The Academic Bookstore ( Finnish: , Swedish: ) is a Finnish chain of

bookstores Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

. It has both physical outlets as well as an online presence.

Stockmann Stockmann plc is a Finnish retailer established in 1862. Stockmann's eight company-owned department stores are in Finland (six), Estonia (one), and Latvia (one). There also were an additional nine Stockmann-branded department stores in Russia ...

sold the chain in 2015 to

Bonnier Group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a Privately held company, privately held Swedish media conglomerate, media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in ...

. Originally founded as an independent chain, it was bought out by Stockmann in 1930. Its revenue in 2015 was about 40 million euros.

History

Akateeminen_kirjakauppa_Helsingin_keskustassa

The Academic Bookstore was founded in 1893. Its founders included and . Its goal was "to serve equally the needs of researchers and the general public, and which, fairly looking after the interests of domestic publishing, working to establish faster and more secure links with the foreign book market". The first store was located on Aleksanterinkatu in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. In 1901 the bookstore moved to a new location on the same street, enabling it to sell 1200 titles simultaneously. Another move was made in 1910. Stockmann bought the Academic Bookstore in 1930. The new owner soon moved it to the new Stockmann department store at Helsinki centre. In 1969 a new location was established, where it still remains, at the

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

-designed Kirjatalo. The Academic Bookstore was part of the Info bookstore chain from 1978 to 1985. An electronic magazine ordering system was set up in 1975. In 1984 its sales were computerized. Previously the chain has operated at

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

(1971–1983),

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

(1983–1997),

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

(1992–1997),

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

(1980–1997),

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

(1996–1997) and

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (meaning 'Finnish bookshop') is the largest bookshop chain in Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and ...

in 1998. Instead, Stockmann decided to focus on cities with its department stores. In 2015, Stockmann sold the chain to the Swedish Bonnier Group.

Retail outlets

The Academic Bookstore currently has five stores. Two of these are in

(the flagship store in the city centre, and another one at Itäkeskus opened in 1992), while the others are in

Tapiola Tapiola (; ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from ''Tapio (spi ...

(opened in 1990),

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

(1983) and

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

(1982–). Previous locations included

(twice),

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

(closed in 2019). The webstore has been open since 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academic Bookstore, the Bookstores of Finland 1893 establishments in Finland