Flying Tiger Copenhagen

Flying Tiger Copenhagen (formerly Tiger) is a Danish variety store chain.^[3][4] Its first shop opened in Copenhagen in 1995, and, as of 2023, the chain now has 931 shops across 42 countries. Its largest markets are Denmark, the UK, Italy, and Spain. According to the company's annual report, it had more than 93 million customers in 2023.^[1]

Flying Tiger Copenhagen

Flying Tiger storefront on Frederiksborggade in Copenhagen.
Company type	Privately held company
Industry	Retail
Founded	1995 (1995) in Copenhagen, Denmark
Founders	Lennart Lajboschitz (founder) Suzanne Lajboschitz (co-founder)
Headquarters	Copenhagen , Denmark
Number of locations	926[1]
Area served	Worldwide
Revenue	4.274 billion DKK (2023)[1]
Owner	Zebra A/S
Website	flyingtiger.com
Footnotes / references [2]

Before June 2016, it operated as Tiger (or Tiger Copenhagen) in most markets, as TGR in Sweden and Norway and as Flying Tiger Copenhagen (or just Flying Tiger) in Ireland, Japan, Belgium, and the Netherlands.^[5] Flying Tiger's name derives from similarities between the Danish pronunciation of the animal name tiger (IPA: [ˈtsʰiːɐ]) and the Danish word tier (IPA: [ˈtsʰiˀɐ]), used to denote a 10 kroner coin; in the first stores in Denmark, all items cost 10 kroner.^[6]

The chain sells a variety of items, mostly accessories and toys.^[7] The layout of its stores resemble mazes.^[8][1] Flying Tiger's former CEO, Mette Maix, said the format of the shop is designed to feel "like a treasure hunt" by adding at least 300 random, new items each month to the shop's selection.^[2]

History

Logo in some countries until June 2016

Tiger shop, Putney, London

In 1988, Lennart Lajboschitz and his wife Suzanne opened their first store, Zebra, in Copenhagen. The store sold surplus goods, umbrellas, and other accessories. In 1995, Lajboschitz opened the first Tiger storefront in Islands Brygge, Copenhagen.^[9][5][1]

In 2005, the company opened its first shop in the United Kingdom in Basingstoke, later followed by other parts in the United Kingdom. They no longer operate in Northern Ireland as of 2021 due to poor sales.^[10] In 2012, EQT Partners acquired a 70% stake in the company by investing in Flying Tiger's parent company Zebra A/S.^[11] In 2014, Tiger Stores Ireland won Company of the Year and Best Small Company at the Retail Excellence Ireland awards.^[12]

In January 2015, the company appointed former The Body Shop director Xavier Vidal as its new chief executive officer.^[13] In 2016, the company officially changed its name worldwide to Flying Tiger Copenhagen; it has previously used other names due to the name "Tiger" not being allowed in all markets.^[14]

The company opened its first store in the United States in New York City in May 2015,^[15][16] a 5,000-square-foot/152 mq store in Manhattan's Flatiron District.^[17] In November 2018, the company announced the opening of four shops in Massachusetts and planned to open 20 more locations in New England in the next few years.^[2] In November 2020, Flying Tiger closed all of its stores in the United States.^[18]

In 2021, the company was sold by its founder, Lajboschitz, and EQT Partners to Treville, a Danish investment firm.^[19] That year, Flying Tiger also began selling their products online.^[20]

Number of shops per country

Tiger shop at Amerikamura in Chūō-ku, Osaka.

Flying Tiger operates almost approximately 950 shops worldwide, of which 805 are in Europe.^[21]

Country	Shops[1]
Italy	131
Spain	126
United Kingdom	80
Japan	56
Denmark	51
Poland	44
France	42
Portugal	42
Sweden	39
Finland	30
Germany	27
Israel	27
Norway	26
Ireland	23
Switzerland	23
Netherlands	22
Belgium	21
South Korea	21
Hungary	19
Turkey	19
Austria	17
Czech Republic	17
Indonesia	16[22]
Saudi Arabia	14
Greece	12
Slovakia	11
Estonia	7
Cyprus	6
Latvia	6
Lithuania	6
Iceland	5
United Arab Emirates	5
Philippines	6
Kuwait	3
Bahrain	1
Malta	1
Qatar	1
Malaysia	?[a]
Oman	?[a]
Singapore	?[a]
Thailand	?[a]
Vietnam	?[a]

Notes

^a First shop opened 2024, no data in 2023 report.