Fiksukyläkaupat expands: four shops now operate as franchises

Fiksukyläkaupat Oy is building a network of village shops in Finland by combining round-the-clock automation with franchising. According to an article published by Finnish financial news outlet Taloussanomat on 25 October, four of the eight recently established shops are company-owned and four operate as franchises. The chain aims to grow to around 20 village shops by 2030.

Half the shops are run by franchisees

Behind Fiksukyläkaupat is Risto Kortetjärvi, a 36-year-old engineer with a master’s degree in automation engineering. He has built the village shop network across Finland over three years. The Taloussanomat article names Taivalkoski as the latest location.

Franchising is not simply a future growth plan for the chain: it is already part of its operating model. The four franchised shops account for half of the eight-shop network described in the article. The other half belongs to Fiksukyläkaupat Oy. The network is therefore being developed through both company-owned shops and independent businesses.

Franchisees pay Kortetjärvi’s company a basic fee, plus a monthly fee for automation functions and the till system. This fee structure reflects the central role of technology: the franchise arrangement includes the systems needed for customers to shop. It is therefore not just a matter of trading under a shared name, but also of using the systems that run an automated shop.

For those considering Finland’s franchise market, Fiksukyläkaupat offers an example of a model that combines independent business ownership with grocery retail in small communities. The key point is that a franchisee network already exists: independent businesses are already involved in running the shops. The combination of company-owned and franchised outlets also distinguishes the chain’s growth ambitions from an expansion plan that relies entirely on recruiting new franchisees.

App-based access allows customers to shop at any time

Fiksukyläkaupat’s shops operate using automation, without permanent staff. They are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers register for the service through an app and can then shop whenever they choose.

According to Taloussanomat, the service already has more than 11,000 customers. This figure refers to the network’s customer base, not the number of customers at any individual village shop. Alongside the growth target, it shows that a sizeable group of customers is already using the automated shopping model. However, it should not be interpreted as a measure of transaction volumes or sales at any particular shop.

From the customer’s perspective, the concept’s most obvious feature is its opening hours. Shopping is not restricted to the hours when staff are present: customers registered through the app can choose when to visit. Registration is itself part of getting started with the service, making the initial experience different from visiting a shop that can be entered without an app.

For prospective franchisees, automation puts the systems covered by the chain’s fees at the centre of the assessment. The link between the monthly fee, automation functions and the till system is therefore an important part of evaluating the concept. Round-the-clock opening and the absence of permanent staff describe how the shop operates, but do not in themselves indicate the owner’s workload or the shop’s profitability.

Growth plans come amid a long decline in village shops

Fiksukyläkaupat aims to have a network of around 20 shops by 2030. In the Taloussanomat article, Kortetjärvi suggests that this target could be exceeded. This is his assessment of future growth, rather than an announcement of confirmed openings.

Compared with the current eight shops, the target would mean a network roughly two and a half times its present size. That represents substantial growth for the chain. The current equal split between company-owned and franchised shops describes the position today, but cannot be assumed to apply to the planned 2030 network.

The growth plan comes against a backdrop of long-term decline in Finland’s village shops. According to figures cited by Taloussanomat, Finland had around 3,400 village shops in the early 1980s, compared with about 150 today. Fiksukyläkaupat’s new outlets are therefore opening in a market where the total number of village shops is far smaller than it once was.

These figures put the chain’s plans into perspective. A target of around 20 shops does not represent a return to the village shop network of the past. It is a more limited effort to establish new shops through automation and partnerships with independent business owners. The chain’s progress is therefore best assessed through both actual openings and the performance of existing shops, rather than its target outlet count alone.

Company-owned shops’ results and what prospective franchisees should assess

According to Taloussanomat, Kortetjärvi’s own shops are expected to move into profit in 2026. This information applies to his own shops. It cannot be taken as an indication of the four franchise businesses’ results, or as a promise of profitability for a future franchisee.

Even so, the earnings outlook is an important development alongside the growth target. Expanding a network and making its shops financially viable are different things, and both matter when assessing the concept. In Fiksukyläkaupat’s case, the direction of earnings at company-owned shops offers another point to consider alongside the established franchise network and customer numbers.

Practical takeaway: anyone considering an automated village shop should establish what the basic and monthly fees cover, what responsibilities fall to the franchisee, and what the profitability projections look like for their proposed location. The chain’s growth target and customer numbers provide useful context, but a decision needs to be supported by shop-specific figures.