Stocking functional objects that make the everyday that little more lovely, Casa González & González, in Madrid, is owned by childhood friends María Rosa Amor González (who worked in museums and art galleries) and Javier Carrasco González (a former interior designer), who share the same values and passion about design and slow living. We spoke with them to talk quotidian style, community and beautiful brooms…
Why did you open your store?
After both living and working abroad for several years, we met again in Madrid. It was over coffee that we discovered common thoughts and values, and the fact that we couldn’t easily find timeless products frequently in our daily routines, when living abroad, so we thought it was an interesting idea to open and gather most of them in one store.
How would you describe your style?
We like to inspire our customers with our quotidian objects to make their day-to-day more conscious and functional. We think the atmosphere our objects give during a specific moment of the day, may transform a daily routine to be a more happy and pleasant act. We mainly look for timeless, genuine and functional products with a story behind them. We like restrained and functional looks. We do not opt for pricey or sophisticated pieces or just aesthetically-pleasing items – they must also accomplish a function.
How do you source your products?
Most of our objects have been used and tested years before opening our shop. Factory, workshop or fair visits are other ways to source our products. We also surf the Internet and take into account friends’ and customer recommendations. Among others, our favourites are the Marseille soaps and body brushes and we are in love with our “malgas” (a typical object made of cork).
You’re passionate about being shopkeepers – why is this important to you?
We try to offer a unique shopping experience in a retail space that reflects our vision, personality and aim to make things better. We do believe that small stores like ours have an uncertain future, but on the other hand there are more and more consumers becoming aware of the wealth that this type of business provides to society.
If you could just choose one product from the store – what would it be?
Well, maybe the most simple and useful products because they sum up our functional essence. We would like to show that a broom or a cleaning cloth can be as beautiful and useful as other key items in the home.
What advice do you have for other people thinking of setting up a shop?
The first years when starting a business are really tough, so it is very useful to draft a realistic business plan to keep your head above water during this time.
You’re currently working on building your online store – how has that process been?
We hope to be ready very soon. Although we prefer to go step by step, we like sharing ideas to add to the future of our business.
Does your beautiful Madrid location inspire your chosen wares?
We like to feel part of a growing community and our neighbourhood is achieving a common atmosphere, through the stores, as well as the people who live in the area. But, we do not consider it essential when we make our objects’ selection.
What has been your González and González career highlights so far?
We cannot be more happy to have the actual response and warmness of our customers, suppliers and social media followers. They are a great support for us. At this early stage of our career we hope to keep making things well and better and become an established business but only time will tell…
Casa González & González, Pelayo 68, Madrid
