People in Haparanda share a border with sister town – Tornio – in Finland, and also a common mindset, which is characterised by our motto: på norrländskt vis – the Norrlandic way.
Up here, people do things slowly, carefully, properly – and that’s how we make our bags, på norrländskt vis.
We’re a tiny company – the very opposite of corporate ‘Made-in-China’. We do things the expensive way, but the right way: EU-made, fully lined everywhere, top materials. Surely there’s space in the market for bags made without compromise?!
We manage to make the economics work by having a limited range of bags, in black (aside from some special-edition colour runs now and again), and by having a very small organisation. Haparanda is a company that has matured from a hobby business. We have the same vision, love and values as from Day 1.
Sometimes you’ll see bags sold out. We’re going to stay small, we’ll never sell out to a big corporate owner, and that’s part of our charm. Idealistic is difficult when you need to sell tens of thousands of bags – but when you only need to sell enough to keep a stable, secure, fun business running, one can afford to do things without cutting corners.
I really hope that you like our bags! They are genuinely made with love on a very small scale. So much has gone into every tiny detail, I just can’t see how they could be of any higher quality. Wear a piece of Northern Swedish culture every day.
/James