The Mediterranean Insider

Athens, Greece

Shop local, shop unique: Athens’s one-of-a-kind retail spots

The Mediterranean • Shop • Shop local, shop unique: Athens’s one-of-a-kind retail spots

Shop till you drop at these unique Athens retail spots

If you think Athens is all ancient stones and ouzo bars, think again. There’s a parallel city creeping through its design stores and concept spaces. Places that translate Greek heritage into something modern, minimal and beautifully slow. Behind stone façades and calm interiors, local designers, perfumers and curators are rewriting what Greece’s style feels like now. The result? Stores that look more like studios than shops, places where materials, architecture and scent merge into one experience. Walk into any of these shops and you’ll understand why the capital’s design scene has global eyes turning south.

Top photography courtesy of Mouki Mou

Phaon

On Likavittou Street, you’ll find Phāon, a boutique where smell, object design and floral composition mix. The partners behind it, art director Alexandros Kalogiros and set designer Dimitra Louana Marlanti, envision fragrance as sensory architecture and they’ve shaped the space accordingly. Step inside and you’ll find modular steel and frosted acrylic displays alongside mocha limewash counters and white marble sinks. The product lineup includes niche perfumes from Ormaie and Atelier Materi, along with handmade ceramic incense burners and small-batch floral compositions built around Greek botanicals. You’ll probably leave with a scent, but also a sense that retail here is a new form of sensory art.

Phāon
Likavittou 29
Athens
Greece

Photography courtesy of Phāon

Crini and Sophia

Crini and Sophia began as Greek tableware with attitude. Founded by Maya Zafeiropoulou-Martinou, its name derives from her three daughters (Christina, Irini and Sophia). The Athens showroom in Kolonaki plays the role of design-object theatre. Wood panelling, green and red marble, sculpture lights by Michael Anastassiades and a bronze doorknob by Eleni Vernadaki anchor the narrative. The product line oscillates between embroidered 100% linen tablecloths, handmade porcelain plates painted with abstract motifs and Italian glassware that catches the light just right. If you believe the table deserves as much curation as the gallery wall, this spot sets the tone.

Crini and Sophia
Charitos 9
Athens
Greece

Photography courtesy of Crini and Sophia

The Naxos Apothecary

The Naxos Apothecary emerges from Greece’s homoeopathic past and the islands’ botanical richness. Built on the legacy of Tzivanidis’ pharmacy, it channels Greek endemic herbs, simple packaging and a design-lab aesthetic. Step inside and you’ll notice a whitewashed lab-like zone with metal shelving, brown-glass apothecary jars, clean typography and minimal packaging. On the shelves you’ll find bespoke lotions, scent editions named after Naxian villages and apothecary jars preserved from first‑generation workshops. We also love the café‑style Nutrition Lab section, where you can enjoy a cup of herbal tea and snacks.

The Naxos Apothecary
3-5 Kolokotroni & Voulis
Athens
Greece

Photography courtesy of The Naxos Apothecary

Centro Ottici

Centro Ottici, in Nea Smyrni, takes eyewear retail to architectural extremes. After a redesign by Mold Architects, the long-established optical store now feels like a gallery of form and reflection. A floor-to-ceiling metal mesh grid divides the compact space into sculptural sections, while mirrors and hidden lighting turn eyewear displays into installations. The founders wanted a place that merges precision optics with contemporary aesthetics and they’ve succeeded. Here, frames from Mykita and Loewe are showcased as collectable objects. Even the storage drawers, custom-built in anodised aluminium, function as part of the spatial rhythm.

Centro Ottici
Leof. El. Venizelou 22
Athens
Greece

Photography courtesy of Centro Ottici

Mouki Mou

Mouki Mou’s Athens outpost feels like a soft-spoken rebellion against fast fashion. The concept, born in London by Maria Lemos, arrived in Plaka in 2023 and reimagines what boutique retail could mean in the Greek capital. The space, designed by Leda Athanasopoulou of Studio Pale, channels 1970s architecture with an earthy palette of terrazzo floors, brushed aluminium and a metal-table centrepiece by ceramicist Eleni Vernadaki. Selection-wise, you’ll find slow-fashion labels, handmade jewellery, sculptural glass objects and thoughtful décor pieces. A little bonus we love is the rooftop terrace shaded by olive trees that overlooks the Acropolis.