Interview with Peter Foberg

Prima pinaler

Peter Foberg runs the shop Prima Pinaler outside Stockholm and is an experienced exhibitor at the Antiques Fair.
Prima Pinaler’s specialty is completely unique radios that, despite their antique appearance, have been converted into modern and wireless Bluetooth speakers.
We had a chat with Peter.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I have been collecting beautiful and unusual things from the past since my teens.
In 2014, my storerooms were full to the brim, so I finally took action and started Prima Pinaler in an old industrial building in Mölnbo, just south of Stockholm, together with two friends.
Now I run it myself.
The business has slowly but surely grown and is today like a department store and a time travel in several floors.

You call Prima Pinaler a home improvement store.
Can you tell us a bit more about what you do?

We call it a home furnishing store because it has everything you need to decorate your home.
All kinds of household and decorative items from the period 1850-1950 are here.
Furniture, glass, porcelain, clothing, tools, clothes, textiles, household utensils, paintings, building care such as doors, windows, fittings, electricity, plumbing and more.
I have been involved in reuse for so many years and it is so wonderful to see how this trend is growing and growing.
It’s fair to the objects that get restored but also necessary to reduce the waste of resources.
The common thread in everything I sell can be summarized by the store’s motto, “Ugliness degrades the soul”.

Everything should be beautiful and beauty can be found even in the most mundane things.
I’m also trying to launch the hashtag #desirablereuse to describe what I want to offer my customers.

You are mainly known for upgrading older radios with new technology.
How was the idea born and what makes a Prima Pinaler device so special?

Over the years I have seen many beautiful radios that I have not bought because they are hardly sellable.
But they have wonderful designs and fine materials.
After a while, therefore, the idea of rebuilding them was born.
Through a mutual acquaintance, I met Krister Gustavsson (@kugghjulet_unikt_antikt) who had also seen the potential of old radios, and he had developed a reliable method for upgrading the devices to wireless speakers using Bluetooth.
Together we founded the Ljuv musik 2021 brand under which the wireless speakers are sold.

We play through the original speakers which gives a warm and nice sound.
The quality of the old speaker elements is unbeatable.
A finer radio in the 30s was an expensive status item that cost the equivalent of 12000: – in today’s money.
No expense was spared in either design or technology.
The new technology we put in is as simple as possible to use – you start the device and then you do the rest from the phone, which then becomes like a remote control that controls music selection and volume.
It’s a safe purchase, the devices are CE marked and we provide a 12-month warranty.
That’s what makes our speakers unique.

I personally think this is an excellent example of reuse and upcycling.
Not only do we reuse, we also reduce the need for new production and import of Bluetooth speakers, saving resources and transportation.
There are many beautiful radios in the country collecting dust in homes and in barns.
They are of little use because many are broken and those that work can rarely pick up the FM band.
So in this way, we are doing a cultural act together by giving them a second chance, bringing them into the present and putting them back in their place of honor in our homes.

The wireless speakers are only a small part of Prima Pinaler’s range, but it fits in well.
At the Antiques Fair, I only bring the speakers so they don’t get lost in the crowd of the other pinals.

What do you think is the best thing about Antikmässan?

Meeting so many nice people who, like me, are passionate about design from the past and who have realized that an old pinal is a thousand times better than a new one.

Want to know more about Peter and Prima Pinaler?
Visit his Instagram accounts @prima.pinaler and @ljuvmusik.