Firm： T&T ARCHITECTS

Type： Commercial › Retail Supermarket

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2017

SIZE： 0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET： $50K - 100K

Green Family’s new store, “To Ellinikon” in Kalamaria, is the latest addition to this chain of eight stores specializing in organic food, herbs and spices. This one was also the first to include a new section that has now been integrated into all eight stores: an organic food bar where customers can buy small meals, snacks, tea and coffee.

The store is located on a busy pedestrian street in Kalamaria. The municipal authority did not allow the use of projecting display cases, meaning that the company’s usual open-air market style, placing merchandise outside the shops themselves and inviting passersby to walk around and handle goods, could not be applied in this instance.

The solution chosen was to set the outer limit of the store back from the front of the building to form a semi-open sheltered space where the customer can find bulk products and groceries as well as the takeaway counter.

The three arches of the façade - retained from the previous use of the space as an apparel store - were used to

suggest the appearance of a traditional market arcade and helped to link the look of the new establishment with the original Ellinikon store in historic Vatikiotis Market in central Thessaloniki.

The design made use of the main elements of the Green Family corporate image. These include wooden shelving with multiple dividers and a single cornice that occupy the entire height of the room; off-white patinas, dark gray and blue for individual units; white and black concrete tiles of various dimensions in the classic chessboard pattern; and bright green, red and orange colors for display cases in the grocery section.

The Organic Food Bar, the new unit of the store, occupies a more autonomous space, immediately accessible from the street.