The Store.
"All three of us took time off from our day jobs to transform ourselves into a temporary three man construction crew."
It didn’t take long before a location was found. After falling in love with an old, out of use video rental place on Amsterdam’s Haarlemmerdijk – complete with fluorescent lamps and dodgy DVDs-, there was never any doubt. This was where Concrete Matter would open its doors.
It would, however, take a while before the location was ready for use. Like many buildings in Amsterdam’s historic city centre, the old video rental place was slightly antiquated and worn out. Charming as it was, it needed a lot of work.
Which is why all three of us took time off from our day jobs to transform ourselves into a temporary three man construction crew.
Working around the clock, we sacrificed almost all of our time for six weeks on end. But in the end, every drop of sweat was more than worth it. The final result was a dream come true for everyone involved.
We’re especially proud of the storefront we built. Its frames made of beautifully adorned and hand- crafted oakwood, this work of wonder truly makes an impression on passers-by. Proud of it as we are, though, we can’t take all credit for it. The storefront was inspired by an old photo Tomas dug up from Amsterdam’s city archive, taken somewhere between the 1930s and the 1950s, when the building housed a tobacco shop.
As an exemplification of the timelessness Concrete Matter strives for, the completion of the store- front truly felt like the finishing touch to an already fantastic location for our store.
