Från krisår till välfärd – hantverkare och köpmän i Ekenäs centrum 1940–2000

Author: Anita Valtonen
Pages: 472 pages
Binding type: Hardbound book
Publication year: 2018
Från krisår till välfärd – hantverkare och köpmän i Ekenäs centrum 1940–2000 is a continuation of Lefve konkurensen (2017) and documents craftsmen, shops and companies in Ekenäs city center from 1940 to 2000.

The post-war period was filled with optimism and faith in the future, despite the fact that access to goods was scarce. In Ekenäs, new neighborhoods were developed and the number of inhabitants increased. Businesses in the center increased and neighborhood shops were opened in the various neighborhoods.

The positive development continued until the 1970s when the first signs of decline began to appear. The neighborhood shops began to close down and a concentration of the food trade led to some of the small milk and food shops starting to disappear from the street scene. 

New buying habits became common as people became increasingly mobile through increased private motoring. Many moved part of their trade to the larger neighboring towns where the department stores had a larger selection of goods. Also in Ekenäs, attempts were made to concentrate trade in business centers, but those attempts did not turn out well. 

Despite everything, there were still many viable businesses in the center of Ekenäs in the 1990s. But the move of the large grocery stores away from the absolute center of the city contributed to the beginning of an impoverishment of the center.