One of my favorite activities to do while living in Finland was to go shopping at thrift stores. I nearly always found something exciting to get and as my family quickly figured out when they came to visit and pick me up, I was pretty successful at finding many good teaching items, home decorations, books/DVDs, and clothing items, many of which I did not want to leave behind in Finland. Good thing they brought nearly empty suitcases!
I think the reason thrift stores are so amazing in Finland is because in general Finns have less storage space for extra things and also perhaps a healthier approach to whether or not it makes sense to save something that ends up not getting used again (i.e. baby clothes, ill-fitting clothes, books and DVDs, etc.)
From what I observed during my time in Finland, there are several different types of thrift stores there. I have categorized them accordingly:
Aggregate
Organization run (red cross, church groups, salvation army, fida, etc.)
Recycling centers
Market square
Aggregate
Of all thrift store types, I was the most unfamiliar with the aggregate style set up, prior to moving to Finland - however, I found these to be the best type! What I mean by aggregate is that the kirpputori had individual booths identified by numbers and the items could all be very similar or quite different in each of these booths. Usually the items were a mix of items from the vendors' personal lives that they no longer needed. This often looked like books, clothes (especially for babies or children), games/toys, DVDs, dishes, and household decorations. A booth would usually not be bigger than 3 or so feet wide. A customer could shop freely, gathering from many booths in the kirpputori and when they checked out, they would pay the total. The kirpputori itself hung onto the tags or had a scanning system that would help them figure out how much money the booth renters would receive for their sold items.
Inside an aggregate thrift store in Finland, notice the booth layout
Inside an aggregate thrift store in Finland
Organization
Inside an organization thrift store in Pori, Finland
The organization run thrift stores often had items grouped by category. These stores also often had signs sharing images and words about how the money gathered went to serve the particular causes of the organization. Examples of things I purchased from this kind of thrift store are many children’s books and a light jacket.
Recycling Centers
The recycling centers had a lot of different offerings, including a section for newly created items made from recycled or upcycled materials. For example, I bought a shopping bag from the recycling center in Oulu that had reused some cloth that had been used for something else. I also got my awesome Norwegian bike from there. This was an example of a transaction where being able to communicate in Finnish got me a thank you. The bike salesman actually thanked me for speaking Finnish as an American. I knew from that experience alone, that my strategy to study in Oulu, instead of southern Finland - especially Helsinki - had been a solid one for improving my Finnish skills.
The BEST bike I have ever owned. It was 65 EUR and did a lot of my transportation heavy lifting in Oulu. Bikes are a main form of transportation in Oulu, so I was not that shocked when it unfortunately got stolen from the outside rack (cable lock bolt cut straight through) on Valentines Day 2015 — honestly filling out a police report at the station was one of the best parts. Luckily my friendship family loaned me a Finnish bike for the rest of the semester that I kept in my apartment when I was at home, so as not to get that one stolen too. Fun times!
This bag from the Oulu recycling center makes the best knitting tote!
Market Square
These thrifting opportunities were more elusive than the others as they were not certain week to week, but I noticed in both Tampere and Oulu that there were often people selling used items at the market squares from their individual tables. At these markets you could usually also get some different kinds of food and sometimes crafts that vendors had made. Usually the vendors either sold food, crafts, or used goods. I once bought a leather purse with a large S motif on it and also a few books.
Post-thrifting with my favorite companion, my little sister Katherine “Marjatta” Brauer - we enjoyed walking to the thrift stores together in Oulu
A thrift store find. I call it the kiuas candle holder, It is Muurla branded and I bought it in Pori at the Red Cross thrift store while visiting my librarian friend, Siina Vieri
What is your favorite type of Finnish thrift store? What treasures have you found on your trips to the thrift stores? Share about your finds below! Happy thrifting!
