Founder and Owner

Göran Karlsson founded Gekås Ullared in 1963. The department store was named after his initials, GeKås. For 28 years, Göran Karlsson built up and led the company that today is the largest department store in Sweden and Europe.

Ge-Kås Manufaktur

When the business started, it was called Firma Ge-Kås Manufaktur and the shop was located on the ground floor of a villa in Ullared. Initially, Göran Karlsson sold women’s cleaning coats and men’s car coats at excellent prices. However, the company was not a brilliant business at first, despite the shock prices of the advertisements. After two years, turnover was SEK 80,000, the same amount that today is paid in three minutes at the cash registers in the department store. In 1991, Göran Karlsson sold his company to six employees. Göran Karlsson was born in 1939 and died on July 26, 2004.

Ownership history

  • Founder in 1963 and owner until 1991 Göran Karlsson.
  • Owners from 1991 to 2004 Thomas Karlsson, Torbjörn Bäck, Håkan Janson, Kjell Andersson, Kent Gustafsson and Rolf “Lollo” Johansson. The price was SEK 130 million and the new owners paid SEK 21.6 million each for their shares.
  • Owners from 2004 to 2019 were Thomas Karlsson and Torbjörn Bäck.
  • In July 2019, Thomas bought out Torbjörn and is now the sole owner of the entire company.

an exciting journey

Our history

Here you can follow the history of Gekås. From the fortunate meeting with love that brought founder Göran Karlsson to Ullared and on through history to a yellow department store several football fields in size. New owners, record figures, bus stations, expansions, accommodation facilities, eateries, royal visits and TV series.

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