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Some of us like watching old movies, some of us fundamentally dislike it. I am somewhere in the middle of this acceptance-rejection, it all depends on the state called by the mysterious word – mood. For example, last week, completely unexpectedly for myself (I did not intend to, honestly) I re-watched the film “You’ve Got Mail”. A wonderful tandem – Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, a simple, but very warm and kind plot, interspersed with bites of small business by large, the resilience of small business in the fight for the right to take its place “under the sun”. And the Shop Around the Corner – cute, smelling of childhood and delicious grandma’s pies, which you happily gobble up and listen, listen to the fairy tale. Here are shelves of interesting, bright and mysterious books, burning lanterns and glowing garlands (Christmas Eve), breathtaking toys and a box of paper handkerchiefs – suddenly you are overwhelmed with feelings and want to cry. Memories came flooding back unexpectedly, a slight nostalgia pinched me, and a box of tissues would have come in very handy. It was the end of the nineties of the last century, I can’t get used to it. Today you often hear that those were wild years, with the rise of crime, the redistribution of property and spheres of influence, the rise of some and the death or departure of others from the market. At the same time, many people lived their own, ordinary, human lives: they fell in love, created families, raised children, studied, worked to clothe, shoe, feed, tried to strengthen and protect their home. In those turbulent times, my husband and I decided to open our own small business. The direction was already actively developing at that time – second hand from Europe. In a reputable medical institution, where I worked as a programmer, the salary was paid very modestly and with noticeable delays, two or three, or even more, months. The prospect of changes for the better remained a prospect. My husband’s business was not going well at all. The cooperative he and his like-minded friends had created (a brainchild of the early nineties of the same, last, century) was operating at a loss. Attempts to revive it were unsuccessful and the cooperative was slowly dying out.
Something had to be done, and at the N+1 family council we decided to do our own business.
We were not pioneers, although, in fairness, it should be noted that it was possible and necessary to start earlier: second-hand clothes from Europe were already on everyone’s lips and briskly conquered their second-hand market in the vastness of our country. I remember it was like, how to put it mildly, a kind of bewilderment. We were not spoiled by high-quality, beautiful, diverse (not “connected by one chain”) goods – clothes, shoes, goods for babies and little compatriots of different growing ages, basic necessities, household goods, from bed linen and curtains to everything, were one continuous deficit. Some of our fellow citizens who have visited the borders of their homeland and appreciated the standard of living of citizens abroad, returned to their native penates in a state of stress of varying degrees of severity and went through a long, internal, psychological, and recovery period. And here – second-hand from Europe – the opportunity to become the owner of goods – original (you will not meet your double in every second), excellent quality and in good condition. And most importantly – the prices, they were just shocking! No, “not cheap and cheerful”, but he likes it, beautifully, needs and is quite “affordable”!. Candy, in a word! The first daredevils who brought and sold second-hand clothes from Europe, mastered it first in their own or rented apartments, then the area increased – rented premises of basements and semi-basements “went”. They were called dots. The news of the arrival of a new batch of goods at the point instantly flew around the circle of initiates, and therefore their relatives, friends, acquaintances. And the magical action began: we choose, try on, evaluate, friends are next to each other – we consult, dress children, husbands, ourselves, something mandatory for the house – pleasure, joy and happiness in “one person”. Two growing children – schoolchildren, a very modest family budget, tightening belts – the realities of our family at that difficult time. But my husband and I were young, we loved each other and our children, we believed in ourselves and in our luck (and without this, we did not set foot in business). And we did it! Our second-hand store from Europe in the network has become a great helper for our family, and for customers and clients – a place of pleasure, joy and happiness! Welcome to our website.