Winter Wrap-Up 23.12.2016 – Posted in: News

Oh boy, what a year! I never knew that being a bookmonger is so much fun. Our tiny niche shop has kicked off beautifully: it has been such a joy to find books for sale, to discuss with authors, publishers and customers, and to pack and send the orders all over the world. The tricky but interesting part of shopkeeping has been to learn about international customs regulations, e-commerce technology and such. If you have any suggestions how to improve your shopping experience, we value your feedback highly.

Our bestselling book this autumn has been, no surprise, The Helsinki Book. It’s a smart book and great to have if you plan to come to Helsinki especially if you like to spend your time and money with thought. Another bestseller has been the Futuro Poster. The 1960s is so pop, and the Futuro House is a truly remarkable piece in the history of Finnish architecture.

Our products in December 2016

Our recent addition, the Aarne Ervi monograph published by the Museum of Finnish Architecture in 2010, has gathered quite a lot of attention as well. Architect Aarne Ervi designed a vast amount of buildings in Finland. The ones in the world-famous Tapiola and the Töölö Library are my personal favourites. The Töölö Library was opened only a few months ago after a thorough renovation. Architect Tarmo Mustonen and his team have given a new lease of life to this lovely neighbourhood hub. Mustonen’s office was also in charge of renovating the Alvar Aalto Library in Vyborg, so they really know how to deal with Modernism. The Töölö Library is such a timeless building, don’t you think?

For the next year 2017, we have some big plans bubbling up. Our shop will have a completely new product category for pens and notebooks. Architects and designers are so picky with their tools, or at least I am. I’ve now personally tested an array of ultra-thin gel pens and notebooks, and I’ve forced a few colleagues to test them as well for a second opinion. In pens, the best of the best so far are Pentel Slicci 0.4 mm and Pilot G-Tec C4, so if you prefer a thin black line in your doodling, stay tuned. A set of high-quality architecture postcards are also in progress. These will be awesome, I promise. Then, a couple of recently published architecture books on Nordic modernism are on their way to our stock. I’ll post about them as soon as they arrive. I’ll also keep you informed about a few updates in our service that take effect early 2017. Books are heavy and shipping from Finland is expensive, so we need to check our postage rates. Then, on the other hand, we plan to start direct delivery to architecture offices around the Helsinki area. But let’s talk more about this in January.

With all Good Wishes for your Holidays and the New Year
– anni

PS. We’ve thought about feasible ways to start selling our books and stuff live around Helsinki. My top priority for the holidays is to draft our very own bike bookmobile: a mobile trailer for pop-up sales. Now this will be something!