Jon Asgeir Johannesson, the former boss of now-bankrupt Baugur Group is preparing to open a three-store chain of low cost supermarkets in London.
The stores are going to be called Best Price. According to Vidskiptabladid, a search is underway to find suitable retail space for the shops.
The paper states that the idea is to build the chain in the same manner as Iceland’s Bonus chain was started in 1989 by Jon Asgeir and his father, Johannes Jonsson. Bonus’s humble beginnings were the starting point for the precipitous rise and fall of the Baugur Group which would end up buying much of the UK high street on credit and going bankrupt along with the Icelandic banks doling out the cash.
Bonus is still bt far Iceland’s biggest chain of supermarkets and is still closely linked to its founders even after the parent company was taken over and sold on by Arion Bank. At the beginning Bonus did not accept credit cards and paid all its suppliers up front and has since grown to its dominant position by offering consistently low prices.
Best Price Foods ltd has been a registered UK company since last June, but was originally called Bonus Foods ltd. According to the registry of UK businesses, the CEO of Best Price is Hordur Logi Hafsteinsson; a former Baugur employee who has previously worked with Jon Asgeir Johannesson and Gunnar Sigurdsson on projects in London.
The company is registered at 413 Oxford Street at the same address as JMS Partners ltd, which is a company owned by Jon Asgeir, Gunnar Sigurdsson and Donald McCarthy, president of House of Fraser department stores.
Just three? Poor guy…:)
And where did he get the money from to finance this?
Why aren’t these two snakes in prison by now?
And why are they permitted to conduct any sort of business?
Or keep any of their money for that matter?
Bah!
Amazing,
thousands of families in Iceland lost their homes, cars, scholarships and they have nothing left but debts and no jobs. And this guy the poor guys (like songvari says) has the money and chance to open chains in UK?. He is one of the responsible of all those families’ tragedies, but he is able to keep playing the tycoon role. Man, he must be at least in the same situation as everyone else, no money, no job, and a heavy debt.AT LEAST
Beautiful
MODERATOR
I OWN THREE SMALL SHOPS IN NEW YORK. CAN YOU PUBLISH AN ARTICLE ABOUT ME?
THE TITTLE WOULD BE:
“FORMER FOREIGNER OPENS INNOVATIVE BUSINESS. GOT RICH THANKS TO ICELANDIC RUIN.”
OR: “ICELANDIC GREED MAKES MODEST FOREIGNER A RICH MAN”
wowwww what the hell they were thinking are they trying to tell the people that all of the busenes man who owes can get away to their debt what a lucky people….and the public people loss all the things that they try to work at in a good way of living….hmmmmm
Jon Asgeir Johannesson does not need any money to start just about any business he might want to, but especially a low-cost grocery business he could find backers to support him venturing into. He has what is called a “track-record” of competence managing businesses. He appears to have a reputation for honesty, too.
In the business world the jealous, the outraged, the sour-grapers, the ignorant, the upset and pettish, and all the rest, are shrugged off. They are told to go somewhere else, to do it their way for themselves. Competence is what is bankable. It is what is trustable. Investors and venture supporters, the real ones, look for bankable.
Iceland has so much wealth of capability and resources it could shrug off and throw away all that was built up by those who were building when Lehman and Lehman-like players made havoc in the economies of all nations around the world. Icelanders could afford to indulge in blaming and hating and driving away from Iceland the geese that had been laying its golden eggs. Icelanders really have no legitimate complaints to make today when others pick up the talents they threw away.
Ah! hocuspocus
Lucky man
stash away
lotto money
… in England .. ?
OBS.: Strange in Iceland ones bankrupt you can always
change commercial name and established another
business.Legal.
“He has what is called a “track-record” of competence managing businesses”
Bargur Group. Great track record!
” Icelanders really have no legitimate complaints to make today when others pick up the talents they threw away.”
ROLF!!!!
Blip!! Blip!!
” Amazing,
thousands of families in Iceland lost their homes, cars, scholarships and they have nothing left but debts and no jobs.”
And what is the nation doing? nothing pay, pay, pay, banks get deb cuts, the dont lose everything because the state comes to the rescue but the slaves… let them pay, if they dont complaint it must mean that they like what is going on. that “I ” ( the bank) lost your 50 million ISK on bonds, well sorry! !, but you pay the deb that has triple. No saviour for you sheeple just pay!!!
That you lose your house? no worries, my pals or I will buy it cheaper than what you pay for and rent it to you for a little bit less than what you were originally paying for it. And on , and on , and on….