In the 1940s, workplaces and working life were going through radical changes, just as they are today. The war had changed everything, and now reconstruction was proceeding rapidly, in Finland as elsewhere. Martela was established at this time, in 1945, in the midst of a desperate shortage of furniture. It started under the name Tehokaluste Oy.

The company's first office occupied one half of a room at Kaisaniemenkatu 4 in Helsinki. It had a rented telephone and a typewriter.
In the early years, Tehokaluste did not have its own factory but instead commissioned contractors to make its products. The company nevertheless displayed an innovative approach from the very start: it offered modern furniture, but it also engaged in direct marketing to businesses, took ergonomic considerations into account in its design and provided free interior planning services, which made it easier for the customer to purchase products.

More from our history

distributed by