Viking Direct

Last updated
Viking Office International BV
Type Private limited company and subsidiary of Office Depot Europe
Industry Office supplies
Founded1960
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
FounderRolf Ostern
HeadquartersVenlo, Netherlands
Area served
Europe
Key people
Danièle Rose Marcovici

Alexandre Francois Jean Charpy

Alain Dominique Francois Josse
ProductsPrint supplies, paper and mailing, technology, furniture, and writing instruments
Revenue€2.4 billion
Number of employees
1,300
Parent Office Depot (1998–2016)
Aurelius Group (2016–2021)
The RAJA Group (2021–present)
Website www.viking-direct.co.uk

Viking is an omni-channel[ clarification needed ] office supplies company selling a broad range of office supplies varying from stationery to furniture, breakroom and catering essentials. It has its European headquarters in Venlo, Netherlands, along with offices in Leicester, United Kingdom, and a service center in Cluj, Romania serving all regions where Viking operates. Additionally, Viking has two distribution centers in Großostheim, Germany serving DACH and Benelux regions, and Leicester, United Kingdom, serving United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1960 in Los Angeles, California, US, Viking currently has operations in eight countries, and employs over 1,500 employees.

Contents

History

Viking began in 1960, as a small office supply retailer located in Los Angeles, California. The store was opened on January 7, 1960, by Rolf Ostern. Ostern supplemented the retail operation with a catalogue, and this would become the primary marketing technique of the company. In 1969, Ostern changed the name of his store to Viking Office Supplies and moved to a new location.[2]

By the mid-1970s, Viking had established itself as a West Coast mail order retailer of discount office supplies to small and medium sized businesses. At that time, the company began a geographic expansion.

Irwin Helford became chairman in 1984, and his photo appeared on the cover of Viking catalogues for many years.[3]

On September 1, 1988, Viking was sold in a leveraged buyout to VOP Acquisition Corporation, founded by Viking's management and Dillon Read & Company. In December 1989, VOP merged into its subsidiary, Viking Office Products, ahead of the company's IPO.

The company made its first move overseas in September 1990. Under the name Viking Direct in Europe, they first began assisting companies in their adjustment from paper to computer. At that time, Viking established a United Kingdom subsidiary, Viking Direct Limited, and opened a facility in Leicester, United Kingdom. In making this move, Viking hoped to gain a toehold in the European Economic Community before the planned unification of that market. In a short span of time, Viking Direct became the largest reseller of office supplies in the United Kingdom. In 1995, Viking founded its subsidiaries in Netherlands, Germany, and Ireland, and later expanded its presence with the establishment of an Austrian subsidiary in 1997. Subsequent years saw the addition of subsidiaries in Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France.

In May 1998, Viking Office Products merged with Office Depot. The following year the company began to move online, launching an e-commerce site www.viking-direct.co.uk[4] and subsequently websites in other countries. For a short period, they also operated as a standalone European business. In May 2016, following a failed merger with Staples,[5] Office Depot Inc. agreed to sell its European business, including Viking, to Aurelius Group for an undisclosed purchase price.[6]

In November 2021, Aurelius sold the business to The RAJA Group.[7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office Depot</span> American office supply holding company

Office Depot, Inc. is an American office supply retailer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company operates 1,400 retail stores in the United States under the Office Depot and OfficeMax brands, as well as e-commerce sites and a business-to-business sales organization. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 people in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staples Inc.</span> American multinational office supply retailing corporation

Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryman</span> Stationery retail company

Ryman is a stationery retail company with 205 outlets nationwide in the United Kingdom. The website and stores provide a wide range of stationery and office supplies for homes and businesses, with its headquarters in Crewe, Cheshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardware store</span> Store that sells household hardware for home improvement

Hardware stores, sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, housewares, tools, utensils, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for use at home or for business. Many hardware stores have specialty departments unique to its region or its owner's interests. These departments include hunting and fishing supplies, plants and nursery products, marine and boating supplies, pet food and supplies, farm and ranch supplies including animal feed, swimming pool chemicals, homebrewing supplies and canning supplies. The five largest hardware retailers in the world are The Home Depot, Lowe's, Kingfisher of the United Kingdom, Obi of Germany, and Leroy Merlin of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Very Group</span> Online retailer

The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 as a result of the merger of the former Littlewoods and Shop Direct companies. The retailer was known as Littlewoods Shop Direct Group until a corporate rebranding to Shop Direct Group in May 2008. In 2013, the company rebranded to Shop Direct, dropping the 'group' from its name. Shop Direct rebranded themselves to The Very Group in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OfficeMax</span> American office supplies retailer

OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. As an independent chain, it was the third-largest office supply retailer in the United States. Following a 2013 merger, it is currently a brand and subsidiary of Office Depot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GUS (retailer)</span> Former British retail, manufacturing and finance conglomerate

GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the Glorious Gussies amongst stockbrokers. The company started out as Universal Stores, a mail order business created by the Rose family. In 1931, Isaac Wolfson joined the mail order company and would, through a series of takeovers, turn it into a retail, manufacturing and financial conglomerate, becoming Europe's biggest mail order firm and with over 2,700 physical stores. His son, Leonard Wolfson, followed him as chairman, to be succeeded by his nephews David Wolfson (1996–2000) and Victor Barnett (2000–2002). During the 1980s, the business divested much of its physical retail and manufacturing subsidiaries under Leonard Wolfson to concentrate on mail order, property and finance. In October 2006, the company was split into two separate companies: Experian which continues to exist, and Home Retail Group which was bought by Sainsbury's in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Officeworks</span> Australian office supply store chain owned by Wesfarmers

Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores operated under parent company Wesfarmers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arriva Midlands East</span> British bus company operating in Leicestershire

Arriva Midlands East is a bus company operating services in Leicestershire, England. It is a trading division of Arriva Midlands which is a subsidiary of Arriva plc which is itself owned by the government of Germany through Deutsche Bahn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parcelforce</span> Courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom

Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom. Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of the Royal Mail, which is a subsidiary of International Distributions Services, and is organised within the UK Parcels, International and Letters division of the group. The company delivers to destinations worldwide, using an international partner network. Parcelforce Worldwide is a provider of express delivery services covering 99.6% of the world's population, with over 6500 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skagen Denmark</span> Brand, initially of watches, of Skagen Designs Ltd. (a subsidiary of Fossil)

Skagen Denmark is a brand, initially of watches, of Skagen Designs Ltd., that has grown into being a wider American contemporary accessories brand based on Danish design. As of spring 2015, its product lines include watches, handbags, jewelry, and other durable personal goods, the majority of which aimed at the mid-range. Named for Skagen, a Jutland peninsula and Denmark's northernmost town, Skagen Designs Ltd. was purchased in 2012 by Fossil, for stock and cash in transaction totaling approximately US$237 million, and it continues to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under its parent, continuing the traditional brand name Skagen Denmark. Starting in New York, then in Lake Tahoe and Reno, Nevada, Skagen Designs Ltd. operations are overseen from Richardson, Texas, near Dallas, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Home Depot Pro</span> U.S. wholesale distributor

The Home Depot Pro, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is a wholesale distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products for non-industrial businesses in the United States. The Home Depot Pro distributes products such as HVAC, janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, and security supplies.

The Sytner Group Ltd is a car dealership company headquartered in Leicester, United Kingdom.

Misco Technologies Limited is an online retailer based in the United Kingdom. It was formerly an IT brand whose ownership was split between Hilco Capital Limited and Systemax. Misco also operated in Germany until their German operations were sold to CANCOM SE in July 2016.

Kaleidoscope is a catalogue and online based retailer specialising in women’s fashion and accessories, but also stocking homewear and electricals. Kaleidoscope is owned by Freemans Grattan Holdings, which is in turn owned by Otto GmbH – one of the largest retailers in the world with over 50,000 employees at 123 companies across more than 20 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daler-Rowney</span>

Daler-Rowney Ltd is an English art materials manufacturer based in Bracknell. The company, a subsidiary of conglomerate F.I.L.A. Group, manufactures and commercialises a wide range of artist products such as Acrylic, oil, watercolor, brushes, charcoal, pastel, color pencils, and papers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Poulsen</span> Danish lighting design and manufacturing company founded in 1874

Louis Poulsen is a Danish lighting manufacturer that was founded in 1874. Louis Poulsen Lighting is represented by subsidiaries, distribution offices and agents around the world. Their key sales regions are Scandinavia, Europe, Japan and United States. Some of Louis Poulsen's best designers were Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen. Some of their signature products are the PH-Lamps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calumet Photographic</span>

Calumet Photographic, Inc., often shortened to Calumet Photo and formerly known as Calumet Manufacturing Company, is a photographic retail and photofinishing specialty store, originally headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, the company owned and operated a chain of 32 locations worldwide. The company had 15 locations in the United States, 8 in the United Kingdom, 6 in Germany, 2 in the Netherlands and 1 in Belgium, with 200 employees and an annual revenue of $10 million.

Aurelius Group is an investment company with offices in five European countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office supply retailing</span>

Office supply retailing is the commercial trade of stationery and other office supplies.

References