Iittala factory shop – Bargain glass and tableware
Iittala, one of the best known Finnish design house, has a factory in Iittala, a small town north from Hämeenlinna. And not just the factory, but a host of other services, such as a factory shop.
If you have not visited yet in any Finnish design factory store, consider to do it. You can find world famous glassworks in decent prices. The stores sell also normal tableware and kitchen utensils, so they serve dual purpose.
The shop in Iittala is a middle sized factory shop. They stock all major series in all available colours — and some leftovers from series that are no longer made. The place is not dirt cheap, but you can make real finds with bargains or buying second quality stuff — usually you can find a few items that do not seemingly have any mistakes.
www.iittala.com, Iittala, Finland, +358 204 39 3512, shop.iittala@iittala.com
7 Comments
Leave a comment
Please be polite and use common sense when posting. Any comment is subject to removal. The e-mail address is required, but it is not shown to anybody else than the administrator.
Commenting uses Textile and your message is previewed below. Show Textile help
1. James Velasco — Thursday, Jan 28 2010
aside from their factory shop in Finland, do they also have a factory shop in China, Taiwan and Poland? Also, are these factory shops are open for factory visits for students who wants to see their production plants for their case studies?
2. Janne — Thursday, Jan 28 2010
James, I think that there are no factory shops outside Finland, as the company is pretty much Finland based.
3. James Velasco — Wednesday, Mar 31 2010
Hi Janne. i heard that the brand Iittala contracted a subcontractor/factories to create the Iittala products. Do you have an idea who are these subcontractors in China, Taiwan and Poland?
4. Rose — Wednesday, Mar 31 2010
Many of the companies in Europe as well as in the US are already outsourcing their production offshore. Even, known brands are doing it this way. From apparrels, baby products and household products are joining the band wagon. I believe known brands like Nike, Hunter, Maclaren already outsourced their production in Asia.
I am not exactly sure if they have their own factories in Asia or they use subcontractors. But come to think of it, their are a lot of good factories in Asia specifically in China and Taiwan so I feel that big companies need not to erect their own manufacturing facility on those countries. They can just use subcontractors for their production. I think it would be more cost effective for them this way for a variety of reasons.
5. Rose — Wednesday, Mar 31 2010
I will not be surprise if Iittala will join the band wagon. If I remember it correctly, I read on one article that Fiskar the company that owns the brand Iittala have a manufacturing facility in Taiwan and China.
I will try my best to look for the article where I have read this information and I will post it here
6. Janne — Wednesday, Mar 31 2010
For me, this move sounds a bit far-fetched, as Iittala has been rooted (in marketing and otherwise) quite tightly to Finnish heritage. It would sound like selling crown jewels…
On other hand, I think that pressure to make items cheaper builds up all the time in Finland. This is not a cheap country to make anything.
7. James Velasco — Friday, Apr 2 2010
hi Janne and Rose. Thank you for your thoughts.
The reason why I am eagerly want to get this information is because I am helping my daughter on her research project.
She is researching about glass companies and she chose the Iittala to report. The missing information from her report are the production plants location. She would like to tackle about big companies outsourcing their production in China, Taiwan and Poland.
If anyone you guys know about the name and address of Iittala subcontractors in China, Taiwan and Poland then please accept my thanks in advance.
Please help the research project of my daughter.