Our story – Traditions since 1927

An honest, sustainable, local small manufacturing, which values the Nordic footwear culture.

1927

The long history of our family business was founded by great-grandfather Peeter, who started as a shoemaker in Vastseliina in 1927. The first workshop was located in his home, where everything needed, from cuts to moldings, was set up next to the Singer machine with embarrassing precision. His handiwork was highly valued. All the shoes, which were usually brought only for trampling, first underwent a thorough cleaning, and then any possible defects were repaired, and the wearer was returned as good as new shoes. Naturally, all customers could also order shoes that exactly fit the shape of their feet.





1993-1996

… two generations have past, the year is 1993 and everything is promising. The company Ritico OÜ is established, and Peetri’s grandson Rait sets out to bring new shiny shoes to Estonians. However, this is not enough, and in 1996 Rait starts the production of gym slippers with a couple of seamstresses and a sewing machine in the premises of an old printing house in Võru, because it seemed like the right thing to do to really create value yourself. Traditions continue. Initially, there was a demand for such slippers in Finland, but Estonians also gradually started to show interest in the product, even though at first this pair of slippers seemed quite expensive in the store. However, the decision was made and 1996 gym slippers under the HipHop brand were “talked into” the shelves of stores in Estonia.







1997-1998

Consistency leads to success. It seemed that what was made was well received, because satisfied customers were added every day, and new products were also constantly requested. So we had to find more helpers and we had to move to a bigger building. In 1998, the old radio station in Kirumpää was renovated, and by 2000, 25 people were working in the company. Warm slippers and insoles were soon added to the gym slippers. In 1998, a sole sewing machine was specially delivered from England to make sandals. Although at the same time there was an opportunity to offer our work to more well-known and larger brands, we still thought that our way was more correct, and in 1998, the slippers, sandals and insoles we made were given the OmaKing brand name.









1999-2006

The years 1999-2006 were fast-paced and one might even say stormy, we grew quickly and multiplied our production volumes. Our products also found their way out of Estonia, OmaKinga and HipHop shoes were on sale on store shelves in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as in distant countries such as Greece. Annually, we produced an average of 130,000 pairs of gym slippers, 30,000 pairs of women’s and men’s slippers, 10,000 pairs of sandals and 300,000 pairs of insoles. Our desire to keep up with the times and not to rest on our laurels was also shown by the fact that, for example, the company’s first website was ready already in 1999, but it still took a few years before the first internet purchase.







2007-2013

A number of changes were taking place in the environment around us – buyers moved more and more to the Internet, the origin and manufacturing method of products became more important, consumers’ environmental awareness grew, and even more attention was paid to the quality of products. Fortunately, we had always considered these topics important to us, so we just had to continue in the chosen direction and simply listen to the customer even more. It is no less important that in the midst of great growth we adhered to the principle that production must remain in Estonia in order to continue to contribute to the development of the Estonian economy and community. The above naturally forced us to constantly look for ways to be sustainable as a company. We continued to develop the e-shop, we paid even more attention to our customer’s wishes and product design, and of course we had to keep the quality high. Fortunately, our brands OmaKing and HipHop had already become well-known on the market, some products even became classics, which helped us survive even more difficult years thanks to loyal customers.









2014-2020

There are new winds. Liis, Peetri’s great-great-granddaughter, joins the management of the company. There are many thoughts, the will is great. On the one hand, it is necessary to continue to maintain important values for the company over the years – such as quality, comfort of shoes, environmental friendliness – but at the same time give everything a newer, more modern, new breath that works today. In order for the skills of our artisans to be properly appreciated, we started looking for a way to further value our shoemaking skills and traditions. The new brand TOKU was breathed into life this time.