JYSK is an international retail chain that sells 'everything for the home', and which is owned by the original founder, Lars Larsen, who is known throughout Denmark as the country's leading merchant who always has 'a great offer'.
In 1979, when he opened his first store in Denmark in Denmark's second largest city of Aarhus - where, incidentally, it is still located - Larsen had great ambitions, though he never imagined how quickly his business would grow. Larsen went on to open several successful JYSK Sengetøjslager (the original store name until 2001) locations throughout Denmark, and in 1984 he opened his first store beyond the country's borders, in neighbouring Germany.
Today the JYSK Group comprises more than 2,700 stores in the following 51 countries worldwide: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Canada, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Romania, France, Great Britain, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, China, Serbia, Armenia, Indonesia, Montenegro, Greece, Singapore, Albania, Vietnam, Malta, Portugal, Georgia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Moldova, Belgium, Kuwait, Dubai and Thailand.
The group's annual turnover is 3.58 billion euros. Growth is stable and controlled, and the total staff consists of around 23,000 employees.
The word 'JYSK' has always been intentionally included in the company name. In Danish 'JYSK' designates anything or - like Lars Larsen - anybody from the Jutland Peninsula, and it is often associated with modesty, thoroughness and honesty - three values that Larsen himself has always identified with. JYSK stands for trustworthiness, and a deal is always a deal.