NordKorg’s new 18,000-square-metre (193,750-square-foot) store opened at 07:06, nearly two hours before its advertised start, and briefly sold goods at as little as one-tenth of their intended price. The company said about 2,400 people entered before staff stopped admitting customers; nobody was injured.
The store, built on a former freight yard in Gothenburg’s Hisingen district, was meant to welcome its first shoppers at 09:00. A time-setting error unlocked the entrance early, while a separate glitch in the price file affected 3,800 items, including coffee makers, blankets and kitchen utensils.
The doors rolled up before dawn
A line that had gathered in light rain quickly filled the broad pavement outside the low, glass-fronted building. At 07:24, the city’s safety office asked the store to pause entry after its main shopping floor reached the agreed capacity. Staff let customers leave freely and kept the side exits clear, said Džesika Rubenis, a municipal safety coordinator.
Inside, the price error turned the planned opening-day promotions into something far larger. A coffee maker intended to sell for 799 kronor appeared at 79.90, while a wool blanket marked for 499 kronor showed as 49.90. The store corrected the figures after 41 minutes, but honoured the lower prices for customers who had already paid.
We opened the doors early and accidentally made the bargains even better.
Kağan Doğan, NordKorg’s chief executive
Kağan Doğan said 1,100 transactions were completed before the price displays were fixed. The company expects the mistaken discounts to cost 2.8 million kronor (about €250,000), a sum it called manageable. It will also give every customer who entered before the pause a 100-kronor voucher for a future visit.
A launch with a second chance
The early rush brought a brief queue of 1.4 km (0.9 miles) along the access road, where drivers left cars in adjoining industrial streets and walked the final stretch. Shirin R. Ingebrigtsen, who had come to buy shelves, said she found the price of her kettle had fallen from 399 kronor to 39.90 at the till. “I thought it was a joke until the receipt came out,” she said.
Rubenis said inspectors found no blocked exits or damage to the building. The store paused entry for 26 minutes, then reopened in smaller groups after staff checked the entrance sensors and confirmed that the crowd inside had thinned. Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city, has been expanding former dock and freight areas into housing and retail sites.
NordKorg said the launch schedule had been entered in a system using a different time setting from the store’s local clock. The pricing glitch came from an error in the promotional file, the company said, and affected no other branches. Staff replaced the affected displays and checked the checkout prices before the store resumed normal trading.
The company plans to open two more large stores in Sweden next year, but Doğan said their opening procedures would be reviewed before any dates were announced. Friday’s first customers left with discounted kettles, blankets and coffee makers; the retailer says its next launch will start on time, with the bargains properly labelled.
