BRIO History
Once upon a time
...there was boy called Ivar Bengtsson. He was born in 1860 and lived with his family in Picketorp, in the south of Sweden. His father died when Ivar was just 10 years old and Ivar's mother, a beautiful woman, soon remarried. Ivar's stepfather wanted Ivar to help support the family at an early age, and Ivar started to work as a farm-wagon operator. It was hard work and Ivar dreamt of becoming a carpenter. He gave almost all his wages to his family, but he kept a little by and saved up so that one day he could turn his dream into reality.
77 old Swedish crowns
In March 1878 Ivar's friend Olof Persson came to visit from Bosahult. Olof sold woodchip baskets in Denmark, but at the time he didn't have enough funds to start a new journey. Olof promised Ivar half the profit if he invested the 77 crowns he had saved up and helped sell the baskets. Ivar agreed. They both walked 125 km to Malmö with the chip baskets on a wooden cart, where they took the boat to Denmark. The journey took three days. The boys sold two thousand baskets in two months, and earned a hundred crowns each.
This was Ivar's first journey - and the birth of his life's interest.
The company is formed In 1884 Ivar married Sissa Persdotter and they moved to Boalt, a small village outside Osby in southern Sweden. They lived on a small farm, but most important of all it had a small workshop for making baskets. Ivar expanded his range by buying up other goods made in the area, wrought iron from Loshult and kitchen crafts from Visselfjärda. He also began importing oleographs from Breslau, in those days a German city nowadays Polish. All these products he sold in Denmark. However, his most important product was one of his own woodchip baskets.
"The handle sells the basket" In 1890 Ivar Bengtsson published his first catalogue. Ivar had started to sell more and more in the areas north of Skåne in Sweden, and Denmark was no longer the most important market. His wife Sissa and children, three sons and a daughter, worked in the home to strengthen the baskets Ivar had bought by adding extra chips in the handle. This made the baskets last longer, and Ivar coined the slogan "The handle sells the basket". BRIO's focus on quality products had begun. Ivar labelled his baskets with the text "Ivar Bengtsson's Basket Factory Boalt".
The move to Osby
In 1902 Ivar and his family moved to Osby. It was Sissa's idea. She realised that Ivar could be closer to his customers thanks to the railway in the station village of Osby. The forest district of Göinge had many rich forest squires. They didn't think that a poor basket maker should be able to own land in central Osby. Consequently, Ivar was directed to a less central plot. It was only later that Ivar could buy the central site where BRIO's head office still is today.
Toys
Ivar's company expanded and the range in the catalogue grew. By 1907 it listed 170 items, and Ivar also began selling toys. The most popular toy was the Göinge horse.
The BRothers Ivarsson Osby
Although there were many wealthy people living in the forest districts around Osby, most were living in poverty. Between 1840 and 1930 over a million Swedes emigrated, mainly to North America. For the vast majority, poverty was the reason they sought their fortune on the other side of the Atlantic. One day Ivar's and Sissa's two eldest sons, Viktor and Anton, came to their parents and told them that they planned to emigrate to America. Ivar and Sissa were dismayed, and Sissa found a way of keeping their sons in Sweden. Her idea was that the sons should take over the firm. In 1908 Ivar and Sissa officially transferred the company to their three sons, Victor, Anton and Emil, and in the following year they registered the new company as Bröderna Ivarsson Osby, (the Brothers Ivarsson Osby).
New times
The company developed strongly under the sons' management. Ivar's motto had been first earn the money, then spend it. His sons chose a different way. They borrowed money and set off on a buying trip to Germany. BRIO expanded rapidly. The range also expanded dramatically. In 1909 the catalogue contained 999 products. By 1912 this figure had grown to 2,700. At the time BRIO had 10 permanent employees and a turnover of 155,000 Swedish kronor.
Broad range
Even though toys were a permanent part of BRIO's range, the company sold the most varied products, from glassware and ceramics to textiles and toothbrushes. In as early as 1920 BRIO imported prams from Germany, but in the post-war period prams were in short supply and BRIO began producing them itself in Osby in 1935.In 1937 BRIO became a limited company. By then the company had 150 employees and a turnover of 4.3 million Swedish kronor.
What happened to Ivar?
It wasn't easy for the company's founder to have to stand in the shadow of his sons. But Ivar found himself a new role. He shouldered a large responsibility for the company's buildings, both new constructions and renovations. This meant he was involved with the company practically until his death in 1948.
What happened to Sissa?
Ivar outlived his wife Sissa. She had been an outstanding women, and Ivar did not in any way try to understate his wife's role, even in public. On the contrary, he emphasised that Sissa had had a major positive effect on the company. Ivar remarried after Sissa's death.
BRIO in modern times
The brothers Viktor, Anton and Emil continued to run the company. Anton's son Lennart, who was BRIO's Chief Executive between 1952 and 1978, developed BRIO into an international corporation. Lennart's wife Inger also played a large part in the company's international expansion, especially in the development of BRIO's most popular toys. Today, Dag and Bengt Ivarsson, the sons of Lennart and Inger Ivarsson and grandchildren of Ivar, were main owners in BRIO until Q3 2004, when ownership was transferred to Proventus AB.
BRIO's Lekoseum manager Solveig Nordh is responsible for the factual information.
