Louen village store goes bankrupt but locals plan a future

The village store in Loue, Tervola, has gone bankrupt, but the company that owns the store property says it is still seeking ways to continue its operations, Yle reports.

Entrepreneur Elina Miettunen filed for bankruptcy with the Lapland District Court last Friday. The bankruptcy proceedings began on Monday, when the store started a closing-down sale.

The store has recorded turnover of 660,000 euros this year but made a loss of 43,000 euros.

Local residents rescued the store two years ago after Osuuskauppa Arina closed the Sale store operating in the property at the end of 2023. A company called Louen kehitys was established to preserve services in the village and bought the former store property. Miettunen then opened a village store there under the M-market chain.

The store has also operated as a cafe, a sales outlet for local products and a meeting place where various events were held.

Regular customer Pirjo Rytkönen is saddened by the store’s fate. She has bought almost all the groceries she needs there and says the store’s concept was good.

“Entrepreneur Elina and the employees have worked very hard and surely done their best. They developed the local food sales, and there were gifts and all kinds of other products available. People should have bought more groceries there,” Rytkönen says.

According to Rytkönen and Miettunen, most older residents bought their everyday groceries at the store. Working-age residents mainly made larger purchases at bigger supermarkets with a wider selection, using the village store for smaller purchases.

“Business is always business, and there are surely many reasons why the store was not profitable. It has become clear that village stores elsewhere are in a similar predicament,” Miettunen says.

The Finnish Food Authority awarded village store support to 13 operators in Lapland in June. Louen village store was one of them, receiving just over 11,000 euros. The support is intended to improve access to services in rural areas.

Plans for a lower-cost operation

Tommi Kaarninen of Louen kehitys says hope for a village store in Loue has not been lost. He believes the business could be viable with lower costs and shorter opening hours.

The store has been open every day of the week until 8pm.

“We are now considering how to continue and looking to the future. There will still be some kind of activity here, either a store or something else,” Kaarninen says.

One option under consideration is a partly self-service village store that would not require staff to be present at all times.

The store property is located along Highway 4, halfway between Rovaniemi and Kemi, with heavy passing traffic.

“When we bought this property, we strongly believed that a business in a location like this would succeed,” Kaarninen says.