Frank Shorter

"Normally, even a composition would have meant the end of the line, as it is rare for a brand to survive such a cold shower without receiving negative feedback from consumers. However, that did not happen for the Molde company. The demand for Frank Shorter apparel just continued to rise, and orders poured in. Bjørn Rune Gjelsten felt the optimism returning. It was like in the ski tracks – when he felt it was going well, the energy came by itself. It was a hectic spring. The owners signed contracts with local agents in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In Norway, they entered the Intersport chain with both summer and winter clothing. Just a few days after the creditors forgave the debt, GN was ahead of its budget. Now everything indicated that they would manage sales of six million kroner in 1984, they concluded at the end of April. There was much better order within the ranks internally as well. The experienced bankruptcy attorney and Reksten-hunter Jens Kristian Thune took over as chairman of the board, and he taught the newly graduated sprouts a trick, namely to have export orders guaranteed through the Guarantee Institute for Export Credits (GIEK). They were not going to take any more hits."

"The Gresvig coup also had other typical Røkke traits. It was here he first discovered how useful it is to sit on all sides of the table. The first thing Røkke and Gjelsten did was to pump goods from their own companies through Gresvig. The G-Sport stores were filled with clothing items from Frank Shorter and Tomra – "on business terms," as it was stated. At the same time, they bought Gresvig's buildings and leased them back to Gresvig. Through many cunning maneuvers, the rest of the Røkke system extracted 40–50 million kroner a year. On top of that, Røkke and Gjelsten's company, Sport Invest Inc., demanded "consultancy fees" to assist the Gresvig management. No less than 13 million kroner were taken out in one year. To top it all off, the new owners were not modest enough to refrain from draining Gresvig of 36 million kroner in group contributions."