Galery

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“I’ve lived in New York for 17 years and have always wanted to live in an old city and make a store. I found this one and bought it in 1992,” says the CD-shop owner. “It was in a very bad condition- when it was raining, water would run down the walls- but we fixed it. Since then I haven’t been back to America. I like it here-as long as the business is going. But we are to face big crisis- the work has decreased. My revenues have dropped half-down since last year. If I hadn’t bough the store, I wouldn’t be able to pay the rent. It incurs a lot of expenses- all the time, every day. We need patience. DVDs sell the most these days, more than all other things.”

He likes his job, but is thinking of switching to another field- “I am thinking of letting the place for out, for a tavern maybe. There were antiquarian shops next to mine, but when the owner renovated the house he kicked them away. Now the rent is €10 000 per month. It’s a lot of money.”

The Armenian Artin has a different story. For ten years he has been the owner of an antique store in Avisinia square. He knows the history of the neighborhood well and says that despite the crisis, which impact he feels for a year now, he has decided to keep his business. “Before 1990, stores around here were selling ironware; there weren’t goods of antique-value. Then a merchant came in the area and opened a store on the corner of “Athens” Ave and Monastiraki Square, which does exist any more. This is when antique shops began to emerge and reached their zenith after the war. At first they would sell old beds and home furniture, and later on they began selling antiques,” says Artin.

“I’ve been in Greece for ten years now and I opened the store by myself, led by my love for antiques. I sell small objects, things for the home and collectors’ goods- from the World War II, coins, stamps, old iron. There are collectors in Greece- no many, but they exist. I only work with Greeks; there aren’t any customers among tourists. The crisis, of course, has influenced our work too, since antique objects are a luxury rather than necessity. And the luxuries are the first thing to cut-off of your budget. We have been feeling the crisis since last year and we see that instead of improving, things become even worse.”