The creator & hobby carpenter - two enTREpreneurs who found each other
When you step inside the doors of Almaform, the smell of freshly sawn wood hits you. Both the carpentry workshop and the office are inviting. The details show that nothing is left to chance.
That the company started is no coincidence. AlmaForm has all the building blocks needed to be successful. The skills and experience that the couple Alexandra Németh and Manfred Gottschlich have gathered, they have now with him into his newly started and joint company AlmaForm.
Manfred grew up in an entrepreneurial family and started working early in the workshop company that his parents started. He worked in production where he turned, welded, measured and designed. When the school day was over, he couldn't get to the workshop fast enough to work and the years in the family business were many. For the past 15 years, Manfred has been a co-owner and board member in, among others, O´Learys, Interoc and M.O.B.A.
His entrepreneurial skills have come in handy and yes, he finds it rewarding to work as a board professional. But he longed to get his fingers dirty again, even though over the years he had his own carpentry workshop at home and created various carpentry projects. It was time to return to the workshop again, where the result has now become AlmaForm.
Alexandra knew early on that her path was different from that of her parents, who are doctors - she is the creator of the family. Creating with color and form was a great passion even as a child and, like Manfred, Alexandra attended University of Life - ie started working straight after high school. The first job was at the photo model agency MIKAs, where she started and ran the People department for five years.
As a 24-year-old, she then started her first own company, Odds & Ends, where she helped private individuals with their newly purchased "Home Computers" (big and new in the 90s). The company also worked with installation and training in a booking system for modeling agencies - something that took Alexandra to London, Munich and Copenhagen. Once back in Stockholm, there were various advertising agencies, including many years at Lowe Brindfors. When the children arrived, she started her own advertising and web agency Grundform Sthlm AB, in order to be able to decide on her own time - and has worked with this company since 2003, mainly with graphic profiling, web pages and marketing. Something that comes in handy now with AlmaForm.
A whole
That Alexandra and Manfred decided to move in together in the summer of 2021 was the very starting point for AlmaForm - which they jokingly call their 5th child (they have 2 children each).
- Love, creativity and the will to do something together with the motto: "if you have never tried, you cannot succeed".
To succeed you need to dare - and there is plenty of courage in both Alexandra and Manfred. They are determined and ambitious, dare to invest and have visions for AlmaForm. In addition, they both love wood!
They have an overall concept that covers all parts: the creative, sales and entrepreneurial part. Eye for function and design. This combined with Manfred - the meticulous fine mechanic and Alexandra - the creative administrator. Then add their enthusiasm and knowledge of details with the desire to create stylish and exclusive products that not available in the trade. Then it becomes a whole.
Unique interior details in wood
Products are sawn, glued and sanded in the carpentry workshop. Cutting boards, sandwich boards, coasters, spice boxes, special orders in woods such as elm, walnut
The products that are manufactured are both unique and exclusive. Nothing is left to chance. The wood used for all products is handled and prepared in the best way and comes from sustainable forests with approved suppliers. No crooked products or cracks here either. Only the best quality of the best wood.
It's also fun that AlmaForm uses recycled wood that becomes new interior details. Old wooden items and furniture are recycled, processed and carved into the workshop. The result is new, exciting products to decorate the home with. The wooden panel from a 70-year-old barn has, for example, become part of a new checkout counter at the flower shop Blomsterpinglan.
The craftsmanship that AlmaForm stands for is genuine and modern at the same time. Modern because the way of production ensures quality and genuine because the products are made by hand, where both time and love are put into creating each product. Everything that is manufactured also has a meaning and function. Stylish and smart go hand in hand.
Please come and visit the carpentry workshop! Have a coffee. Feel, smell and look at the products. Think - maybe one of the items will end up in your home in the future. We hope so!
Facts & text: Ann-Sophie Gottryder
