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– Driving rules that simply border on insanity, says Sylvi Listhaug (Frp).
STAVANGER (Nettavisen Økonomi 🙂 – It is very special to visit a Biltema store without buying any items related to the car, says Sylvi Listhaug.
The deputy director of the Progress Party has gone to the Biltema department store in Forus, which the Nordic group has managed since March. Listhaug shakes his head as he listens to Biltema boss Dag Bergby’s fight for a chance to sell his wares.
Biltema on Forus can only sell construction materials and tools, which make up about a third of the group’s products. The Swedish chain is not authorized to sell products related to cars, bicycles, boats, leisure, offices, multimedia, etc.
MATCH: General Manager Dag Bergby at Biltema Norway has finished arguing with the county governor. Now he hopes the government will listen.
Photo: Magnus Ekeli Mullis
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Lose hundreds of customers and a large chunk of revenue
The conflict can be summarized as follows:
- The parcel on which Biltema has been established is regulated for the so-called “space-consuming commerce”. The Forus zoning plan states that the site can be used for trade in building materials. Retail stores will be added in areas close to the city center to strengthen cities and towns, and get fewer people to choose a car.
- Stavanger politicians initially gave Biltema a waiver to offer their full range. But that was before the Rogaland County Governor complained about the decision to politicians and Biltema’s request was rejected.
- Biltema appealed the decision and the West Norway County Governor was appointed to assess the case as External County Governor. Here too Biltema was rejected.
Now, the head of Biltema, Bergby, will go to the Ministry of Local Government and Modernization, where Nikolai Astrup (H) is minister. FRP politician Roy Steffensen sent a written question to Astrup on the matter on Thursday.
Today, Biltema in Stavanger has between 600 and 700 clients every day, but is equipped to receive five times as many. General Manager Bergby’s Nordic colleagues hardly believe what they hear when the Norwegian manager tells them about situations where customers have to go to department stores in Jæren, because department stores in Stavanger cannot keep the merchandise inside.
THE CATALOG: Dag Bergby, General Manager of Biltema Norge, flips through a selection of the products he is not authorized to sell, including car care, boats, offices, motorcycles and multimedia.
Photo: Magnus Ekeli Mullis
Staffing is based on turnover, and Biltema’s 20 or so employees in Stavanger could quickly get 30 to 40 new colleagues if the chain could sell all of the catalog items, according to Bergby. The case may have consequences on where Biltema will place new warehouses in the future.
– As an international and Nordic group, it is clear that you choose the path of least resistance. It is easier to choose to build in Sweden, Denmark and Finland than in Norway, and development will be then, says Bergby.
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– Regelrytteri
After a tour of the department store together with Biltema management and local FRP politicians, it is an astonished Sylvi Listhaug who puts on his jacket and heads out into the rain again.
– I’m rocked by a set of idiotic rules in this area here, and that we have county governors in the country that contribute to the fact that you can come in here and you won’t be allowed to buy a lot of products that Biltema really wants to sell. It’s pure molbo politics, Listhaug says.
She says it is shocking that neither the current Minister of Local Government and Modernization Nikolai Astrup (H) nor his predecessor Monica Mæland (H) intervened.
– This is the rule that borders on insanity, says Listhaug.
ANSWERS: – No, I really don’t think so. This is molbo politics at its worst, says Sylvi Listhaug (Frp) when asked if this could have happened elsewhere than in Norway.
Photo: Magnus Ekeli Mullis
She believes that it is obvious that Biltema will be able to sell all the items in her catalog and will therefore be able to hire accordingly.
– We are in a situation in Norway where thousands of people have been laid off, fear for their jobs or are out of work. And if Biltema had been allowed to receive the products they actually sell, more people could have been hired during the day, says the deputy FRP leader.
Local team leader Mats Danielsen (Frp) adds that local Stavanger politicians have greeted Biltema with a full range, and thinks it is strange that the county governor is ending the sale.
– Biltema’s biggest competitor is not online stores like Amazon or other chains in Forus, but the county governor in Rogaland and in western Norway, says Danielsen.
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He thinks Biltema will take retail out of the city center
Senior Advisor Arnt Erik Nordheim at Vestland County Governor notes that Biltema’s application for a department store with a full range was rejected two years ago, and that the reason even then was that the retail did not agree with the area plans adopted.
Nordheim points out that a waiver was subsequently granted for the construction of warehouses and therefore trade in space-consuming goods is allowed.
SORRY: Upon arrival at Biltema in Stavanger, customers are greeted with a gigantic explanation as to why only a third of the chain’s products are in department stores.
Photo: Magnus Ekeli Mullis
– The key to our refusal is that the development of large shopping centers in Forus affects the entire Stavanger region. The development of Forus has been a central theme in Regional Plan for Jæren 2050, where the consultation was finalized in June 2020. We conclude that we must await the decision of the city council, before considering expanding the product range for the Biltema construction department stores, writes Nordheim, which otherwise refers to the statement in the answer decision.
When asked if the Minister for Local Government and Modernization Nikolai Astrup (H) will take action in the case, the Minister responds by email to Nettavisen as follows:
– The county governor relates to the zoning plans adopted by the municipalities. If a municipality regulates a parcel for space-intensive commerce, then it is the county governor’s job to ensure that the municipality’s zoning plan is followed. Most of the time, parcels are regulated for space-intensive commerce to support shopping downtown in competition with car-based malls, Astrup writes.
YOU MUST ANSWER: Minister of Local Government and Modernization Nikolai Astrup (H).
Photo: Lise Åserud (NTB scanpix)
The Minister writes that he will respond to Frps Steffensen’s written question, and that he does not wish to comment further on the matter before then.
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