the customers and being able to provide personal service so that customers feel seen and welcome in the store. That’s why SuperBrugsen Asnæs also uses electronic shelf labels so that staff do not have to spend time changing price tags in connection with price and product changes.
The cooperative has been involved from the beginning, when they started implementing electronic shelf labels in both Coop’s own and independent stores. Today, more than 400 Coop stores use electronic shelf labels from Delfi Technologies.
– We know the system well and have only positive things to say about electronic shelf labels and the collaboration with Delfi Technologies, says Brian Johansen and continues
– The technology works as it should, we avoid price errors, and the central Coop campaigns run automatically in the system, so the signs on the shelf are updated without us having to do anything.
GROWTH PLANS CONTINUE
Geographically, Ansæs og Omegns brugsforening spreads from its hometown of Asnæs to Sorø, Snertinge, Vipperød, Korsør and Karlslunde. This is through nine different limited companies that the cooperative owns or co-owns. And it doesn’t stop here. The cooperative continues to expand on all fronts, explains the director.
– I expect even more from the coming years. In Asnæs, we are facing a rebuilding of our SuperBrugsen store, which will provide a completely different and even better experience for customers.
The rebuild includes an improved in-store experience with a focus on the supermarket of the future, where the products will be presented and experienced in a different way. Brian Johansen also hopes that the electronic shelf labels can be used to a greater extent as a tool to sell the products via the many options available in the system.
The store will be rebuilt as part of Coop’s main concept for SuperBrugsen, but with local adaptations to ensure the right anchoring in the local area. A central part of the cooperative’s DNA is to gather and develop the local area.
Another strong part of the cooperative’s DNA is running and developing stores – not only SuperBrugsen Ansæs, but also the rest of the cooperative’s stores and any new ones that may be added in the future.
According to Brian Johansen, it’s all about daring to take the plunge and believing that you can make a difference when it comes to advising and optimizing stores.
– We have a strong network of talented leaders, which of course gives us the self-confidence and belief that we can do something when we go into something new. We have the power to create the necessary transformation,” he concludes.
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