I was again contacted by a friend. She told me, that there’s an abandoned hardware store in her small home village, in case I was interested. Of course I was interested.
The village was so small, that it was a bit difficult to believe, that a hardware store had thrived there. Yet there it was.
The windows had recently been boarded shut, which was a disappointment.
Now this isn’t just any company. Eino Aho founded a general store in his home village back in 1917. He died in the 1920’s, but his brother Akseli Aho continued the business. He started founding several general stores in the region and entered the car dealership business in the 1950’s and even became a wholesale company.
Apparently they had hardware stores too.
The wholesale business ended in 1992, but I’m not sure about this business. The last functioning arm was the car business, which remained in family until 2024, when it was sold to a competitor.
Unfortunately it was closed. This would have been an interesting location.