I’ve been fortunate to design and implement the backoffice system for the Nokian Tyres’ winter campaign, www.trustthenatives.com (also .fi, .no, .ru and .se).
The campaign has sites in five languages, all served by the same infrastructure. The language is decided by the domain name, and the site addresses stay the same from language to language — text and some images change.
Having a single shared implementation saves a lot of time and effort in multilingual sites. The content comes from many different directions, so organising everything through one control panel is a must.
PO.P (for Polarn O. Pyret) is a Swedish originated children clothing store chain that has its Tallinn store in Kristiine shopping center, a few kilometers from the city center.
The PO.P clothes are traditional, very Scandinavic and relaxed. Their signature is a stripe pattern that you can find in almost any clothes they sell. The quality of the clothes is high and this is shown also on the price tag. PO.P in Tallinn is no exception to this rule, so don’t expect any savings by going there. Some of the items are worth the money, and during sale seasons you can make real finds.
www.polarnopyret.com, Endla 45 (in Kristiine shopping center), Tallinn, Estonia, +372 665 0527
Website:
Reserved stores resemble a bit H&M and Zara. They all sell fashionable clothes on reasonable prices for both sexes. Reserved differs from its competitors in geographical distribution; the stores can be found only in former Eastern Bloc countries. However, this does not make the stores any less captivating than their Western counterparts.
The garments and other stuff are designated for the young adults. The store we visited in Kristiine shopping center had a wide range of items available for both business and leisure. The prices were reasonable, and the designs fashionable.
www.re-reserved.com, Endla 45 (in Kristiine shopping center), Tallinn, Estonia, +372 665 0519
Once a while some page in Nomadig.com starts to attract spammers. Last week, a review of a good lunch restaurant in Emeryville was transmogrified to a spammer honey pot.
For reasons above my comprehension, that page is now responsible for 25% of all comment spamming attempts. The previous champion talks about ShortStat that was used as a mule for spam sites a couple of years back — so that’s understandable. But what on Earth is interesting in a restaurant for spammers?
No spam has slipped through, so no real damage has been done — but the spam comments are a nuisance to clean up periodically.
Tallinn seems to have a lot of midprice shoe stores. There are several Estonian or Baltic chains operating in the town. In Kristiine shopping center we spotted Suurtüki that lured us in with an excellent children shoe selection.
The big store is located on the second floor of the shopping center. They sell shoes and boots for ladies, gentlemen and children. There are also some accessories and bags on sale, but nothing else. The shoes are of fine quality and they look like having a good price quality ratio. Most of the brands were unknown to me, so this is a good store if you buying more the shoe and less the brand.
www.suurtyki.ee, Endla 45 (inside Kristiine shopping center), Tallinn, Estonia, +372 665 0334
Ivo Nikkolo is the only Estonian fashion designer that has had some international success, especially in the Nordic region. There are several shops in Tallinn selling his clothes, including one in the old town; we visited the one in Kristiine shopping center.
The style of Ivo Nikkolo is quite Scandinavic, functional and original. It is classical with a twist of modern trends here and there. The range caters everything from business to smart casual.
The shop is well laid out, stylish in the boundaries of the shopping center, and there is enough space to enjoy the shopping.
www.ivonikkolo.com, Endla 45 (inside Kristiine shopping center), Tallinn, Estonia, +372 699 9870
