Clas Ohlson company was founded in 1918 by the technically minded Clas Ohlson (1895–1979), as a mail order business based in the Swedish village of Insjön, Dalarna. Initially, only manuals and technical literature were sold, thus allowing people who lived in rural communities to obtain literature that would otherwise be unavailable. He opened his first shop in Insjön in 1926, but it was not until 1989, when the company opened a store in a shopping centre in central Stockholm, that it expanded into the retail business. The first store outside Sweden was opened 1991 in Oslo in Norway and in 1999, the
Praxis (store) retail group. Current board member of Maxeda responsible for the DIY section is Nick Wilkinson. Praxis (store) Praxis, full name Praxis Doe-Het-Zelf Center B.V. ("Praxis Do-It-Yourself Centre B.V.") is a Dutch Hardware store-chain, with head-office in Diemen. The company started in 1978 in Venlo and as of 2009 it has 136 stores spread over the Netherlands of which 26 have an extended assortment, the so called "Megastores". Praxis employs about 5000 people. Praxis focusses on construction products and on decorative do-it-yourself products. It also supplies garden materials. It is known to the general public for its sponsoring of the RTL