The Academic Bookstore (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ) 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, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

. It has both physical outlets as well as an online presence. Stockmann sold the chain in 2015 to

Bonnier Group Bonnier AB (), also the Bonnier Group, is a privately held Swedish media group of 175 companies operating in 15 countries. It is controlled by the Bonnier family. Background The company was founded in 1804 by Gerhard Bonnier in Copenhagen, Denma ...

. 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 ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. 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-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 (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

(1971–1983),

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

(1983–1997),

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...

(1992–1997),

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

(1980–1997), Kuopio (1996–1997) and

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

(1996–1997) with the intention of operating in all Finnish cities with higher education. These stores were transferred to Suomalainen Kirjakauppa 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 Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a '' quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordi ...

opened in 1992), while the others are in

Tapiola Tapiola (; sv, ) 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 Greater Helsinki. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from '' Tapio'', w ...

(opened in 1990),

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

(1983) and

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

(1982–). Previous locations included

(twice), Kuopio,

, Oulu,

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

ssa and

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...

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

References

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