In 1926, some taxi owners joined together and formed the Purchasing Center IC. The trade in gasoline and oils was then dominated by a few large international companies while professional traffic in Sweden was state-regulated. Here the historical website takes its starting point and depicts how the taxi owners, through economic associations, managed to build a chain that pressured the prices of gasoline and other operating supplies, despite a tough fight against the "trust companies." On the website www.OKhistoria.se, visitors can follow the development within various themes up until the formation of OKQ8 in 1999.
– The website is explicitly popular history and is aimed at everyone who has a relation to OK's and the gas station's history, which most do. Another purpose of the website is to tell about the consumer cooperative as an idea, which fits especially well this year since the UN has declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, says Alexander Husebye, CEO of the Centrum för Näringslivshistoria. Not everyone knows the differences between regular companies and cooperatives, which are based on a member organization. It is an interesting piece of business history in itself.
The members and the benefit for them have been particularly important for OK. Their history is told in numerous articles about, among other things, different types of services that OK has launched over the years. For example, about BIVA – the car department store.
Another area that has been in focus throughout OK's entire history is environmental work, which is also highlighted on the website. Visitors can, for example, read about how OK, as the first gasoline company in Europe, began producing unleaded gasoline.
Nostalgics also get their share on the website. Under the heading "Gas Station of the Month," a gas station is presented – which may still exist, or maybe not. Visitors can also contribute to the writing of history by sharing their own OK memory.
The Centrum för Näringslivshistoria has been working on the project since May 2011. Carl Zeidlitz has been editor for the content work. He has previously worked with communications at the Motorhistoriska Riksförbundet MHRF. Gert Eriksson, former curator at the Technical Museum, has also been an advisor.
For more information, contact Alexander Husebye, 08-634 99 14, alexander.husebye@naringslivshistoria.se
