Troels Holch Povlsen: The Fortunate Fashion Mogul

Early last June, Bestseller celebrated its 50th anniversary. The Danish company, one of the world’s largest fashion retail groups, celebrated with a Coachella-style festival where 10,000 employees and partners enjoyed concerts by Elton John and Bruno Mars. Troels Holch Povlsen strolled calmly through the grounds of Egeskov Castle on the island of Funen in Denmark as if he were a stranger. Perhaps that is why, when he was introduced on stage, he was introduced as “the boss of bosses, the boss of Anas”. His son, Anders (Anas) Povlsen, is today the face of Bestseller, but without Troels Holch Povlsen the company that owns Jack&Jones would not have achieved a turnover of almost €5 billion, twice as much if the China business is also taken into account.

With bushy, snow-white hair and black horn-rimmed glasses that make him unmistakable, Troels Holch Povlsen is as discreet as the company he founded. The businessman was born in 1949 in the Risskov district of Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city, the son of a regional head of social services. He went through school without much success, but discovered that he had an innate talent for business. He first sold carpets and then clothes from the sweater factory of his uncle, Olaf Povlsen.

When he decided to start his first clothing store called Pigalle in Ringkøbing at the end of 1975, Holch Povlsen had already met the woman who would become his wife and co-founder of Bestseller, Merete Bech Povlsen. In that first store, the couple started out selling clothes from her uncle’s factory, but within a year began importing their own products to sell both through the store and to distributors.

In 1980, the Holch Povlsen’s bought a store in Aarhus called Bestseller, a name they liked so much that it became the company name. Initially, the company focused on women’s fashion, launching the Exit brand in 1986 and Vero Moda in 1987.

Troels Holch Povlsen is as discreet as the company he founded, Bestseller

In the early days of Bestseller, the Holch Povlsens were not alone. The duo was joined first by Helle Poulsen and then by Finn Poulsen, a marriage that would prove key to the founding of the company. The former was hired by Holch Povlsen because he liked the way she worked as a waitress: “I was able to serve five customers in one trip and I thought it would save me a lot of money,“ she recalled in a recent public speech. She first put the latter in charge of her children as a caregiver for six years and later invited him to join the company.

While Helle Poulsen was in the stores with Merete Bech Povlsen, Holch Povlsen and Finn Poulsen worked for almost forty years in the same office, sitting opposite each other. Although they were in charge of purchasing, they were the real product filter, because they had their finger on the pulse of the customer.

He was the founder and despite being extremely competitive (“the worst thing you can say to me is no,“ he admits), he has no trouble admitting that it is with his son at the helm that Bestseller has taken off. Anders, the eldest, was born in 1972, followed five years later by the youngest, Niels. Although both have worked in the company, it was Anders who, at the age of 28, took over the business, which he continues to run and grow today. Anders Holch Povlsen is today Denmark’s largest fortune.

The entrepreneur has the number to unlock his phone written on the wallpaper, because he trusts everyone

But the founder’s character has permeated Bestseller, which has approachability and trust as two of the values it most emphasizes. Troels Holch Povlsen is said to have his phone unlock number written on his wallpaper, because he trusts everyone. In addition to trust, those who have worked with him also emphasize his attention to detail: “when he came to the Malaga offices he always looked to see if the floor was clean and in team meetings he included the cleaning staff”.

“For many years I was very lucky: it is important to have ambition, but also luck, although I prefer to talk about destiny,“ Troels Holch Povlsen recently said, who confesses that retirement is not his thing. Twenty-five years ago, he left Bestseller and, far from enjoying a rest, he started another company.

A lover of architecture and antiques, in 1995 he bought the Gyllingnæs estate and completely restored it, convincing the craftsmen that the furniture should last 500 years. Today he dedicates his day-to-day work to Nine United, a company with interests in companies in five areas: design, retail brading, supply and trading, and real estate. It encompasses, for example, four furnishing brands: &Tradition, Nine, Verpan and Hay.

A member of Bestseller’s board of directors (the chairmanship is held by his wife), Troels Holch Povlsen has received numerous awards (including Knight of Dannebrog, a Danish order of chivalry that recognizes contribution to the country), but he says that all he has done is “go to work every day”.