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Text and photo: Harald Reitan
Store manager Inge Holtlien (48) in Kiwi in Mjøndalen in the municipality of Drammen has had her last ordinary working day in which she worked for 31 years.
– When I was not allowed to continue nurturing the relationship with clients as I wanted, I could not have continued, says Holtlien.
– That we get less profit does not affect the Kiwi chain. We operate the store within the concept of the chain in exchange for paying a percentage of the chain’s turnover, as do 110 other Kiwi stores, which is called a franchise operation. The other 600 Kiwi stores are run by the chain itself. We compensate you as required by the agreement. It all comes down to the bonus you could get as a store manager, says Inge Holtlien, who has been a store manager for 10 years.
He has worked at the store since he was a teenager, along with his father, Vidar Holtlien.
– Probably, like my father, I have identified with Kiwi and the green uniform. The managers of the chain have not tried so hard in the way we operate before, but now they want all stores to have the exact same rules. Therefore, there was no longer a place for me here, says Inge.
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Two generations
– Hi! Hey hey! Dawn! Hello!
Vidar Holtlien (72), the man who opened the store in Mjøndalen in 1989, is standing in front of Kiwi’s front door after being inside and shopping. He greets everyone who comes in and goes out, and he likes to stand and talk to some of them for a while. He’s been retired for a couple of years, but he visits the store every day and likes to do a few rounds and pick up the shopping carts that are out while he’s there.
– Do you know all the customers here?
– Yes. He smiles a little when he answers.
– It’s not far, at least.
– Often long distance in the store, you have always greeted customers, long before the store employees took a course to learn how to say “hello.” Was it a sales tactic?
– No, probably not. I have always loved my customers and they deserve to be respected when they enter my store. So it is natural to greet them properly.
– Greet customers has been a matter of course, without having to learn it in the courses, says Vidar Holtlien, who opened the store in 1989.
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Ends after 31 years
These days, Kiwi and the Holtlien family are about to part ways. The disagreement over parts of the way that has been happening has been there for a long time, but now it has escalated and divorce is near. It is not yet clear what final and new agreement will be made between Kiwi and Vidar Holtlien, owner of the franchise contract in Mjøndalen. There are six years left on the agreement, but it may end at the end of the year.
– I can confirm that Inge Holtlien cannot continue as store manager with the conditions that he himself still wants, says regional manager Reiulf Thorsen. He has overall responsibility for the management of 65 Kiwi stores in the Oslofjord region.
– If Vidar Holtlien chooses to continue as a driver after the turn of the year, can he himself hire a new store manager?
– Then Kiwi will be of great help in hiring a new one, says Reiulf Thorsen, who otherwise will not comment on this conflict, at least not until a new agreement is signed.
Kiwi Regional Manager, Reiulf Thorsen. Kiwi Photo Press.
“I hope we can get out of this without slamming the door behind us,” says senior Holtlien, who had shop work as a lifestyle with his son Inge all these years.
– The type of feelings that I will have after this difficult period depends on how the final agreement between us and Kiwi will be, he says. And I want the store that we have opened and managed for three decades in Mjøndalen to continue to function well.
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Attention should also be paid to the bottom shelf of the store. It goes beyond the knees.
Success in Mjøndalen
Kiwi was founded in 1979 by Tor Kirkeng, Henning Kirkeng, and Svein Wike. The first store was in Hokksund on Øvre Eiker. Ten years later, when they had six stores, they bought the building for the Mjøndalen cooperative and announced a franchise. Vidar applied and obtained the contract.
– At that time, I bought what was left of the cooperative’s salable goods and for a while I had remnants of the “blue-white” products for cooperation as part of the range. We had a turnover of around five million crowns in the first half of the year, recalls Vidar, which is equivalent to nine and a half million in 2019. In comparison, the turnover in Mjøndalen for a whole year last year was 130 million, which gave it a fourth place on the Kiwi chain. .
The cooperative building in Mjøndalen was demolished in 2011, and Kirkeng Eiendom, named after the Ki part of Kiwi, built Torgkvartalet, which provided space for a large new store and many apartments. The Holtlien family also had a stake there, but they were sold three years ago.
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Social commitment
Inge Holtlien (48) says that the disagreement with the management of the Kiwi group affects many points.
– One is how many employees we will have. We have more than other Kiwi stores of the same size, with the philosophy that customers shouldn’t have to queue for long, and that we should be the best at service. We have brought products to customers who cannot go to the store by themselves, and Kiwi does not want us to go there. We have sponsored culture in Mjøndalen with NOK 15 million during these thirty years, and the Kiwi management does not want us to continue that, says Inge.
– We wanted to honor the passionate attitude that characterizes those who lead teams and associations, and which is absolutely crucial for the maintenance of cultural life, says Inge and continues:
– We believe that it is important to contribute to the local community, and not our goal is to earn as much money as possible in the short term; our business ambition has been to be able to last a long time and grow slowly. There are still six years left from our current franchise agreement with Kiwi, but now Kiwi is more likely to take over the store by the end of the year, he says.
Robert Piros, Nedre Eiker Children’s and Youth Theater:
– Without the support of Kiwi in Mjøndalen, we would not have been able to build what we are today. We have the largest cultural representations in the Eiker villages, where we involve 100 people and 150 are on the waiting list to join. What Kiwi’s contribution to Mjøndalen has meant is absolutely invaluable. We have received both direct financial support and very affordable goods at events where we have had food and beverage sales during the break. I hardly dare to think about what the sponsorship interruption will mean for our operations in the future.
Anne-Line Lorentzen, Mjøndalen and Steinberg School Body:
– This is really sad. Kiwi’s goodwill in Mjøndalen has been fantastic, in every way. It has been wonderful to be received in such a pleasant way when we have asked for something, never not for lottery prizes, I always support the cafeteria in our markets, always an annual sum of money that has not been allocated to anything special in our operation . That the Kiwi chain does not vitiate the attitudes of the drivers of this store, instead of taking away the joy of being an active part of the local community, is incomprehensible.
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Long days
Inge Holtlien has had a 90 hour work week for several years.
– I enjoyed doing this. The growth we have experienced and customer feedback has been a huge driving force. In addition, this year it will break all sales records. My wife and I don’t have kids, but it couldn’t have gone on like this indefinitely, he admits.
– I could have gone last Friday, but I found out I wanted to stay a little longer. It didn’t go past Sunday, so I abruptly ended it. I’ve just been looking forward to quitting for a while, but I don’t have to feel very good to feel sad about what has happened …
He’s excited about what life will be like when it now changes from “one hundred to zero” overnight.
– It’s a little scary, yes. I currently have no new career plans, and this is the only thing I can, since I have been here since I was 17 years old. Do I have a hobby? No … there hasn’t been time for that. As well as building bigger things out of Lego, great Disney castles and such! And yes, I have commissioned some more advanced projects from there, which I hope will arrive soon.
– The only hobby I’ve had time for is building in Lego. Now I have more time for that, says Inge Holtlien.
Following publication, Regional Manager Reiulf Thorsen in Kiwi wishes to give this answer:
“We do not recognize ourselves in the image drawn in the Fremtiden newspaper. We can confirm that there are discussions about the future ownership and operation of KIWI Mjøndalen. This is not uncommon in the context of generational change and nothing has been decided.
We partner with Vidar Holtlien, who is the store’s franchisee. KIWI has had a good collaboration with him for over 30 years, and discussions about a possible change of ownership have been orderly and constructive on both sides. There has been no conflict, as the newspaper claims.
Regardless of whether our stores are owned by a franchise or KIWI, we want to be visible and contribute to the local community. ”
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