Stockmann through the years

Pictures about Stockmann's history come, unless otherwise mentioned, from the picture archive of the Stockmann Museum.

1852 Georg Franz Heinrich Stockmann (1825-1906) of Lübeck arrived in Finland to work as a bookkeeper and cashier at the Nuutajärvi Glassworks.	The 25 year old G.F. Stockmann in 1850.
1859 The Nuutajärvi Glassworks opened a shop in Helsinki. The premises were leased in a brick house along the Market Square. The house belonged to Mrs Lampa, the wife of a magistrate, and the shop manager was G.F. Stockmann. The shop stocked a wide range of goods and the metal nameplate on the outside bore the name: G.F. Stockmann.	First Stockmann premises during 1859-1880, the Lampa house at the Market Square.
1862 Stockmann was founded on February 1, 1862. At that time, G.F. Stockmann took control of the business, which he, from the outset, had managed in his own name.
1880 Stockmann opened his grand new business premises – the "continental department store" – in a building that he had acquired along the Senate Square. At present, the building is known as the Kiseleff bazar.	Second Stockmann premises at the Senate Square during 1880-1930.
1897 Stockmann opened a branch in the Kallio district of Helsinki. The business began as an ironmonger’s but later, the range was expanded. The premises were also extended on several occasions, and the store did not close until 1960.	Bargaining in the Kallio shop in 1947.
1902 The one-man business became a limited company, G.F. Stockmann Aktiebolag. The shareholders were G.F. Stockmann and his sons Karl and Frans.
1918 A new limited company, Aktiebolaget Stockmann Osakeyhtiö, which had a wider shareholder base, was established at the end of the year. Its share capital was subscribed for in one week. The business, warehouses, real estate etc. belonging to G.F. Stockmann Aktiebolaget were transferred to the ownership of the new company the following year.
1919 Keravan Puusepäntehdas, a carpentry shop, became a subsidiary of Stockmann. It was sold in 1985.	Keravan Puusepäntehdas, a carpentry shop, was a part of Stockmann’s during 1919-1985.
1922 Beginning in 1911, Stockmann gradually acquired ownership of its present department store block in the centre of Helsinki. Initially, a two-storey brick building designed by Sigurd Frosterus was constructed at the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Keskuskatu. The Stockmann Sports Department and some other operations moved into the building.	On the left side the Sports Department that was completed in 1922. A new street, Keskuskatu, had been opened for traffic already in November 1921. A new, imposing department store was to be built here. A row of houses in Itäinen Heikinkatu (nowadays Mannerheimintie) from year 1908.
1924 Stockmann’s first Employees’ Council was elected on September 25, 1924.	The enlargement of the sports lodge for the personnel was inaugurated on January 8, 1938.
1926 A new department store building designed by Sigurd Frosterus was opened on four floors in the presence of Lauri Kristian Relander, the President of the Republic. The Senate Square store still remained the main branch.	A part of the new department store was completed on the corner of Keskuskatu and Aleksanterinkatu in 1926.
1930 Stockmann acquired Academic Bookstore. Nowadays Academic Bookstore has sales outlets in connection with seven Stockmann department stores in Finland. The new department store that is still beyond compare was completed and opened its doors to the public. Among the continental finesses the department store had were e.g. a grand atrium, escalators, a revolving door and the Soda Fountain, a place for customers to take refreshments on the second floor of the department store.	The new department store is about to be completed. It was opened with all its splendour on November 24, 1930. Few know that Coca-Cola was introduced into the Finnish market already in the 30’s. Coca-Cola was sold at Stockmann’s Soda Fountain.
1936 Stockmann purchased Taidetakomo Orno, which made artistic wrought iron articles and lamps. The company was sold in 1985.	Taidetakomo Orno was owned by Stockmann during 1936-1985. Lisa Johansson-Pape’s production.
1942 Stockmann’s shares were listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
1944 Two bombs hit the department store during the heavy bombardment in February. The glass roof in the atrium shattered and the archives burst into flames. The threatening fire was quickly extinguished but the department store was closed for a week for repairs.	War destruction. The atrium glass roof shattered into pieces on February 26, 1944.
