We started in 2018 by importing all kinds of stuff that has since vanished into the void. The plan was to test and import everything ourselves, so quality and price would stay in check.
There wasn't much point. Hunting new products was a slog. The moment a good one turned up, Verkkokauppa.com had it too. Someone on Facebook would point out that eBay or Wish was cheaper, even when our price was the same once tax and customs were in.
Our own products made more sense. In early 2019 we met audio guru Jasse "Jazmanaut" Kesti. He had bought a pair we imported and wanted to improve them. Together we started designing Valco's own noise-cancelling headphones. Through 2020 everything else slid to the margins, and by November 2020 the company had shifted from shop to maker. The design is Finnish. The manufacturing is not.
Where did the name come from?
Valco Oy was founded in 1976, owned by the Finnish state, Salora Oy and Hitachi, with the state in the majority. The job was to make colour-television picture tubes with Hitachi's technology.
It was a Kekkoslovakia-era project: corruption, incompetent Social Democrats and Centre Party regional politics. It was never made profitable. Production at the Imatra picture-tube factory ended in December 1980, and more than 500 people lost their jobs. The adventure cost taxpayers roughly a billion markka. J. Juhani Kortesalmi of the SMP said Valco had been built for "decay, revelry, boozing and card-playing".
The name happened to be free, so we took it. Today's Valco and that one share the joke, not the factory. A product name or an ad may still wink at the original.
Vision
In our vision, people own decent, affordable audio products bought from us. We design them in Finland. They are made elsewhere. The money is supposed to build a Death Star, which is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company. Some of it goes to beer, child support, large gold watches, fast cars or needlessly large cars, and other necessities, before any star gets built.
Mission
We sell durable, affordable audio that improves listening and fattens the owners' accounts. Quality, repairability and sound come first. We treat you the way we would want to be treated. In the end we are building a Death Star (not the Walt Disney Company) and enslaving humankind, except our customers, partners and resellers.
Who runs this
Originally Henri from Oulu and Jani from Tampere. There are more of us now. The company is Valco Oy (2919697-5).
Letter mail only, not returns:
VALCO Oy
PL 1001
33721 Tampere
Phone: +358 8 666 0333
