Family-owned homewares-to-crafting retailer Søstrene Grene is joining a raft of Nordic invaders hoping to revive the British high street, jumping into retail space emptied out by the pandemic and cost of living crisis.

The Danish retailer, which now has 47 of its market-like shops in the UK and is targeting 100 by 2027, will neighbour the bigger Nordic homewares retailer Ikea in central London, after opening a store yesterday just yards from Ikea’s new Oxford Street flagship which is set to open in May.

Ikea and Søstrene Grene’s arrival in central locations could help to rebuild trade on some of the UK’s premier high streets and beyond. The Swedish furniture retailer has already stated its intention to open more city centre stores, after opening one in Hammersmith, west London, in 2022 and buying a Brighton shopping mall where it plans to open later this year. Rival Flying Tiger Copenhagen came to the UK in 2005 and now has more than 100 stores across the UK.

Søstrene Grene is owned and run by two brothers, Mikkel and Cresten Grene, whose parents set up the business together in Aarhus in 1973. It is named after their mother’s aunts – Anna and Clara – who still inspire some of the displays and products today.

The retailer stocks a mind-boggling array of different products, from small chairs and notebooks to candles, knitting wool and art materials, all arranged in a colourful maze of wooden shelving with arty displays such as hidden rooms or cupboards to attract the eye.

The brand plans to open at least 20 stores this year, after opening a similar number last year as it steps up expansion after more than a decade of attempting to crack the UK market.

Mikkel Grene says: “When we first started looking here the rents were really too high and we went back to Denmark and sort of forgot about it, then Covid came and after that crisis there was Brexit and prices came down on rent and we started to talk to landlords.”

While many overseas brands start out in London, Søstrene Grene opened its first UK store in Nottingham and has more stores outside the capital – in places including Derby, Sheffield, Wakefield, Telford and Newbury – than within the M25.

Grene says that in many places the retailer has been welcomed by queues of shoppers as the city centre is “all empty” and it is “still investing in building beautiful stores while a lot of retailers are trying to cut costs”.

He says: “Locals are quite excited about stores coming back into their cities and new concepts and we get a warm welcome.”

He says the store uses its social media presence to draw in shoppers so that other retailers and cafes feel able to open up nearby. “There is a lot of footfall in our stores and that helps other retailers.”

Such is the new ease in finding locations for its stores, the company has brought forward its aim to hit 100 stores by three years and now expects to go beyond that figure.

Grene says the British are among its top spenders, with new shoppers finding the brand a cheaper option during the cost of living crisis, seeking out its smaller carry-away items such as cushions or candles as a way to update their homes without spending on a new sofa or kitchen cabinets.

The brand’s focus on natural materials – such as woven baskets or wooden washing-up brushes – many of which have been sold in the chain from its earliest days – also play for a desire to reduce plastic.

Brisk trade helps make up for the fact that property taxes – known as business rates – are much higher in the UK than anywhere else.

“It’s definitely a bad idea,” Grene says. “It’s an insanely high level and that’s killing a lot of retail businesses.”

He says the brand is choosing its stores carefully as not all European advances in the UK have been successful. Sweden’s Clas Ohlson closed its last UK store in 2019. Dutch brand Hema, which operates a similar marketplace style to Søstrene Grene and Tiger, decided to close its six UK stores in 2021.