Contract signed for new store in Manchester, UK

Clas Ohlson has signed an agreement for lease regarding a store in Manchester, UK. The store will be located in the Arndale Shopping Centre which is located in the middle of the city centre of Manchester. The Shopping Centre has more than 39 million visitors per year and has 240 stores. The retail space will amount to 2 500 square metres. The store’s catchment area comprises approximately 2.4 million inhabitants and the store is scheduled to be opened in April 2009. Accordingly, the scheduled future opening of stores for which contracts have been concluded to date is as follows: Motala in Sweden January 2009, Falun in Sweden and Hønefoss in Norway February 2009, Hudiksvall and Örebro (Marieberg) in Sweden in March 2009, Bryne and Larvik in Norway, Manchester UK (Agreement for Lease) April 2009, Nordby/Strömstad in Sweden June 2009, Frölunda in Sweden and Molde in Norway October 2009, Värnamo and Södertälje in Sweden autumn 2009, Lillehammer in Norway between autumn 2009 and winter 2010 and Norrtälje in Sweden in the spring of 2009. Clas Ohlson’s objective is to open 20 to 22 new stores during the 2008/2009 financial year. Including the company’s current 99 stores and the 15 stores under contract, Clas Ohlson will have a total of 114 stores, with 55 of them in Sweden, 41 in Norway, 16 in Finland and 2 in the UK. For further information, please contact: Bo Heyman, Director of establishment; Tel +46 247 444 90, Mobile +46 70 597 44 90 John Womack, Director of Information and Investor Relations; Mobile +46 70 678 24 99