Global Convenience Store Focus

One Off: Greek Store Targets Busy Mothers

Global C-Store Focus has teamed up with Clare Dowdy, author of independent retail design book, One Off, to showcase individual and cutting edge food stores from around the world. First up is Greece’s modern-day grocer-cum-deli, Bakaliko.

Bakaliko was launched in Athens in 2004 by Maria Cousta to provide meal solutions for busy, working mums and to tap into Greek nostalgia for old-fashioned local grocery stores or bakalikos.

“Everybody’s overworked, especially mothers, so the less time they spend in the kitchen, the better for them,” says Cousta.

Her concept was for a shop selling food that looked homemade.

According to Dowdy, Cousta’s store is a modern-day take on the traditional bakaliko and its arrival has been timely.

“The original bakalikos are slowing becoming a dying breed in themselves,” says Dowdy.

According to Red Design Consultants, Bakaliko’s branding agency in Athens, the concentration of people and financial capital, increase in affluence, establishment of mass consumption, as well as the arrival of large supermarket chains, have all had a negative impact on the more personalised and community-driven bakaliko stores.

Cousta’s store sells locally made products, presented in own-label packaging. There are also dishes made on site, which can be taken away, such as potato salad and stuffed peppers. And, there is a small restaurant at the store, where shoppers can sample the wares.

“Bakaliko is about taking popular traditional Greek food and making it contemporary,” says Rodanthi Senduka, a partner at Red Design Consultants.

The interior design, packaging and in-store graphics have all been created by Red Design Consultants and incorporate a cat motif – a nod to the traditional bakalikos, which were typically home to a cat.

Other graphics feature retro-style images, drawing on popular Greek television programmes and black and white films.

The fixtures and fittings feature distressed wood and furniture covered with fabric printed with the same TV graphics.

The point-of-sale materials are makeshift too – prices are marked on cards pegged onto string and chalked on blackboards – harking back to the traditional bakaliko interior.

Cousta claims she has uncovered a gap in the market, selling Greek specialities alongside ready-made food and sandwiches and her customers are locals and expats.

Since the initial store opened in Athens, Cousta has added two branches to her empire – another branch in the capital and one in the seaside resort of Porto Heli – and is setting her sights on international expansion.

Dowdy reports Cousta’s dream is for a Bakaliko in every city, including London and New York, and believes the design has potential to travel.

One Off by Clare Dowdy is published by Laurence King Publishing Ltd and priced at £30. To order a copy, visit www.laurenceking.co.uk