Storvreta

Storvreta is a locality in Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 6,347 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 15 kilometers north of Uppsala. Archeological investigations have found Stone Age and Bronze Age habitations and grave fields in the area. Although some of the graves found near today's village may be from the Mesolithic or Neolithic era, most of the habitable land had not risen from the sea following the most recent Ice Age until the centuries around 2000 BC. Johan Erik Blomqvist was the first of the village's industrialists; he moved to Storvreta in 1892 and initially manufactured furniture in his home. In the year 1900, Blomqvist built a furniture factory in central Storvreta and moved his production there. The Blomqvist factory manufactured furnishings for banks, shops and university departments.

In 1925, a desk manufactured by the company won a prize at the World's Fair in Paris, and following that, the Royal Court of Sweden and Nationalmuseum commissioned furniture from Blomqvist's. J E Blomkvist's son Jabez Blomqvist continued running the business after his father's death in 1949. In its heyday, the factory employed up to 50 people. Two roads in Storvreta have been named after J E Blomqvist, who in addition to his furniture making also worked as a lay preacher, and built a church for the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden in the village. Jabez Blomqvist retired in 1966 and the firm passed to another owner, who closed it down a few years later.