”Mattocenter was established in 1972 and it has been owned by the family since then. Vahit was the first one of us to join the company. Tinet came in years later. Nowadays we keep the store together with the help of our three sons, who are eager to help as much as they can on the side of their studies.
We were both raised in entrepreneur families. As unbelievable as it sounds, our grandfathers were both traders, and our fathers were carpet dealers. Both of us being third generation entrepreneurs, carrying on the family business not only comes naturally but also feels an honor.
With the fifth decade Mattocenter is serving customers on Fredrikinkatu, Helsinki, the core idea of the company has remained the same. We have the vastest selection of high quality rugs in Finland: classic hand-knotted wool and silk rugs, nomadic rugs, kelims and a selection of modern wool rugs made by hand or machine.
Besides carrying a wide selection of rugs, we believe in hand-picking each rug ourselves to keep the selection unique. Since we have been collaborating with the world’s finest carpet producers for several decades, we can guarantee our product is the highest quality.
When a project has a tight schedule, our trusty network allows us to deliver large quantities of carpets within a small timeframe. Along with private homes, we supply carpets for offices, companies, hotels, museums and embassies.
Working with such a special product, we could not do our job well, if we did not have the experience and knowledge about rugs and their characteristics: materials, producing methods, origin, how they will age. This is our job so that our customers can focus on the most important thing, finding the piece that they love.
Sometimes the first rug a customer sees is the one they want. Sometimes we spend hours turning the piles and introducing different options, maybe stopping for a moment to recall what we have on our storage archive.
The honest joy that we feel when the rug is just right and the customer is happy, is the best reminder that running a store is worth the endless hours of work it takes, and that we really are in our dream jobs.”
– Shopkeeper couple Tinet & Vahit Wafin