Fiskars

Fiskars Corporation (natively Fiskars Oyj Abp; formerly Fiskars Oy Ab until 1998) is a Finnish consumer goods company founded in 1649 in Fiskars, a locality in the town of Raseborg, Finland, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Helsinki. It is one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the world. Fiskars' global headquarters are located in the Keilaniemi district of Espoo, near Helsinki.

Fiskars is best known for its orange-handled scissors, which were originally created in 1967. Fiskars operates as an integrated consumer goods company and has two strategic business units – SBU Living and SBU Functional.

The company traces its origins to 1649, when a Dutch merchant named Peter Thorwöste was given a charter by Christina, Queen of Sweden, to establish a blast furnace and forging operation in the small village of Fiskars; however, he was not permitted to produce cannons. This makes it the oldest privately owned company in Finland. The furnace produced pig iron that was shingled to wrought iron in the finery forges powered by water wheels. In the early years, Fiskars made nails, wire, hoes, and metal-reinforced wheels from wrought iron.

In the late eighteenth century, copper was discovered in nearby Orijärvi, and thus the focus of production shifted to processing copper from the Orijärvi mine. For almost 80 years, Fiskars main source of business came from copper; however, by the nineteenth century, there was little copper left in Orijärvi. The original blast furnace was closed in 1802, marking the end of iron manufacturing at the village.

In 1822, the apothecary Johan Jacob Julin (later, von Julin) from Turku acquired the Fiskars ironworks and village. During this time, the ironworks were actively developed and production focused on processing iron. In 1832, the first cutlery mill in Finland was founded in Fiskars, with the company's production range increasing from knives to include forks and scissors.

In 1915, after Julin's death, Fiskars was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. In September 2015, Fiskars celebrated 100 years of being listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange, along with Nokia, Wärtsilä and UPM.

Fiskars is perhaps best known for its scissors, with their distinct orange-colored handles. The first pair was manufactured in 1967 and had prototypes with handles in black, red, green and orange. After an internal vote at Fiskars, the orange color was chosen. That same orange color, Fiskars Orange, was officially registered as a trademark in Finland in 2003 and in the US in 2007. In 1977, Fiskars founded a scissors factory in the United States to provide a basis for international trade and further expansion.

In 2007, Fiskars acquired both Iittala and Leborgne, which strengthened the company's position in the kitchenware and table-top categories, as well as the garden tools business. The acquisition of Royal Copenhagen in 2013 complemented Fiskars' tableware offerings with hand-painted porcelain and strengthened the company in the Nordic countries and in Asia. In 2015, Fiskars acquired the Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton group of companies, with its portfolio of luxury home and lifestyle brands.