About us

Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin was established in 1940 by Mr. Johannes Bjarnason. Prior to that, Mr. Bjarnason had started framing pictures and paintings at Laugavegur 53, with a staff of two. The year after, he moved the business to the cellar of Hotel Hekla where he stayed for the next three years, before moving to Hafnarstraeti 17, also in downtown Reykjavik. Finally, Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin moved to its current location in Hafnarstraeti 19 in the year 1972.

As the name implies in Icelandic, the mainstay of the business in the beginning was making frames and framing pictures. It was a small business in the beginning, but grew steadily after 1949 when Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin hired a trained frame maker from Germany. He worked at the company for two years, teaching the staff to make and decorate frames. Around that time, Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin bought specialized machinery for frame making. The business was booming at the time, but the frame making had to be on a large scale to be profitable. Ideally, the company would have needed to export its products. As time passed, the production of frames ceased, and the company focused on selling souvenirs, crafts and woolens. Those form the backbone of our business today.

As the business increased, Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin opened more retail outlets. In 1963, a shop at Hafnarstraeti 5 was opened, which was moved to the adjacent street, at Austurstraeti 3, in 1970. Around that time a small shop was opened at today's Radisson SAS Hotel Saga, and four years later another one at the Icelandair Hotel Loftleidir. Furthermore, in 1972 a shop was opened at today's Nordica Hotel. Today, Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin has one shop in the Reykjavik area; the one at Hafnarstraeti 19. The company also runs three stores at the Leifur Eiriksson Air Terminal at the Keflavik International Airport, one shop in Akureyri and one in Egilstadir.

The core of the business today is the running of shops that focus on selling souvenirs and woolens to foreign tourists in Iceland. A considerable growth has been in the production of crafts and artwork in Iceland in the recent years, and Iceland Giftstore / Rammagerðin has a great selection for sale from Icelandic artists and craftspeople. This has led to an interest among Icelanders themselves, who are important clients today in the market for these beautiful Icelandic products.

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