MUCH MORE, LESS MONEY - THAT’S RUSTA

Business Idea and Vision

Rusta’s business idea is to offer a wide range of functional and stylish home- and leisure products that gives many people great value for money.

Rusta’s ambition is to surprise and excite our customers by continually providing products that are new, unique and up to date. We want Rusta to be the happiest store in Sweden. We want both our customer and our employees to have a great time at Rusta. We always strive to improve Rusta, and do never allow ourselves to be content.

Rusta has a wide product range that cover a number of traditional trades. The range is continuously adjusted to trends and seasons, and the assortment is always interesting to our costomers. The company deals directly with suppliers all over the world and Rustas productline is to a high degree self developed and unique. Rusta has products in groups such as; paint and wallpaper, flooring and carpets, tools and power tools, garden and outdoor products, household utensils and home appliances, sporting goods, home textile and clothing, christmas decorations and electronic products, toys, beauty products, lightning, bathroom and indoor furniture.

About Rusta

The first Rusta store was opened in 1986 by Anders Forsgren and Bengt-Olov Forssell. They are Rusta´s major owners and are both still active in the day-to-day operations. The head offices are situated in Upplands Väsby, just north of Stockholm in Sweden. The head office employ 100 people. Of them 45 people work in the central purchasing department. Rusta also has four purchasing offices in Asia employing just above 40 people together. These offices are situated in Beijing, Hangzhou and Shekou (Shenzhen) in China and Bangkok in Thailand.

In 2009, Rusta´s turnover was 2 361 MSEK (VAT included) and in 2010 the turnover is estimated to increase to over 2 500 MSEK (VAT included). The last seven years our annual turnover has on average increased by more than 12% per year. The 53 stores are spread all over Sweden, from Haparanda in the north to Ystad in the very south. Our 800 store employees meet more than 50 000 customers per day. Every department store is at least 2000 square meters and the stores cover all the major cities in Sweden.

Right from the start the founders have been convinced that efficient logistics and centralized distribution is the only way to provide unbeatable prices. Therefore Rusta is its own importer and wholesaler, as well as distributor and retailer. The company skip all intermediaries and instead trade directly with the manufacturers. Rusta’s experienced buyers are in direct contact with a large number of producers around the world. This enables Rusta to uphold high quality standards throughout the distribution chain.

More than 80% of the products sold in Rusta’s stores are imported from Europe and Asia in large volumes. The products are distributed to the stores through two strategically placed distribution centers in the middle of Sweden. Part of the merchandise is shipped in containers directly to the stores from Rusta's own warehouse in Asia. This is both cost efficient and good for the environment.

Rusta has developed a unique business system for handling all orders, confirmations, deliveries and sales. The distribution centre and all our stores are stocked according to sales information provided by the system. The system is fully integrated with all the other IT-systems, providing the necessary information needed for swift decisions at all levels, at any time.

The direct marketing activities of Rusta reach more than 2,5 million Swedish households every other week, a total of 80 million mailings. We present our customers 3000 new offers every year: new, exciting products and seasonal offers at unbeatable low prices. This is done through direct mail, TV commercials, advertising and our website www.rusta.se. All marketing activities are produced in-house, and are completely integrated with our business system.

Number of employees: approximately 900

Number of stores: 53

Main owners: Anders Forsgren and Bengt-Olov Forssell

Founded: In 1986