exper i ence D E S I G N s h o p s
© kostas amoiridis
HELLOFROM
Founded: In 2017, by Konstantinos Drakotis. We spoke with: Founder Konstantinos Drakotis. My city: “Thessaloniki is a city of memories, with a multicultural background, an urban culture and a cultural history. We want to establish the souvenir as a reminder of an experience in this city, which is why our products are based on the three notions of country, city and memory. Our concept space – with the only product created by Coco-Mat that is sold outside the company’s own sales network, its amazing wooden bicycle, and with design creations by the design firm Beetroot (that also created the shop’s visual identity) – is a venue that aspires to become a guardian of Thessaloniki’s memories.” my work: “The souvenir market is an impulse market. You don’t buy a T-shirt because you’re short on T-shirts; you buy it to remind you of something. We keep classic Greece, that beautiful Greece, and redesign it with the designers for products that are conceived – if not made – in Greece.” Website: hellofrom.gr
FROM THESSALONIKI
Founded: In 2016, by Evangelia Giapountzi and Athanasia
Tsoukala. We spoke with: Co-founder Evangelia Giapountzi. My city: “Every time we’d come back from a trip to a big Western city,
we’d ask ourselves: ‘Why don’t we have a shop like that here?’ So, we decided to create From Thessaloniki, selling souvenirs made here, like T-shirts from the designer Yiannis Karlopoulos, lighting fixtures from dimmer, the lighting design company, and games based on the ancient gods and made by My Greek Games (Efi Karagouni and Christos Papachristou).” my work: “I’m very proud of the fact that we started this store, and not only to showcase our own designs but also those of brilliant artists working in this city and in the rest of the country.” Website: fromthessaloniki.gr
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