Guest Post: Founder of Puotirundi, Titta Kyllönen, Color and Joy to Life!
Color and Joy to Life with Shop Tours!
We are fortunate to have the founder of Puotirundi, Titta Kyllönen, as this time's guest writer for Virkkukoukkunen's blog.
Have you already been on a shop tour? Virkkukoukkunen is also one of Puotirundi's destinations.
Titta describes the birth of Puotirundi like this:
"The idea for Puotirundi started from my own shop in Mäntyharju, when one day in January 2021 the day's sales were €7 – I thought there must be other shopkeepers who are struggling with their business. It would be good to collaborate, but how?
I was ranting about this at home to my husband, about what it would really be like for customers to go from shop to shop, this would be a bit like a new form of tourism. And my husband commented, 'That's a Shop Tour (Puotirundi)!' Well, from there I went to the Women Entrepreneurs group and other social media groups to ask if there was any idea in this, would customers be interested, would shopkeepers be interested. The avalanche was enormous, clearly such a service would be needed. Well, that's where it started to grow. At my own risk, I had websites made and set up social media channels. There were so many ideas that from February to April I worked on Puotirundi from 05-09, did my day job from 9-17, and then again in the evening from 17-21 on Puotirundi, I could hardly sleep because of the flood of ideas."
In Finland, we have many charming, personalized shops, but how to find them easily? Now it's convenient when you hop onto Puotirundi's website, www.puotirundi.fi, and pick a preferred search option. If you're planning to drive from one end of Finland to the other, the route search is the most practical, where you can add multiple waypoints. The search shows you destinations + 40 km off your chosen route, so you can plan and implement a more interesting travel route in advance. If you want to find the most interesting shops near a particular locality, you can do a location search.
You can also find a preferred shop through a sector search: interior decoration, natural cosmetics, clothing, handicrafts, ecological cleaning products, second-hand items, local food, and all sorts of other things can be found in Puotirundi's shops.
The most fun is probably to go on shop tours with your own friends, make a route plan in advance, and dash off to admire what all the shopkeepers have to offer. As the founder of Puotirundi, I've toured at least a hundred shops around Finland and have heard the most moving stories from entrepreneurs, seen persistent and hopeful shopkeepers with bright ideas. Also felt a sense of belonging as a similar small entrepreneur. Most of Puotirundi's entrepreneurs are women entrepreneurs, many of whom also sell products made by women entrepreneurs.
Do we realize how much these non-chain businesses enliven our country's cities, village roads, and countryside? Each entrepreneur has carefully considered how to decorate their shop, what products to include in their selection, how to showcase their handmade products, etc.
If we didn't have these bright spots, would we be in a slightly more dismal world, with only chain stores around us, all with the same products? Isn't it more meaningful to have a small conversation with the shopkeeper about the state of the world when making a purchase, rather than grabbing products into the shopping carts of large, faceless, global companies? Go out and tour around Finland with friends, maintain friendships, experience the beauty of the homeland, and at the same time visit the shops of hardworking domestic entrepreneurs.
Puotirundi marks your path.
Founder of Puotirundi, Titta Kyllönen
The southernmost shop currently is Popana in Tammisaari, the northernmost shop currently is Pirita Design in Sodankylä, and one right from the middle of that Hanko-Utsjoki line, Keltainen Kolibri in Haukipudas.
