Succession is one of the major challenges facing physical retail, especially when it comes to genuine craftsmanship. For Klockor & Smycken (Clocks & Jewelry) in Vänersborg, a store with roots dating back to the 1960s, this reality has now become pressing.
Owner Kerstin Göteng, trained at the Urmakarskolan (Watchmaking School) in Borensberg, has worked as a watchmaker for over 40 years and has run the store for the past 20 years. She now plans to retire at the turn of the year.
To find a successor, she chose to publish a request on Facebook and put up a notice on the shop door, asking if anyone was interested in taking over the business. The announcement was met with sad reactions from the local customer base.
I am satisfied. I am finished,” Kerstin Göteng tells local newspaper TTELA, stating that it is difficult to find new watchmakers for the profession.
If no buyer is found before Christmas, the store will close permanently.
Stood Outside the E-commerce Wave
Klockor & Smycken in Vänersborg has operated as a purely physical business and has completely stood outside the e-commerce wave of recent decades.
The domain Klockor-smycken.se never had an associated online store, but functioned as a simple digital business card with contact details.
Currently, the website is not even accessible. The business model has instead relied exclusively on personal service, repairs and physical in-store sales.
Healthy Company with Strong Cash Reserves
But unlike many other stores forced to close, it is not declining finances that threaten the company. A review of the latest annual report for the broken financial year, ending April 30, 2026, shows that the business is, on the contrary, debt-free and problem-free.
The company's turnover increased to 1.5 million Swedish krona, up from 1.33 million the previous year. Operating profit strengthened from 38,000 krona to 113,000 krona. Profit after tax amounted to 89,000 krona.
Klockor & Smycken i Vänersborg AB can also boast a solidity of 89 percent, equity of just under one million krona and cash reserves of over 410,000 krona.
It is therefore not a lack of profitability that risks putting an end to the venerable watchmaker, but rather the lack of newly trained craftsmen in combination with the complicated succession issues facing physical retail.