Updated July 2023.
The
other day I spoke with the owner of a small fashion shop in Berlin Mitte, and
it was a good lesson. She was frustrated that people prefer to buy at the big chains
and feels that there is actually not much she can do to change the customer’s
attitude. From her experience, she knows that the buyer's decision is based
foremost solely on the price. In the beginning, soon after she opened her
store, she offered drinks and snacks to her customers and she hosted small events.
Customers happily took the drinks, attended her events, and praised her work
and her style but bought cheaper goods from the big shops.
Thinking
of it, isn’t it just amazing that it is completely up to us whether cities and
towns remain colourful and interesting? Start chatting to small business owners, you
most certainly will hear a great story and get a deep understanding of this
lifestyle and the town, after all, they are the heart and soul of a place.
Hohenzollernstraße,
a two-kilometre-long street in the Munich borough of Schwabing is one of my
favourite streets in town. It has for ever been a residential area where also
artists, painters, and writers lived. There are many independent shops still and
with 33 heritage listed properties it has this lovely Munich feeling. When
someone asks me where to go shopping in Munich I send them to Hohenzollernstrasse
in Schwabing, a true hub for independent stores. I rate the feel-good
factor on this street as 10/10.
1. Weißglut– Stark White and Warm
In
1901 the artist Wassily Kandinsky founded his painting school
"Phalanx" in Hohenzollernstraße 6a. Today this property is the home
to a concept store where you can buy china, olive oil and fashion. It all comes
perfectly together in this place run by designer couple Jessica and Stefan
Kiefer. The store is stark white and the oak floor radiates warmth. The name of
the concept store Weißglut (English incandescence) stems from the process of
porcelain making. Porcelain is white and the burning of the porcelain is called
glowing. You find a good choice of small presents and interior design pieces on
the ground floor; walk downstairs to browse the latest in fashion.
Weißglut Concept Store. Hohenzollernstrasse 8. 80801 Munich. Hours Monday to Friday 11am to 7pm.
Saturday 10.30am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| Weißglut Concept Store Munich |
 |
| Weißglut Concept Store Munich |
2. Gudrun Sjoeden – Organic Fashion and Home Textiles
The
Swede Gudrun Sjödén uses organic cotton, silk and other natural materials to
create designs in expressive colours, eye-catching patterns, and unusual cuts
in a high quality. This might sound a bit too obvious but a visit is a feast
for the eyes. Entering the store somehow feels like spring even if there is a
blizzard outside. This is also the perfect opportunity to buy (or look at)
towels, crockery & napkins, tablecloths, cushions and duvets, carpets,
dishes, kitchen and garden accessories. On leaving the store one thing becomes
apparent, the world needs more colour.
Gudrun Sjoeden Concept Store. The shop on Hohenzollernstrasse is gone. Visit Reichenbachstrasse 3, 80469 Munich. Hours Monday to Friday 10am to
7pm. Saturday 10am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| Gudrun Sjoeden Concept Store Munich |
3. Dear Goods – Fair, Ecological and Vegan Products
This
is an inspiring store with beautiful details where you find women’s and men’s
clothes, baby clothes, underwear, accessories, soy candles and cosmetics. The
perfect thing is you can buy whatever you want at this store without doing any
harm to anyone but your bank account. Products are made from sustainable and
organic-certified natural materials such as cotton, linen and hemp and contain
no poison from colouring or manufacturing, which lets one wonder why one would
even want to buy products that contain these things. I also learned that
designers use cork as an animal-free leather substitute for bags and jackets.
So
far owner Nicole Noli opened five stores in Munich, Augsburg and Berlin.
Dear Goods. Friedrichstrasse 28 (at Hohenzollernstrasse), 80801 Munich. Hours: Monday to Friday
10am to 8pm. Saturday 10.30am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| Dear Goods Munich |
 |
| Dear Goods Munich |
4. Kunst Oase- Antique Basement Oasis
This
is not a concept store as such, it is a gallery, an antique store and a flea
market. While you are here, please walk through the passage way with countless
golden framed mirrors and further on through the courtyard to reach the
basement shop to find anything from Biedermeier to Art Deco style. Look at
antique furniture, chandeliers, lampshades, carpets and statues and lose yourself
in the soothing background sound of grandfather clocks. This shop has been here
ever since 1984. Have a chat with the owner Manfred Wambsganss, chances are he
offers you a coffee and plays a game of table soccer with you.
Kunst
Oase. Hohenzollernstrasse 58, 80801 Munich. Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am to 7.30pm.
Saturday 9am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| Kunst Oase Munich |
5. Mohrmann Basics – Instagrammable Fashion and Interior Design
The
first shop opened in Munich 15 years ago, and today there are three of them in
town. The atmosphere as well as the dresses, trousers, pullovers and
accessories on offer are lively and colourful. You can feel the love in every
small detail, be it the wallpaper, the ornate furniture or the snug carpets. I
can't decide whether owner Nicole Mohrmann is better at interior design or at
curating fashion pieces, you better go and decide for yourself. This place is
perfectly instagrammable and there even is a cute little coffee bar in this
shop where coffee is prepared on a Marzocco.
Mohrmann Basics. The shop on Hohenzollernstrasse is gone. Visit this one: Fuenf Hoefe, Maffeistrasse 6, 80333 Munich. Hours Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm. Saturday
10am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| La Marzocco at Mohrman Basic in Munich |
 |
| Mohrman Basic Munich |
 |
| Dresses. Mohrman Basic Munich |
6. Living Colour – Light and Airy Corner Store
This store used
to be an artists and craftsman supply store and owner Christian Hackl changed
this over the years when the shop started to offer interior design, furniture,
lamps, fashion and accessories. Appealing is the size with its high ceilings,
it is light and airy and you have ample space to have a long browse.
Living Colour Concept Store. Hohenzollernstrasse 39. Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to
7pm. Saturday 10am to 6pm. Sunday: Closed.
 |
| Living Colour Concept Store Munich |
 |
| Living Colour Concept Store Munich |
 |
| Living Colour Concept Store Munich |
Where to recharge on Hohenzollernstrasse
In
case you wonder where to have a cup of tea, lunch, coffee and cake or where to grab
a drink while on a shopping spree on Hohenzollernstrasse my go to places are
these two.
Reed
Café. Read – Eat – Drink Tiny Café serves delicious tea, coffee, soups and
cakes plus functions as a magazine store (see that makes one more concept store).
Hohenzollernstrasse 12. Hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm. Saturday 9.30am to 7pm.
Sunday: Closed.
Tagescafé
Schwabing Organic juices, breakfast, salads and cakes in a pretty little café. Hohenzollernstrasse
41. Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.30pm. Saturday 9.30am to 6.30pm.
Sunday: 10.30am to 6pm.
From
Berlin with love