Etola-Yhtiöt
Etola-Yhtiöt is a Finnish group. We operate in several sectors including industrial products and supplies, building supplies, marine equipment, and household products. Our overall sales in 2023 are approximately 587 million euros, 80 % of which is comprised of industrial products and supplies. We are the largest and most diverse supplier in Finland in the industrial products and supplies sector.
Etra offers comprehensive solutions in industrial products and supplies with a basic range of over 300,000 standard products. The Etra range is supplemented with products from other Etola group companies in their specialist fields: Nestepaine in hydraulics, Tiivistekeskus in seals, Tiivistetekniikka in process gaskets, Foiltek in plastic sheets, Euro-Kumi in conveyor belts, and Etra Elektroniikka in electronic components.
We have joined together competence from several specialized technical fields and gathered them in a group working with a shared management system, which enables us to be the best possible partner for our customers. We source our standard products from the leading international manufacturers, and we have production services in Finland catering to customers needing customized products. The production services at Etola-yhtiöt employ over 300 people, enabling us to offer reliability also in custom-made products. Etra has efficient logistics in supplying international quality brands, which combined with our own production services form a base for our comprehensive customer service concept.
We are constantly developing our service performance, multi-channel service, efficient supply channel management and our comprehensive service concept. Our objective is to support our clients in their operations and performance with our efficient and competent products and supply services. As a Finnish family-owned company, we invest in Finland. In 2017, we expanded the Etra logistics center by 30.000 square meters and increased automation. We are continually developing our chain of stores, our logistics services, and our online services in order to offer the best possible customer experience. Staying true to our company values, we invest in sustainable solutions.
Reliability, high quality, customer-centered service, sustainable development, and building and maintaining our welfare society are important values for us – now and always.
HISTORY
The founder of Etola, August Etholén, worked in the 1930s as the sales director of the Savio rubber factory. Once Nokia rubber factory bought the Savio factory, the whole management team was let go. This was during the Great Depression, so jobs were scarce. As a father of six, Etholén had saved some capital for a rainy day, so he decided to employ himself and bought three rubber shops in 1932.
One of the shops was situated in Turku and two in Helsinki. One of the Helsinki stores, Iso Roobertinkatu, is still open today. Some years later, the business grew and Johan August Etholén started producing simple rubber items, such as rubber gloves, in the heart of Helsinki on Aleksanterinkatu.
This was the start of Etola group. Since then, we have grown further and today we employ over 1750 people, 100 of which are employed in the Etola Shops.
