History

Fleggaard’s Grocery Trade 1926

In 1926, Peter J. Fleggaard opened a small grocery store in the provincial town, Padborg, near the Danish/German border. Back then, the city was a small market town with a population of only a few thousand inhabitants. The grocery store named “Fleggaards Kolonialhandel” was located opposite to the railway building, and made its revenue almost solely based on the travelers commuting to and from Padborg.

“Fleggaards Kolonialhandel” did well the following years, as Peter J. Fleggaard was a true businessman with solid business acumen. In the store business acumen was enacted not only through good and personalized service based on customer needs. Expert knowledge on the products sold in the store, the ability to purchase quality goods at reasonable prices as well as diligence were just as important factors.

Fleggaards Kolonialhandel in the year 1926

Hans Frede Fleggaard

Expansion in the border region

In the 1960s, Hans Frede Fleggaard took over the thriving grocery store after his father who died at a young age. He knew how to keep the business up with the times and development really took off as he expanded the stores assortment with new product categories such as domestic appliances and kitchens and moved the store to Industrivej in Padborg.

Hereafter followed the first expansion of many to come as Hans Frede had inherited his father's business acumen. With diligence, creativity and great enthusiasm, he continued the expansion in the border region. Business acumen was still the starting point for the company including the ability to make bulk purchases that made it possible to sell goods cheaper than the competitors.

However, Hans Frede was not only a good businessman. He also had the courage to delegate responsibilities to both his children and senior executives. Therefore, when Hans Frede retired from the day-to-day management of the Fleggaard Group in the late 1990s, he transferred a very solid and well-run business to the next generation.

International Group with local roots

Today, almost 100 years after the founding of ”Fleggaards Kolonialhandel”, the third-generation members of the family are active board members in the Fleggaard Group. The family forms a solid backbone for the group’s long-term strategy and development and is active in several of the group’s boards.

The group’s scope has steadily grown bigger and bigger as the activities have become increasingly internationalized. Especially the group’s wholesale companies have interfaces all over the world.

The Fleggaard Group is still a family-owned company with its roots firmly planted on the southern Jutland soil and the family continuously attaches great importance to business acumen at the center of decision-making.