Mekanex celebrates 65 years as a supplier to Nordic and Baltic industry
But the company’s history began much earlier – in a toy store in central Stockholm, Sweden where designers started to use construction sets to test ideas and build prototypes. It became the starting point for a company that today works together with industrial customers throughout the Nordics and Baltics.
A toy store in Klarakvarteren
Mekanex's story begins in the mid-1930s in a toy and hobby shop on Drottninggatan 9 in the old Klarakvarteren district of Stockholm, Sweden. For more than three decades, the store became one of the city's largest and most well-stocked of its kind, before it finally closed in 1965.
The store sold technical kits and toys from Meccano, Märklin and Faller, products that attracted both hobby builders and tech-interested youth.
When engineers started building prototypes
After World War II, it became increasingly difficult for designers to get hold of mechanical components. Many therefore turned to the toy store on Drottninggatan and started using technical construction sets – primarily from Meccano – to build prototypes for machines and industrial projects.
This is also where Mekanex's history actually takes off. The similarity in names between Mekanex and Meccano is no coincidence. The classic construction sets became a practical tool for engineers who needed to test ideas and mechanical solutions, and thus came to play a small but important role in the company's origin.
Mekanex Maskin AB is formed
The need for real industrial components grew rapidly, and in 1961 Mekanex Maskin AB was formed in Sweden. The purpose was to be able to offer Swedish industry both components and expertise to design increasingly advanced and automated machines.
A company that has grown with the industry
Today, 65 years later, Mekanex is still an independent and privately owned company. We work closely with the industry in the Nordics and the Baltics, and contribute to many different companies to develop further.
Our customers are found in a variety of industries, from forestry and mining to pulp and paper, packaging and the energy sector. We also collaborate with companies in the automotive industry, food and pharmaceutical industries as well as with many independent machine builders around the region.
Many of our customer relationships also stretch back several decades – something we are both proud of and very grateful for.
Local presence in the Nordic and Baltic countries
Today Mekanex has its head office in Sollentuna, just north of Stockholm, Sweden. From there we work together with our sales offices in Finland, Norway, Estonia and Latvia.
The Finnish operation was established as early as 1985 and had for a long time both a sales office and a warehouse. When a new head office and central warehouse were built in Sweden in 2009, the Finnish warehouse was moved there, and the office in Lohja, northwest of Helsinki, functions today as a sales office.
The Norwegian operation started in 1987, and in 2005 a branch was established in Tallinn, Estonia. Our latest establishment occurred in 2025 when we opened an office in Riga, Latvia.