Anna Margrét Björnsson interviewed us on behalf of Stundinn
Lost your job during Covid and opened a cycle shop
"After we both lost our jobs within a day of each other at the start of the Covid pandemic, it was the perfect opportunity for us to do something together," explains Davíð Örn Jóhannsson, who opened the Hringekjun store with his wife, Jóna Maren Óskarsdóttir, in early January. "At the beginning of the summer, we bought a 94' camper and spent most of the summer out in the country, which was the perfect environment to let our minds wander. The basic idea came up in a conversation with friends in Seyðisfjörður in August, and we've been working on it tirelessly ever since."
Stocking stalls and keeping them tidy
Jana says they call it a circulation store with clothing and accessories. "We wanted to find an Icelandic term for an activity like ours, where the term 'flea shop' has been used, which is taken from Danish. As far as we can tell, from unscientific Google results, it's a new word and we hope it will be well received. The circulation store is based on renting space to customers for the purpose of selling their clothing and accessories," explains Jana.
"The space in question is an 80 cm clothes rack and shelf along with a 56L storage box. Our philosophy is that you price your products and bring them to us for installation at the beginning of the rental period, fill your rack, your shelf and place other products in a storage box that we then use to replenish on your behalf. We also take care of keeping your stand tidy. We take care of this on behalf of our customers, because we want to make sure that our customers' management is as simple as possible."
Find accommodation close to home
Hringekjan is located right next to Hlemmur, at Þórunnartún 2, but they say the idea partly arose from the lack of a circular shop of this type in the city center. “We had already looked at a lot of housing on and around Laugavegur, above and below Hlemmur, when we were pointed to a vacant property in Þórunnartún. It’s a really beautiful corner space that we immediately liked,” says Jana. “So there was nothing else to do but start drawing and trying to design the space based on the idea that we had been working on while looking for housing. In the end, we were satisfied enough, got bored and started working on implementing and building,” adds Davíð.
"It doesn't hurt that we live just a few meters from Þórunnartún 2," says Jana. "So we're really excited about bringing the local area to life in the coming months and years. For example, we've already had DJ KES, who has played with us for two Saturdays, and we expect to have more events in the future, such as art exhibitions and other things, so it's worth keeping an eye on."
Awareness raising awareness
The response to the store has been overwhelmingly positive, they say. "We're seeing a real awareness-raising movement in this area. It's our sincere desire to support this development in any way we can. We're really pleased that our customers are of all ages, from teenagers to senior citizens, both as sellers and buyers, which shows us that there's interest among all age groups." They say all kinds of clothing have found their way to them, from various designer clothes, bags, furs and everything in between.
"The brothers in "For example , Repetition has a booth with us, and they are making streetwear from recycled materials that they find from all over the place, such as sleeping bags, fleece blankets, and bug material, to name a few. We are also incredibly proud to have something for everyone of all genders and will do what we can to keep it that way forever."
The article can be read in its entirety here: https://stundin.is/grein/12916/