1946 Getting well-trained personnel after the war was difficult. Therefore, the Stockmann School for Sales Assistants was established. As there was no municipal day-care for children in Finland yet, Stockmann founded a kindergarten in Munkkiniemi for personnel’s children. The kindergarten operated till 1977.	The Stockmann School for Sales Assistants operated during 1946-1977. Stockmann kindergarten operated during 1946-1977.
1950 Finland’s first television broadcast was made in the Stockmann department store. It was broadcast by cable.	Television was introduced in Finland on 18 November 1950. A Stockmann display window in Mannerheimintie.
1955 Stockmann became a Ford dealer. In 1993, the range expanded to include Volkswagen and Audi dealerships. Since 1997, the range also included Skoda.	Stockmann's first Ford cars were sold at the outlet in Keskuskatu.
1957 Stockmann’s first local department store was opened in Tampere. It was noticeably extended in 1965.	Operations continued in this Hämeenkatu address until 1981.
1962 Oy Sesto Ab, a retail subsidiary dealing in supermarket goods, was established during Stockmann’s hundredth anniversary year. When Sesto was divested in 1999, the chain included 13 supermarkets and six hypermarkets.	Santa Claus visits Sesto in Kauniainen in 1966.
1966 Stockmann’s first computer was taken in use on 20 June 1966.	Stockmann’s first computer in 1966.
1967 The department store in Pietarsaari was opened. It wound up operations in 1982.	"English Week" at the Pietarsaari department store in 1970.
1969 Academic Bookstore moved from the department store to the new "Book Palace" designed by Alvar Aalto.	Academic Bookstore’s flagship has been at the corner of North Esplanade and Keskuskatu, Helsinki, since 1969.
1976 The department store in Kouvola was opened. It operated only until 1982.
1981 The department store in Tampere moved into new, considerably larger premises at the other end of Hämeenkatu. The department store was significantly enlarged in 1999–2000 when, among other refurbishing works, an entire new floor was built. The department store in Tapiola, Espoo, was opened. It was enlarged in 1987 and considerably so in 1990. Additional, large-scale expansion work that significantly improved the pleasant atmosphere in the centre of Tapiola was completed in 1998.	Tapiola department store opening rush on October 6, 1981.
1982 Tenancy of the Turku City-Sokos premises was transferred to Stockmann, which opened a department store in them. The store was enlarged in 1986 and 2000–2001, when an additional floor was added. The legendary lift-girls in Helsinki department store served the clients for the last time. They left an unforgettable impression with many of us.	Turku department store was finally opened in 1982. The Stockmann lift-girls became history in 1982. In the picture there are lift-girls from the 30’s .
1985 Stockmann acquired Oy Hobby Hall Ab, a mail-order company.
1986 Stockmann pioneered modern Loyal Customer marketing. Another first was a cash card, which was introduced for the first time in Finland. Stockmann had already had account customers for several decades. The first "Crazy Days" were held in April, and they have been a giant success time and again.	Stockmann launched “ Crazy Days” in Finland in spring 1986.
1988 Stockmann purchased the Seppälä companies, which run a chain of fashion stores.
1989 Mauno Koivisto, the President of the Republic, and Mrs Tellervo Koivisto were present at the opening of the Argos extension to the Helsinki department store. The dream of a department store building spanning the entire block had finally been realized. Subsequently, major enlargements have been completed in 1991, 1997, 1999 and 2001. The first Stockmann stores in Russia were opened in Moscow.	The Argos enlargement was opened on 4 May 1989. The first customer at the store in the GUM department store in Moscow, Gennadi Pisarevsky, bought a pair of scissors.
1990 Stockmann got out of the wholesale trade, which the company had engaged in ever since it was founded.
1991 Stockmann’s core values were confirmed to be: profit orientation, customer orientation, efficiency, commitment and respect for our people.
1992 The department store in Helsinki’s Itäkeskus shopping centre opened for business. It has been enlarged in 1997 as well as in 2000-2001. Hobby Hall began operations in Estonia. Hobby Hall’s mail order sales started up in Latvia in 2001.	In 1992, a Stockmann department store was opened in the enlargement of the Itäkeskus shopping centre.
1993 Stockmann opened a clothing and household appliances store store in Tallinn, Estonia.
1996 The Tallinn department store was opened. It was enlarged from two storeys to five storeys, becoming the largest department store in the Baltic countries in 2000, when an indoor car park was also built for it.	The Tallinn department store was opened in April 1996.
