Private company

Gekås

Superstore in Ullared, Sweden

Gekås Ullared AB is a Swedish superstore in Ullared, Sweden, founded in 1963 by Göran Karlsson as Ge-kås Manufaktur. It had an annual turnover of SEK 4.2 billion in 2010, with a total store area of over 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) in addition to a 50,000 m2 (540,000 sq ft) storage area just a few hundred yards away. In 2013, Malin Helde became CEO of the store, while Boris Lennerhov became CEO of the parent company.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1963Founded1
  • Industryretail1
  • HeadquartersUllared1
  • Websitewww.gekas.com
  • Legal formAktiebolag3
  • LEI213800K6CPZKT8UFUN913
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressULLARED, FALKENBERG KOMMUN, 311 85 Falkenberg, Sweden3
  • Registered withSwedish Companies Registration Office, 55639908773
Gekås Ullared
Photo: Gaisjonke, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Gekås Ullared AB is a Swedish superstore in Ullared, Sweden, founded in 1963 by Göran Karlsson as Ge-kås Manufaktur. It had an annual turnover of SEK 4.2 billion in 2010, with a total store area of over 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) in addition to a 50,000 m2 (540,000 sq ft) storage area just a few hundred yards away. In 2013, Malin Helde became CEO of the store, while Boris Lennerhov became CEO of the parent company. The store is visited annually by approximately 4.5 million customers, with the 2007 record of 26,200 for a single day, and the average customer travelling 150 km to get to the store. The store has recently opened a camping ground and a motel to accommodate long-distance travellers. It has been known for avoiding conventional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth. For three years starting in 2011, a reality television series, Ullared, was filmed in and around the store. It aired in both Norway and Sweden.2

The story

Founded by Göran Karlsson in 1963.1

1963 – Store founded in Ullared by Göran Karlsson.

1967 – The store moves to a bigger building.

1971 – The store changes location again, to its current location.

1991 – Göran Karlsson sells the company to "six of his closest employees".

2003 – The market court forbids Göran Karlsson, who had started a competing business, from using the word "Ullared" in his marketing.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gekås, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led Gekås, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

Beyond the continuously expanded shopping center, Gekås operates Sweden's largest all-year-round campground. A lake for swimming with fountain is located in short walking distance from the campground and the huge parking lot.

The parking lot, with 3200 spaces, is considered Sweden's largest parking lot.

In recent years, Gekås has built a car museum (now closed and marketed as a convention center), a motel, and a business hotel. On the road towards Ätran on the outskirt of Ullared is a warehouse with additional parking and a dog kindergarten. Buses are run between the different locations for the transportation of shoppers.

The former museum showed Göran Karlsson's car collection, where a DeLorean as in the motion picture "Back to the Future" was used, was part of the collection.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gekås, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1963Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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