Gender Male
Josef Lassila (b. 1863, Lassila 25) moved to Vaasa in 1886. There he went to work for Carl Finnilä's large wholesaler and became the director of Ähtäri's Myllymäki branch. There, Josef hired Frithiof Tikanoja (Tikanoja 12) from Kälvi. In 1905, the men founded a successful company in Vaasa, which became Lassila & Tikanoja. The company
was once the largest private wholesaler in the Nordic countries. It specialized in textile wholesale and later expanded into the clothing and footwear industry. At its best, Lassila & Tikanoja had industrial operations in almost twenty locations in Finland. The most well-known brands were Tiklas suits, shirts and blouses as well as Topman shoes. Exports accounted for more than 50 percent of net sales since the 1960s and the company had significant operations in several European countries. The listing of Lassila & Tikanoja's shares on the Helsinki Stock Exchange began in 1961. Today, Lassila & Tikanoja Oy's business area is Environmental Management and Real Estate Services. Josef Lassila's father, Erik Lassila, was a prolific watchmaker and a shop steward involved in many things, his mother was Kaisa Sakarintr. Honkala.
