The Morakniv Eldris, a pocket-sized knife designed to bring fixed-blade strength to the everyday carry market, is the most anticipated knife from the stalwart Swedish company in years. It’s a colorful departure from their main product line which consists mostly of traditional, affordable, scandinavian-ground fixed blades, and it’s nearly here.

“I think it will be a very popular knife, certainly the most popular new product launch we have seen from Mora,” says KnifeCenter‘s Jason Kunkler. Ever since the Eldris was announced there has been speculation about its retail price, especially after it was announced that the new full-tang Morakniv Garburg would come in at over $100, which was more than some were accustomed to paying for Mora’s typically value-oriented products.

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The Eldris will be available either alone or as part of a kit that includes a firestarter, paracord necklace, and specialized sheath designed for neck carry. “The MSRP for the knife alone will be $29.99 and the neck knife version will be $49.99,” Kunkler told us this morning. KnifeCenter has since released their discounted prices on the blades.

The 5.6″ knife comes in a number of handle/sheath colors, and he advises that customers should pre-order if they want to lock one up. “We always strive to have plenty of product in our initial order, but this knife is kind of an outlier, and we may not get the quantities exactly right in every color and version,” he says.

Today, a retailer in Sweden reported receiving the knives which indicates it might only be a matter of weeks before the knives land in North America. 4/7/16 UPDATE: Morakniv just contacted us to report that due to final adjustments in production, delivery is unlikely to start before the early fall.

First Ever Morakniv Concept Store

In other Mora news, this morning the company announced the first ever Morakniv Concept Store. The store will be located in the heart of Mora, Sweden and is slated to open in the middle of May. Mora envisions the store as being a hub of activity, open seven days a week and offering knife carving instruction alongside products that complement Mora’s line of knives.

Like other knife manufacturers including Spyderco, Benchmade, and Zero Tolerance, Mora already operates a factory outlet store. The new concept store will be situated a mere 6 miles from Mora’s existing factory outlet store, located in the nearby village of Nusnäs. The store is part of the Nils Olsson Dalahästar factory who have used Mora knives for generations to carve colorful wooden Dala horses which have become a cultural symbol of Sweden.

The concept store will also feature the famous equine figurines, some of which will be carved on-site. “Joining forces with Nils Olsson felt very natural and we have collaborated in various ways for a long time,” says Henk Noback, CEO of Morakniv. “Then there are also our knives used to carve Dala horses, so the combination was already a given,” he says.

A video posted by Nils Olsson Dalahästar (@nilsolsson.se) on Apr 1, 2016 at 3:00am PDT

The company didn’t reveal if they are considering expanding the concept store to other geographies in the future. But in Mora’s announcement they referred to the new store as the “First Ever,” the implication being that there could be more coming.

Morakniv is not the first brand to turn to concept stores to offer greater brand engagement than a traditional, third party retail environment can provide. Nike runs a women’s concept store in the Fashion Island Lifestyle Center at Newport Beach, California that offers an in-store workout studio and personal training alongside their shoes and apparel. Apple’s wildly successful retail stores began as concept stores in just a few locations. The stores were so successful they were quickly rolled out to other geographies around the world and now account for a significant part of Apple’s sales.

Knife featured in image: Mora Eldris