Frank Varner (14 July 1937 – 26 June 2001) was a Norwegian businessman. He established the holding company

Varner-Gruppen Varner-Gruppen AS is a textile firm in Norway with approximately 500 stores around the country, includinBik BokCarlings Dressmann, Drottninggatan

Biography

He was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

to Petter Oskar Varner (1903–65) and Solveig Kleve (1904–77). In 1962, he established his first clothing store on Thorvald Meyersgate in Grünerløkka in Oslo. In 1965, Varner opened two more stores in Oslo and Trondheim. In 1967 he founded the

Dressmann Dressmann store in Umeå, Sweden. Dressmann is a chain of men's clothing stores owned by Varner-Gruppen. It was founded in Norway by Frank Varner, who opened the first store in Oslo in 1967. In addition to Norway, Dressmann stores can now be fou ...

chain of men's clothing stores. In 1985 he entered women's clothing, with the launch of Carlings. In 1989, Varner acquired an owner's share of more than 90 percent in Jonas Øglænd AS. This was followed by the purchase of Cubus (1989), Bik Bok (1991) and Vivikes (1994). In 1994 he also started the chain Varners.

Personal life

He settled in

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greate ...

. He married Turid Iversen in 1961. They were the parents of three sons. He died in Oslo during 2001.

References

1937 births 2001 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo People from Asker Norwegian company founders Norwegian businesspeople in retailing {{Norway-business-bio-stub