Sukari reopens Asko in Lahti as classic furniture returns

Furniture retailer Asko has reopened in its founding city of Lahti, with owner Toivo Sukari bringing classic designs back into production. The new store opened on Friday, Yle reports, after Asko’s shops and its Lahti sofa factory closed during the winter following the bankruptcy of previous owner Indoor Group.

Customers gathered for the opening, where the first 100 visitors were offered a gift. Lahti resident Raili Valo came to see the store reopen. She said she had bought Asko furniture in the 1960s while starting a family, and that acquaintances had once worked at the company’s factory.

Sukari, who bought the Asko and Sotka brands, also attended the opening. The first Asko store under the new ownership opened in Lempäälä in July.

“Now Asko has a new life. Today we are here in its birthplace. It is quite a special atmosphere,” Sukari said.

The Lahti opening also showcased Asko classics now being made again, including the Bonanza sofa suite, the Fanett spindle chair, the Kontiki coffee table and the Kensington armchair.

More than a century of Asko in Lahti

Asko operated in Lahti for more than 100 years. Its factory was once the largest furniture factory in Finland and, in the 1960s, the largest furniture manufacturer in the Nordic countries. Thousands of local residents worked for the company over the decades. The area around the former factory is still known in Lahti as the Asko area.

Before Indoor Group went bankrupt, it owned the still-operating Asko sofa factory in Lahti. The company’s financial difficulties led to the closure of its stores and the factory during the winter.

August Avonius founded a carpentry workshop in Lahti in 1918 and later built furniture factories there. In 1930, the name Asko was added to both the factory and its founder’s name. The company became Finland’s largest furniture factory in the 1930s and 1940s, then expanded rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s.

Asko made furniture for a wide range of consumers, from everyday pieces to distinctive designs presented at trade fairs. One of its best-known designs is the Ball Chair, created by Eero Aarnio for a trade fair in Cologne in the 1960s.

Lahti Museums collection manager Sari Kainulainen said the museums receive daily enquiries about Asko furniture. Their collections include about 500 Asko pieces, as well as photographs and production archives. The Malva Museum of Visual Arts in Lahti holds more than 100 Asko posters.