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
Woodie's DIY DIY proceeded to perform strongly as growth in house prices increased the need for residential repair and maintenance. Woodie's DIY Woodie's DIY is an Irish DIY and home improvement retailing company. Founded in 1987 in Walkinstown, Dublin and opening the first store in the same year, it is a part of Grafton Group plc. Woodie's DIY is a nationwide company, having over thirty stores in Ireland. It merged with Atlantic Homecare in 2005, with all Atlantic Homecare stores being rebranded as Woodie's. The company was founded in the summer of 1987, and the first store opened in Walkinstown under the