Abacus gathers force towards new goals and opportunities
Abacus Sportswear, the successful fashion company from Lund gathers force to exploit the potential in the positive development of the last few years. Founder and current MD Sven-Olof Karlsson now takes on the full-time role as strategy, concept and market developer.
”We have enormously interesting openings and opportunities around the world to take care of. And we must act now. To do this I need to free myself from the operational side and devote all my energy to the strategic work.” Says Sven-Olof Karlsson.
The recruitment process to find a new MD has started. In the meantime Chris Mattsson, head of design will be acting MD.
AbacusSportswear has in the last ten years grown from being a fledgling in the Swedish golf fashion market to
an internationally established brand in sports and fashion. The combination of high quality design with qualified functionality has reaped great success in both Europe and North America. During the last year abacus® has firmly established itself in Asia, with a flagship store in South Korea.
Partnership with a long list of elite players and leading organisations within golf has been an important ingredient in the building of the brand. The Solheim Cup’s European team has chosen abacus® as well as several European golf federations. Partnership with the Ryder Cup and Nordea Masters is the latest acknowledgment of the strong position abacus® has in the golf world.
”We have in a relatively short time gone from being a small family firm, where everyone did everything, to an international company where we need to react professionally in all ways and functions. This current reorganisation is a step towards sharpening our position and opportunities,” says Sven-Olof Karlsson and continues,
”Success breeds success, but not without looking forward. And that is what I am going to concentrate on now.”
For Chris Mattsson the new role as acting MD is not especially dramatic. She has worked as head of design for Abacus Sportswear for 10 years and is well acquainted with all the company’s operations.
”As head of design you have to co-ordinate everything from fashion statements and production planning to marketing and brand building, and I feel extremely confident with the competence and the support we have built up in the company. We have a strong base to stand on and it will be great fun to move on to the next level,” she says.
Henrik Treschow, chairman of the board at Abacus Sportswear, concludes:
”To work actively with future issues is just as important as keeping the daily business running forward. By strengthening competence and gathering force in strategic areas abacus® can take the next step into the future.”