Retail throughout the year BOLIA accelerates expansion Following its ambitious expansion strategy, design brand BOLIA continues to open new stores. In the past financial year, eight new stores across five different countries welcomed customers to BOLIA’s world of new Scandinavian design. New BOLIA stores in FY24 • Leipzig, Germany • Dresden, Germany • Brussels (La Bourse), Belgium • Paris (Victor Hugo), France • Wiesbaden, Germany • Madrid (Goya), Spain • Melbourne, Australia • Seville, Spain BOLIA Brussels, La Bourse During the financial year 2023/24, BOLIA opened several new stores across Germany, France, Spain, and Belgium - and in June of 2024, the first BOLIA design store was opened in Australia in the city of Melbourne. Australia is the second new market, which BOLIA has entered recently. It was only last year, in March 2023, that BOLIA opened its very first Spanish store in the heart of Barcelona, which also marked store no. 80 for BOLIA. Since then, two new stores in Spain have been opened in Madrid and Seville respectively and another store will open in Malaga. The Malaga-store is particularly special, as it will be one of the biggest BOLIA stores worldwide: “The new store in Malaga will be our flagship store in Spain encompassing 720 square meters. It will be located in the presti- gious Atocha building, an architectural masterpiece envisioned by the famous Spanish architect and Nobel laureate Rafael Moneo. The store will be complemented by an additional 300 square meters of exclusive rooftop terrace overviewing the vibrant city´s beautiful harbor,” says Lars Lyse Hansen, CEO of BOLIA. With growth as a declared and permanent goal, there is much more to come for BOLIA. After several successful store openings, BOLIA will thus continue its expansion in Spain as well as other European countries. “In addition to our flagship store in Malaga, new BOLIA stores will open in both Marbella and Mallorca in the financial year to come. Furthermore, we will accelerate our store expansion plans in France, Germany, and Switzerland and expand our global whole- sale platform and online sales activities during the coming year,” Lars Lyse Hansen says. MANAGEMENT'S REVIEW RETAIL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR LARS LARSEN GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 | PAGE 39
Retail throughout the year New CEO of ILVA: Meet Kim Møller Mønster “It is deeply rooted in me that I want to drive things forward.” Becoming the CEO of ILVA is a dream come true for Kim Møller Mønster. Armed with a competitive mindset, a passion for leadership, and a strong family base he is determined to move the nationwide furniture chain into the future, aiming to elevate and solidify the brand's position even further. Kim Møller Mønster grew up north of Ringkøbing, almost as far west as you can go in Denmark. His father ran a cattle farm, his mother was a teacher and early on, Kim Møller Mønster learned about the importance of making an effort: “When I came home from school, I helped out on the farm and discovered the value of creating something together as a family. Something I also wish to pass on to my own children. Coming from West Jutland, I probably also carry a humbleness with me and a desire to prove my worth which is part of my drive today,” Kim Møller Mønster reflects. Though it was expected that Kim Møller Mønster would eventual- ly take over the family farm, he was never drawn to the lifestyle of a farmer. Instead, he knew he wanted to pursue management as a career path; a passion that was sparked at a young age through the world of sports. ”Management has always appealed to me. My interest arose from coaching handball, which I did from the age of 12 and which continued to be a part of my life for many years where I coached divisions handball and high-level youth handball. Taking on leadership responsibilities and being able to set a direction and make decisions that affect the game and its outcome has always intrigued me, and I have carried that over into my professional career,” Kim Møller Mønster explains. Kim Møller Mønster, CEO of ILVA A dream job In addition to management, Kim Møller Mønster discovered a pas- sion for retail early on, which led him to spend 12 years working in the BESTSELLER-organisation and five years with the design brand BOLIA, which was his first encounter with Lars Larsen Group. When the opportunity of becoming CEO of ILVA and thereby rejoining the Group presented itself, he knew he had to take it. “CEO of ILVA is a dream job for me. I think ILVA is fantastic. It has a great history, it is well-known for its design and inspiration, and it has a strong sales platform. At the same time, I still see tremendous potential in ILVA in terms of finetuning the customer journey and strengthening our storytelling on all our touchpoints. Overall, it is a great match with my competences,” Kim Møller Mønster says. He started in ILVA in April 2024 and spent the first few months getting to know the organisation. A time he describes as energetic and exciting: ”I quickly found, that the culture in ILVA is very open and I was given a warm welcome. This made it easy for me to get acquainted with the business and understand its various components. From the stores to the head office everyone was happy and proud to tell me about their work and help me understand it better. This created a great foundation for me to look into our processes and how they connect and could be optimised and refined,” he says. MANAGEMENT'S REVIEW RETAIL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR LARS LARSEN GROUP | ANNUAL REPORT 2023/24 | PAGE 40