Temporary Pop Up Store brings vintage, upcycling and design to empty Echternach storefront

Three young Luxembourg-based entrepreneurs are staging a temporary take over of an empty storefront in the heart of the old town center of Echternach; from 21 August until 3 September, the ladies behind Oddhaus Vintage, Sopilipili and Risaikourou will transform an unoccupied shop into a vibrant design collective - part showroom, part photo studio, part workshop.

Within the framework of Ville d’Echternach’s “Stadmarketing” project, the Citymanagmenet working group, responsible for occupying the empty stores in the citry centre, was able to identify owners ready to make their space available for pop up shops with the goal of revitalising the city centre, promoting small businesses and young creators. According to Christophe Ney and Raymond Becker, members of the working group, “We’re proud to have found several local creators to temporarily occupy this space and bring it a breath of fresh air. We hope we’ll be able to continue to attract new pop up stores after this trial period and to assist these young entrepreneurs to find a permanent retail space.”

Risaïkourou (risaikourou.com) is an ecologically-minded brand, made from reused clothes and recycled materials that are repurposed, cut and deconstructed to bring about unique and original new creations. Risaïkourou creates fashion accessories such as handbags, belts, ties and hats using leather and denim as its signature materials.

Sopilipili.com is a trendy fashion eshop "de mode" in Luxembourg, born from a passion: the pleasure of finding the piece that stands out of the ordinary. Sopilipili.com offers a vintage-retro-unique-original-refined-sought-after fashion sense: other than its own brand with its oversized Sovintage and Soglamour Totebags made in Luxembourg, but also pieces from favorite creators from Luxembourg and beyond.

Oddhaus Vintage (oddhausvintage.lu) is a Luxembourg online shop selling unique and offbeat vintage furniture and home decoration objects with a Scandinavian twist, aiming to bring unique and original vintage design to Luxembourg and make vintage style accessible to everyone. Oddhaus Vintage focuses mainly on design from the 50s, 60s and 70s, curated to bring a lived in charm and an unexpected touch to the modern home and fit with the most current trends in interior design.

All three brands share a sustainable approach based on reused and recycled materials, local sourcing and production and trendy innovative design. According to Alina Beloussova from Oddhaus Vintage “There is a big demand for this type of initiatives from both business owners and the public, with most small retail owners unable to afford store space in the city centre, reducing the public offer to big chain stores”. For Sophie Holzem, founder of Sopilipili, “this is a great opportunity to connect with the local public and present products that they wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere”. For Shirley Dewilde of Risaïkourou “It’s important to show alternative and creative uses for recycled materials such as used clothes or furniture and show how they can be transformed into something modern and stylish.”

The public is invited to the opening drink, which will take place Saturday 26 August at 15:00 during the braderie, another good reason to make a visit to Echternach next weekend.

Summer Break Pop Up Store - Sopilipili, Risaïkourou and Oddhaus Vintage (36 Rue de la Gare, L-6440 Echternach). Open 21 August - 3 September 2017 from 11:00 - 18:00.