It only took a few hours. From being Sweden's largest e-cig chain, with 7 physical stores in central Sweden and thousands of customers, there was no more. All but two Cigge stores closed with immediate effect on 14 January 2025.
"I found out in the car on the way to work in the morning. By the evening of the next day, we had emptied the entire store. I was pretty worn out, you could say." says Mathias Norman, store manager at Cigge store in Västerås.
Mathias Norman has been the store manager of Cigge in Västerås since the store opened in 2019. And there was nothing to suggest that the shop would not be around for another six years. E-cigarettes are popular and although disposable modelsr available everywhere these days, many people have also become more curious about the more advanced vejp productsr that Cigge sells in its shops. Refillable, rechargeable systems. Cheaper, more environmentally friendly. And so on.
But somewhere along the line, things went wrong.
"To say that I'm a little bitter at the management is probably being diplomatic, right now," says Mathias Norman, who in addition to his job as store manager also writes chronicles in Vejpkollen.
Part of a major initiative on harm reduction
Eurobrand Distribution AB, which operates the Cigge stores, was recently sold to the Norwegian/Swedish group Harm Reduction Group. A big deal, at least relative to the Swedish and Nordic markets. Cigge, with its local distribution and above all its many physical stores, would be one of three legs of a venture into smokeless nicotine products in Sweden, Norway and the UK.
First real job for many
Now, two years later, the business is up for sale with a co-course manager in Stockholm. A long way from the head office in Borlänge and just as far from the idea of helping smokers away from cigars. The proximity factor and the local customer contact on it have always been vejpshoppers' strong cards, not least for the Cigge shops. Not infrequently it is previous customers who have been employed in the shops.
"For many of our employees, Cigge was their first real job. They are vejpers who started working here because they love the technology and wanted to help others succeed in quitting smoking. Some of them have been working here for almost 10 years and many of them are obviously very sad today" says the HR and Legal Manager Victor Bryn-Jensen to Vejpkollen when we talk about the situation a few days after the bankruptcy announcement.
Unexpected losses and a burglary
For many, the news came as a bolt from the blue. At the same time, Victor Bryn Jensen sees certain trends in the rear-view mirror. Some failed investments, the shaky market with complicated product categories (disposable cigars) that used to be more exclusive in ecig shops and are now everywhere. And then.a major break-in where the company lost half a million worth of disposable models last year.
"The company did not get much of the actual value. Nicotine products are considered equivalent to smoking tobacco as far as insurance is concerned - so it was a lump sum in the end" says Victor Bryn Jensen.
"Tried to the last"
The situation was further complicated when Eurobrands Distribution was forced to buy back a bleeding subsidiary (Eurobrands Electronics) after the sale was cancelled by the authorities. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that the banks would no longer provide credit for Eurobrands Distribution. Bankruptcy was a fact.
"We tried to the last to find a solution but when the banks say no, there's not much we can do," said Petter Strömberg, Eurobrand's founder and now CEO of owner Harm Reduction Group AB in a press release last week.
Valuable skills in the labour market
In true HR spirit, we try to Victor Bryn-Jensen at least see something positive in the situation.
"If there's a silver lining to all this, it's that it might give some people a reason to find something better. Many of us "grew up" at Cigge and learnt a lot about how shops and customer contacts work. We learn to take care of people according to their own needs. These are skills that are very valuable in today's labour market". says Victor Bryn Jensen who has applied for a job in the prison service.
Affects the whole industry
Parts of the basic Eurobrands concept remain in place. Business to business sales, run by sister company Eurobrands AB, will continue. But it is a small part of the business. Around 50 people are exempt from work and a few are toiling away in the two stores that remain open, in Borlänge and Uppsala. Online, there is a mad scramble to sell goods, all to raise money for banks, lenders and - ultimately - other companies who are left with invoices for delivered goods. Eurobrand's bankruptcy is likely to affect many small business owners in the relatively small e-cigarette industry in Sweden. After all, the company was the largest in Sweden.
"The plans are to maintain as much of the business as possible and to sell all or part of it within a month" says Niklas Emthén, lawyer at the law firm Lindskog and Malmström, which has been appointed to handle the bankruptcy of Eurobrand Distribution.
Hoping for a quick sale
Niklas Emthén says that this type of bankruptcy must be handled quickly. "For a short period, one month, certain rules apply that keep costs down, and it is important that as much as possible happens in that short time.
"We decided to close five out of seven stores and focus on keeping sales going as much as possible. Then we'll see what happens. It is not impossible that an interested party will buy all or part of the store business."
Refers to the website
But for the 50 or so 1TP8 workers made redundant, three months' notice applies. The county council acts as a guarantor for the wages. Then it stops.
"Many people have been knocking on the windows, wondering what's going on. Customers are naturally surprised and disappointed. There are not many physical stores that offer anything other than disposables today and we can only encourage people to buy online at the moment. There are also other sites than Cigge to visit in the future." Says Viktor Bryn-Jensen.
Cigge is currently keeping its shops open in its home town of Borlänge and Uppsala.
Karlstad, Örebro, Västerås, Norrköping, Lindköping and Farsta are closed until further notice.
Reds note:
Vejpkollen has contacted Harm Reduction Group's CEO Petter Strömberg for further comment without success. A week after the publication of this article, the parent company also announced Harm Reduction Group to file for bankruptcy.
