OUR HISTORY

Our story begins in 1958, when Sven Turesson founded his factory for metal hangers in the small Småland town of Gnosjö. A few years later, Austrian entrepreneur Franz Karner established his plastic hanger factory in Lidköping. Many years later, the life’s work of these two entrepreneurs would become Instore Agency—but the journey there is long and eventful.

Over the following three decades, the companies were run successfully, supplying the Nordic market with hangers. Both factories were progressive, and as early as 1973 Franz Karner began recycling plastic in the form of used Super 8 film cartridges. Their success was also rooted in the strong emphasis both men placed on quality and service.

“We have evolved from being a pure supplier into a partner that helps our customers with creative, tailor‑made solutions.”

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As the years passed, the Karner Group—as Franz Karner’s company was then called—was acquired in 1993 by the American company Batts Inc., at the time the world’s leading supplier of garment hangers. Just six years later, Batts was acquired by A&E Product, and the Karner Group became part of that acquisition.

In 2004, the Italian company Mainetti entered our story by forming a joint sales company with Turessons. In 2006, Mainetti further strengthened its position by acquiring A&E, bringing the paths of Karner and Turesson together for the first time.

In 2007, Mainetti merged Turessons and Karner, and through this fusion—where our current management took over—Nordic Hangers was created. The partnership with Mainetti remains strong, and today we are the exclusive license partner of Mainetti in the Nordic and Baltic markets.

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That same year, we expanded our offering to include environmentally friendly reusable non‑woven bags.

In 2009, we acquired the Danish company Lise Boejler, which became Nordic Hangers ApS. In the same year, we took over the production unit Europak in Poland, which became Nordic Hangers Sp. z o.o. To streamline production and improve working conditions, we closed the existing factory in Poland in 2011 and opened a new one.

In 2013, we launched Nordic Bags to clearly highlight our commitment to bags and gift packaging.

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To deliver even stronger solutions with a focus on dynamic in‑store visual merchandising, Nordic Hangers ApS initiated collaborations in 2015 with several leading mannequin suppliers.

Of course, much more has happened over the years. We have continued to broaden our offering, and today we provide everything from receipt paper and gift packaging to mannequins—and, of course, the world’s widest range of plastic hangers.

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Perhaps the most significant transformation, however, has taken place gradually over time and brought us to where we are today. We have evolved from being a pure supplier into a partner that supports you with creative, tailor‑made solutions. To clarify this shift, we initiated a branding process in 2016 that resulted in our name change to Instore Agency.

Despite the new name and refined focus, the legacy of Sven Turesson and Franz Karner lives on. Our factory remains in Gorzów, Poland, and maintaining the level of service and quality that made Sven and Franz so successful is still our most important mission.