The original village shop, founded by Toivo Keskinen, now serves as a coffee shop. Photo from year 1969.

This is how it all started
The great, great grandfather of the present merchant Vesa Keskinen, Kustaa Keskinen, travelled around southern Ostrobothnia in the 19th century selling all kinds of small items. Kustaa’s son, Matias Keskinen continued his father’s life work as a peddler.

Matias, however, died fairly young entrusting his 17-year-old son Toivo the support of the family. Toivo handled his responsible duty perfectly by following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a peddler.

After the wars Toivo Keskinen established the first stationary shopping place in Tuuri in 1946.In 1969 Toivo Keskinen moved his shop to the place where it still is. Toivo’s sons, Matti and Mikko Keskinen, bought their father’s company, T.M.K. Keskinen, in 1976 and changed the name to Veljekset Keskinen (= Brothers Keskinen) Ltd.

In 1986 Matti’s brother Mikko sold his share to Matti after ten years of making business together. Matti’s son Vesa Keskinen started to work in the VillageShop in 1987 and graduated “the only VillageShop school of Economics” in the world having father Matti as a “teacher”. Matti promised to concentrate on his beloved hobbies from that moment on, but once a merchant always a merchant and Matti is still pretty often seen on the aisles of the store and he participates actively in business actions, too.

Vesa Keskinen - being a man with lots of new ideas and having no prejudice what so ever - brought with him a new way of thinking: Veljekset Keskinen will not be just a store, it is also to become a tourist attraction without comparison with its unique events and atmosphere.