Pikkulinna is a little shop in downtown JKL on Kauppakatu, 17.
It's a great little store - packed with yarn, sewing machines (they have a "SINGER" sign hanging outside - so you cannot miss it..it's near the Town Church), threads and a bunch of other things that seamstresses and knitters will enjoy.
I have never bought yarn there, as I am a huge fan of
Poppeli - as you probably already know. So I can only tell you that they appear to have a wide selection - but how much of it is acryllic or American branded - I don't know. Their display windows rarely change (Pikkulinna) and to me, it's more of a "sewing store". And you know me, if you read my
other blog, I don't sew much at all. I'm learning - but I'm not the biggest fan.
One major difference between Poppeli and Pikkulinna, is that I get great customer service and don't feel like I'm being watched or accused (silently) of stealing, when shopping at Poppeli. And I'm not saying this because I am good friends with the lady who runs Poppeli - but this has stemmed long ago, from almost 2 years ago, when we first moved to Finland.
I recall walking into Pikkulinna thinking, "WOW! A yarn store! And if I learn how to sew - perfect! Two birds with one stone! Fabulous!"
I merely walked in, purchased some wool (not yarn but dyed wool for felting) and left. Nothing fabulous about the service - a basic greeting, no thank you and no good-bye.
I assumed this was "the Finnish way" - until I went to Poppeli and found out the owner speaks English (a little, but much more now that we chat regularly!) and seemed so social and friendly! Immediately upon walking in the store, I am greeted with a "Hello" and after a few seconds, asked if I needed anything or was looking for something special. If I'm just looking - I say so and am free to go about the shop and look. There's no pressure to buy, the atmosphere is light and happy - and I know, if I
do change my mind about something - I can always ask for help. I get a warm thanks for my purchase and a cheerful "See you later!" (Even if I don't buy anything!)
Two years later, this service still remains - despite us being great friends, I'm still a customer and it's great to see it that way in small businesses!
Now, onto the service of Pikkulinna as of July 2011.I recently started taking up cross-stitching, as I find it very therapeutic being able to make something for my son
(an alphabet and animal sampler/photo with his birth information) and love being able to see INSTANT results. I'm hoping he cherishes it, as much as I love making it for him.
Anyways, I luckily had a piece of cross-stitching material with me from Canada, along with some embroidery thread from when I first moved here (I wasn't much of a knitter back then) - but couldn't find the threads. So I went shopping downtown and the only store that had them was Sinooperi.
Sinooperi is a chain craft store throughout Finland and is a bit pricey. Each color was about 1,70� - but considering the taxes are included in the prices - I figured fine. I'll pick a few basic colors and go from there.
A few days later, I thought of Pikkulinna and my friends mentioned I should be able to find more colors and material there! Sounds good to me!
So I went there 2 weeks ago by myself with a pattern book in hand, to see what colors I needed for my sampler, and the young girl working there
hounded me. It was
the worst shopping experience ever.
The embroidery threads are hanging on a spinning cylinder with hooks very close to the door - about 3 feet away from the door, and I was the only customer there at the time. The worker didn't smile, but merely greeted me in Finnish and asked if I needed help. I smiled, replied in English that I was doing fine and just looking - but thank you.
She continued to stand there and stare at me... If it looked like my eyes were shifty and like I was a little nervous - it's because it was over 25*C outside, no air-conditioning in this small store and I felt like I was doing something wrong! I made sure my bag I had with me was zipped closed after I pulled out my book and tried my hardest to ignore her.
After I picked a few colors (
they are cheaper than Sinooperi by 30 cents or more) - I thought that I would try a different tactic and give her something to do - so she didn't feel threatened by me and to prove that I'm not there to steal. I asked about cross-stitching fabric and she hopped right to it - although like I was asking her to climb to the top of the Town Church steeple to get it. Just very dreary and monotone-ish.
Fine - perhaps that is her general attitude.
I pay and she thanked me and I left.
Stupid me. I went back (and probably will continue to do so to save money) because they have a great color selection and because it's much cheaper than Sinooperi...and la-dee-dah. The same lady is working there...
BUT! I'm not the only person in the shop - so perhaps she'll be busy and not stare me down and drill imaginary holes in my head.
Same thing, I walk in - I immediately take 5-7 steps forward to the stand of embroidery floss and she asked in English if I needed anything. I smiled at her and said no thanks. I even thought to bring a tiny travel purse with me and showed her my plastic container of already wound bobbins. "I just need some new colors - that's all."
She said fine and walks away...WOW. This is great! I can shop without feeling her breathe down my neck!
Wrong.The other customers left, shortly after I arrived, and here we are - back at square one. Although, perhaps because I came back so quickly - she's starting to "trust me". She was at the cash register, fiddling with things (I didn't dare look or else I'm sure she'd be in my pocket) and staring at me.
I had a clear plastic box with already wound bobbins and kept looking over my glasses at the rack so I could see the true colors (I have those glasses that turn into sunglasses outside) - and could feel like I was being accused of stealing again.
After making my purchase, I left feeling as if it's because "I'm a foreigner" and that's why I'm getting this over-the-top attention.
I immediately consulted my other knitting and crafting colleagues that are Finnish and one said, "Oh I know the owner - she's an older lady and very traditional. So she probably taught all of her staff to be weary of those that are not - um you know, Finnish." (AKA me).
Another friend said, "Oh she's like that with everybody...that girl doesn't know how to back off. It's not because you're a foreigner...well, maybe not too much."
My response to my friends was, "It doesn't make me want to go back! How can they keep customers by doing this (foreign or not)?! I almost felt like stealing - just so she would have something to do."
(Please note the sarcasm. I do not and will not steal.)Great.
I know I should expect this kind of treatment because very traditional and old Finns can come off as racist (or even a little bit) - I've had Finns tell me this.
And yes, I
have worked in the retail industry - both chains and small businesses - so I do understand that every item stolen or misplaced - is another few bucks gone down the drain and one less customer.
I appreciate what this lady is trying to do for her employer - but it's gotten to the point, that I don't want to shop at Pikkulinna anymore. Even if it saves me another 30 cents per colored thread...and it's clearly gotten me so upset - I wrote this huge blog post about it.
If it happens again, that I am hounded down or alienated by their staff in this fashion - I
will be writing a letter of complaint to the owner and having it translated in Finnish as well. There is absolutely NO NEED to treat someone like this at all - unless you have concrete evidence that the person is stealing or has stolen from you before.
Okay, I'm done...thanks for listening!
(And have any of you non-Finnish people experienced this kind of treatment and where?)
