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A few years ago, brick-and-mortar retailers were launching ecommerce Web sites left and right. Today, the Minneapolis furniture e-tailer, FinnishGifts.com is doing the same thing in reverse.
After three years of online retailing, the company is opening a physical store, FinnStyle, in the Warehouse District.
The company sells Finnish style furniture and glassware. It has achieved, double-digit growth strictly through online sales, according to CEO Ben Horn. Horn says he decided to open a brickand-mortar store because the company has more diverse products today, making a showroom more necessary. In addition, more people have requested to come by and look at products in person.
"We weren't set up for that," Horn said.
Horn got the idea for the company when he traveled to Finland as an exchange student in the mid- 1970s. He quickly fell in love with Finnish design - a look that features clean lines, lightcolored wood and fluid glasswork. He later opened a computer software business and sold it in 1997.
"Once you have your own business, it's hard to work for other people," he said.
"I hadn't really done anything on the Internet, and I really like Finnish design. It's amazingly easy to get started with a retail Web site. There are places where you sign up, pay a monthly fee, fill in the blanks [and have] an e-commerce site. That doesn't mean you'll be...