Power strengthens its franchise model in Finland

Power is looking to franchising for growth in Finland and is considering closing four company-owned stores. Meanwhile, Gigantti franchisees moving to Power are reshaping franchise networks in the electronics retail market. Reports published in September 2026 highlight both competition between the chains and Power’s plans to strengthen its franchisee-operated store network. No final decisions on the closures have yet been made.

Four stores face consultation over their future

On 22 September, Power Finland announced that it would begin statutory consultation with staff at its company-owned stores in Lohja, Porvoo, Kotka and Järvenpää. According to Mobiili.fi, the company is considering closing these four stores. The consultation is due to begin on 29 September 2026 and is expected to conclude in October.

Any resulting measures could affect up to 61 employees. Potential redundancies are not the only possibility: there could also be substantial changes to employees’ place of work or other terms of employment. The published reports do not yet give the outcome of the consultation, so the figure of 61 employees should not be read as the number of confirmed redundancies.

According to a report published by Finnish public broadcaster Yle on 23 September, Power is planning to close company-owned stores in towns where former Gigantti stores have joined Power. The review therefore concerns company-owned outlets in locations where franchisee-operated stores have switched to the chain.

This distinction is central to the story. The possible closure of four company-owned stores does not mean Power would withdraw from those four towns. The plan described in the reports concerns the structure of the store network through which the chain would continue operating in these areas.

Franchisee moves reshape competition

Alongside Power’s plans, reports have covered Gigantti franchisees moving to its competitor. On 24 September, Helsingin Uutiset, citing information from Vantaan Sanomat, reported that 11 Gigantti stores had already switched to the Power brand. The same report said Gigantti had five remaining franchisees, who owned seven stores between them.

It is important to distinguish between franchisees and stores in these figures. A single franchisee may own several stores, as the figures for Gigantti’s remaining network demonstrate. The transfer of 11 stores therefore cannot simply be described as the transfer of 11 franchisees.

Different explanations have been offered for the departures. According to the report relayed by Helsingin Uutiset, Vantaan Sanomat’s sources linked them to a growing lack of trust between the chain and its franchisees in recent years. Gigantti, meanwhile, has said that factors include natural turnover as contracts expire. These explanations should be treated as the views of the parties and sources involved, rather than as a single verified reason for every move.

According to Helsingin Uutiset, Power has become a larger franchise chain than Gigantti. This claim concerns franchising and does not establish which chain is larger in terms of total sales or overall business. Yle reports that Power has around 50 stores in Finland in total; that figure, in turn, is not a count of franchise stores alone.

Growth through a franchisee-operated network

Power says its long-term strategy is to develop and strengthen its franchise model and use it to pursue growth in Finland. The review of the four company-owned stores is linked to this goal. An expert interviewed by Yle described the plans as normal business development.

Franchising involves long-term co-operation between two independent businesses. The chain gives the franchisee the right to use its established business concept, while the franchisee pays for that right and follows the concept’s operating guidelines. Under the Finnish Franchising Association’s definition cited in Yle’s report, the parties are legally and financially independent.

This distinguishes a franchisee-operated store from a company-owned outlet. The brand name customers see does not, on its own, reveal whether the business is run by the chain itself or by an independent entrepreneur. In Power’s case, this distinction matters: the potential closures concern company-owned stores, while the growth objective focuses on strengthening franchising.

The published information does not specify Power’s ultimate target for the number of franchise stores or a timetable for changes across the network. Nor does the total of around 50 stores indicate how far the transition has progressed. The confirmed direction is towards a stronger franchisee-operated model, not a fully developed implementation plan covering every location.

What should prospective franchisees watch?

The next concrete step is the start of the consultation concerning the four stores. Its expected conclusion in October provides a point in time to watch for further news, but does not indicate what the decisions will be. A separate question is whether franchisees will continue moving between the chains.

For anyone considering becoming a franchisee, these developments highlight two practical areas to examine: the respective roles of company-owned and franchisee-operated stores within the network, and the working relationship between the chain and its franchisees. The differing explanations for departures from Gigantti also underline the value of assessing reports about changes of chain from more than one perspective.

Practical takeaway: before joining a chain, establish how its network strategy would affect your proposed location and review the terms of the relationship carefully. In Power’s case, franchise growth and the possible closure of company-owned stores are two sides of the same network restructuring.