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15
stores
250
retail chains
3
cafés
9
cities
4500
books sold daily
113
years of operation
Our story
Rahva Raamat is a book business with a long tradition, which has been operating in Estonia since 1912. Today, Rahva Raamat has sixteen stores in nine different cities, but it all started with the brave intention of one man to do business with his publishing house's books and office supplies.
Since 2022, Rahva Raamat has been part of the largest private equity fund in the Baltics, BaltCap, which also includes other reputable Estonian companies such as Weekend, Piletilevi, Tradehouse, and many others. With the support of BaltCap, we have gained even more momentum in our activities and made people's reading and listening choices more diverse and accessible.
Our Mission
The mission of Rahva Raamat is to share knowledge and the joy of discovery.
We will work hard so that people would read more, and that their picture of the world will become richer.
Our Vision
The vision of Rahva Raamat is to be the most reader-friendly bookseller in Europe.
Our bookstores are the coziest, customers are the most satisfied, and we are the trend setters of our field.
Our Values
Commitment: We firmly stand for the Estonian culture and language. For us professionalism and dedication to books are important. We are involved and a supporter of local communities.Passion: We love books and our work. We value experiences and emotions, customer and employee satisfaction, and joy in all our endeavours.
Innovation: We feel it is important to be ahead of the times and to act with long-term goals in mind. We are ambitious, desirous to inspire our customers both in bookstores as well as in the virtual world.
Reliability: We have a century of experience in mediation of culture and knowledge, an effective interface between the reader and the author. We are honest and accurate and deliver on our promises.
1912
In the lot between Suur-Karja and Jaani streets was completed the building of the Tallinn Mutual Credit Association designed by the famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. At the time, this was one of the most outstanding buildings in Tallinn. In 1912, in this building opened the doors also of the Gustav Pihlakas book and stationery shop.
1920
The shop of Gustav Pihlakas was replaced by the publishing company “Rahvaülikool".
1935
The newspaper "Vaba maa" points out that the biggest bookstores in Tallinn are the "Rahvaülikool", "Päevaleht" and Kaiser Mann stores.
1938
This building housed as many as three books stores: besides OÜ “Rahvaülikool" were also the stores of Tallinna Eesti Kirjastusühisus and the publishing house OÜ “Kultuurikoondis".
1940
Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union, the publishing houses together with the bookstores belonging to them were nationalized and were transferred to the State Publishing Centre.
1962
The Bookstore No 1 was named Rahva Raamat (People’s Book).
1990
Rahva Raamat located in Pärnu mnt is privatized.
2003
12,000 signatures are collected against the closure of Rahva Raamat, a meeting and poetry evening are organized.
2004
Rahva Raamat is purchased by Ekspress Grupp, who six years later sells it to its then executive management.
2004
In Viru Centre opens its doors an 800 square meter flagship store of “Rahva Raamat”, which extends by half in 2008, and in 2014, by another 200 meters.
2005
Rahva Raamat launched its online store.
2006
Rahva Raamat opens its doors in Viljandi.
2008
Rahva Raamat opens its doors in Tartu, in Rocca al Mare shopping center, and in Ülemiste City.
2009
Rahva Raamat opens its doors in Pärnu.
2010
Rahva Raamat is opened in Kuressaare.
2012
Rahva Raamat celebrates its 100th anniversary.
2013
Mustika store opens its doors in Tallinn.
2014
The shop of Rahva Raamat in Narva opens its doors.
2015
Rahva Raamat opens its tenth store in Rakvere and the stores have a total of ten kilometers of bookshelves.
2015
The app of Rahva Raamat is launched.
2016
The Rahva Raamat Viru store was chosen as one of the world's four best bookstores at the London Book Fair. With this, Rahva Raamat also won the title of Estonian Trade Fair of the Year.
2016
Rahva Raamat won the title of the most user-friendly e-store.
2017
Rahva Raamat opened a cozy gift shop on the ground floor of Rocca al Mare Center, where you can find special gifts for yourself and your loved ones.
2018
Kantar Emor asked Estonian residents to recall recent shopping or service experiences in trade, and to assess how satisfied they were and what feeling that experience left behind. Bookstores can offer the most positive emotions among the more mentioned shops and the highest score was awarded to Rahva Raamat.
2018
Rahva Raamat eStore won the most user-friendly e-shop title in the hobby category.
2018
Kantar Emor asked Estonian residents about their opinion on brands in the field of culture and education. It became clear that besides the University of Tartu and Estonian Television, the most beloved brand is Rahva Raamat.
2019
Rahva Raamat opened its first restaurant and shop in Telliskivi.
2019
Rahva Raamat eStore won the most user-friendly e-shop title in the hobby category.
2019
The renewed Old Town Rahva Raamat is reopened — Estonia's oldest bookstore now has a stylish café.
2019
Rahva Raamat is opened in Jõhvi.
2020
The Rahva Raamat Old Town store was chosen as one of the world's three best bookstores at the London Book Fair.
2020
Telliskivi Rahva Raamat turned into a cosy restaurant LITERAAT, where you can still find a large selection of books.
2021
The renewed website of Rahva Raamat was launched in summer, and at the end of the year we opened our renewed and largest bookstore in Viru Centre.
2021
The renewed app of Rahva Raamat is launched.
2022
The renewed Rahva Raamat Viru store was chosen as the best bookstore in the world at the London Book Fair.
2022
At Äripäev's e-commerce UX conference, Rahva Raamat's online store won the title of "Most user-friendly online store of 2022" in the category of sports, books and games.
2022
Rahva Raamat was the first to launch an Estonian e-book app, which allows the user to listen to an unlimited number of books that are narrated by various actors or the authors themselves.
2023
Rahva Raamat's e-store won the title of the best online store in Estonia in the hobby category, as awarded by The Estonian Ecommerce Association, as well being recognized as the best online store by Inbank.
2023
At Äripäev's e-commerce UX conference, Rahva Raamat's online store won the Grand Prix title of "Most user-friendly online store of 2023", in addition to special recognition for the most user-friendly online store in the category of sports, books and games.
2023
Rahva Raamat is opened in Võru.
2024
Rahva Raamat's e-store won the title of the best online store in Estonia in the hobby category, as awarded by The Estonian Ecommerce Association.
2024
Rahva Raamat SISU is opened in Kristiine Keskus.
2024
Rahva Raamat is opened in Arter quarter.
2025
Rahva Raamat is opened in T1 Mall of Tallinn.
Rahva Raamat has the best bookstores in the world!
In 2022, the LBF International Excellence Awards selected Rahva Raamat in Viru Keskus as the best bookstore in the world, and in 2020, the Rahva Raamat in Old Town/Vanalinn was given the honor of being selected as both one of the three best bookstores in the world and the best bookstore in Europe.
Rahva Raamat's vision is to be Europe's most reader-friendly bookseller. Our bookstores are the coziest, our customers are the most satisfied, and we are leaders in our field.
Join us
You may not have known that in addition to its stores, Rahva Raamat also serves the largest retail chains in Estonia: Selver, Prisma, Kaubamaja, Rimi, Maxima, Coop Eesti, as well as most Estonian libraries and bookstores. Our goal is to be the flagship of the Estonian book business — with a well-known brand, a wide range of products, a cozy environment and the best customer service.
Your desire to get involved in the book business matters, and from this a new and charming chapter in Rahva Raamat can begin!
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Rahva Raamat AS, 10421903, Telliskivi 60/2 (I-building), Tallinn, 15073, Estonia