1998 Due to a changed Companies Act, the Annual General Meeting approved the change of the company’s business name to Stockmann Oyj Abp, in English Stockmann plc. The first Stockmann department store in Russia was openend in Moscow. It was enlargened in 2002.	In November 1998, the first Stockmann department store in Russia was opened in the new shopping centre at Moscow's Smolenskaya Square.
1999 Academic Bookstore opened an Internet store for consumers. The bookstore has had an order service for institutional customers on the Internet ever since 1994. Seppälä established a chain of stores in Estonia.
2000 Hobby Hall Online was opened and it quickly developed into Finland’s leading online site for consumers. Hobby Hall Online’s operations in Estonia got started towards the end of 2001.
2001 Stockmann opened a new full-scale department store in the centre of Oulu. A two-storey Seppälä was opened in immediate connection with the department store.	In 2001, a Stockmann department store was opened on the pedestrian street Rotuaari.
2002 Stockmann opened the first store of the Zara fashion chain in Helsinki. The first shops of the Stockmann Beauty cosmetics chain were opened.
2003 Stockmann opened a department store in the centre of Riga. First Seppälä stores were opened in Latvia. In Moscow, Stockmann opened the first Zara store in Russia. Hobby Hall started mail order operations in Lithuania.	The Riga Department Store was opened on 17 October 2003.
2004 Stockmann's second department store in Moscow was opened in the Mega South shopping centre on 17 April 2004. Seppälä opened the chain's first stores in Russia. Stockmann's third department store in Moscow was opened in the Mega North shopping centre on 15 December 2004. Social Responsibility was included in Stockmann's core values.	Stockmann's Mega South department store was opened on 17 April 2004.
2005 Stockmann opened the first store of the Bestseller fashion chain in Moscow. Hobby Hall discontinued operations in Lithuania in March. Stockmann's seventh department store in Finland opened its doors on 27 October in the new section of the Jumbo Shopping Centre in Vantaa. The same day, a 1,200 sq.m. Zara store was opened next door. This was the fourth store of the Zara chain in Finland.	The Jumbo Department Store was opened on 27 October 2005.
2006 Stockmann sold the vehicle business on 1 March 2006 and launched a wide-ranging loyal customer cooperation with Veho. Stockmann sold its subsidiary engaged in the Zara business to Inditex, the owner of the Zara brand. For the first time, Stockmann's operations in Russia were expanded outside Moscow and St Petersburg when both Seppälä and Bestseller opened a store in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Ekaterinburg. Stockmann entered into a cooperation agreement with Nike of Russia on setting up Nike stores in Russia.
2007 The fourth Stockmann department store in Moscow was opened in the Mega East Shopping Centre. Hobby Hall launched distance retailing in Lithuania and Russia. In Russia, Stockmann opened five Nike stores, the first two of them in St Petersburg. Seppälä opened its first store in Siberia in Novosibirsk. Stockmann bought Lindex of Sweden, one of the leading fashion chains in Northern Europe.	Stockmann's Mega East department store was opened on 14 February 2007.
2008 Despite the ruling of the International Commercial Arbitration Court in Moscow in favour of Stockmann in the lease dispute concerning Stockmann’s Smolenskaya department store in Moscow, the lessors cut off power to the department store. Therefore, Stockmann was forced to close the department store in May. In August, Lindex opened its first Russian store in St Petersburg. Lindex expanded to Saudi Arabia when its franchising partner Delta International Establishment opened five Lindex stores there. In October, Seppälä opened its first store in Ukraine.	The Lindex chain expanded to Saudi Arabia in September.
2009 On 13 February, Stockmann opened a new department store in the Metropolis shopping centre near Moscow city centre. Hobby Hall discontinued its distance retail in Russia and in the Baltic countries. Lindex opened its first store in Slovakia in September.	The Metropolis Department Store was opened on 13 February 2009.
2010 Hobby Hall was integrated into the Department Store Division as from the start of 2010. Stockmann closed down its Nike franchising stores in Russia. In March, Stockmann opened its fifth department store in Moscow in Golden Babylon shopping centre.	The department store in Golden Babylon shopping centre was opened on 4 March 2010

Page updated on: Apr 13, 2010

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Stockmann through the years

Stockmann through the years