Pohjanmaan Kaluste Oy from Kurikka, one of the biggest couch manufacturers in Scandinavia, has found growth from the combination of good product development and marketing. Together with the OR-Loudspeakers a new innovation was born: a couch with integrated loudspeakers, which is registered design.
The story of Pohjanmaan Kaluste started at the year 1964. Pentti Viitala, a father of six children, sold the few cows he owned and bought a truck with his friend in order to door to door sell couches which he upholstered himself in the old henhouse. He thought that if the men in the neighboring village were able to sell couches, he could do that too.
The manufacturing began at the old school in Viitala, Kurikka in 1969. At that time there were one hired employee. The products were marketed in exhibitions. Retail dealers came along in 1977 and in 1998 the store chain cooperation started in Finland.
The family business was passed to managing director Timo Viitala in the change of generation at the beginning of 90’s. Nowadays there are roughly 110 people working in the factory in Kurikka. The other company factories are located in southern Estonia. In total there are around 450 people on the payroll of the corporate group.
| |
Growth was found from eastern export
The company had grown little by little, the enourmous upswing was taken when the young managing director had an idea that people would surely need couches in Russia.
“Timo Viitala went to the furniture fair which was held in Moscow, and that was when the company and export activity started to grow. Today we have 150 couch- and easy chair designs in production that are tailored to Russian market, and all of them are manufactured as custom-made articles. At the moment export covers little less than half of the whole production”, says marketing assistant Mika Eklund.
Nowadays the products of Pohjanmaan Kaluste are sold in over 100 different sales offices in Russia and the company has its own sales offices in St. Petersburg and Tallinn. Couches are delivered from Kurikka also to the USA, Sweden, Baltic and Israel.
“When scandinavian, simple-shaped designs are selling well in our home country, customers in Russia have always favored grand leather couches. Our Russian retail dealers are private firms, not many store chains yet.”
| |
In domestic trade customization is an asset
In the company’s home country the Pohjanmaan trademarked couches are
sold in biggest furniture store chains. Sotka has been a partner in
cooperation since 1998. Pohjanmaan was selected the best supplier of the
Sotka store chain in 2000 and the company also got the same honorable
mention from the Asko store chain in 2003. During the last three years
Masku’s share has been growing strongly. Retail dealers are also Kodin1
store chain and private furniture firms.
“When you are working with big store chains, you need to have capacity to produce customized designs. While you can bring a freight container full of similar products from China, every design we send forward is unique. During the last 10 years especially couches made of blocks have been a success.”
As a counteract to depression in 2009, we brought huge amount of new products on the market. Today the trademark Pohjanmaan has an image of quality and reliability. The work spirit has remained as ostrobothnian: what is made is made properly.
“Quality can be seen in designs, needlework and upholstery. We for example cut the leathers by hand, because it makes the end result better than machine-made cutting. New designs are created from start to finish in the pattern shop in Kurikka. Pattern maker, three upholsterers, sewer and the design team leader Jari Salo are working in with new designs daily.
| |
