Our Story
![Φωτογραφία εποχής από το Παντοπωλείων 1922](https://pantopolio1922.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Φωτογραφία-εποχής-από-το-Παντοπωλείων-1922-300x300.jpg)
![Ο παππούς του σημερινού Ιδιόκτητή με την παρέα.](https://pantopolio1922.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Ο-πατέρας-του-σημερινού-Ιδιόκτητή-με-την-παρέα.-300x300.jpg)
The building that houses “Pantopolio 1922” was built in 1920 by Nikos Liakos, great-grandfather of the current owner, Panagiotis Angelakopoulos. Nikos Liakos came to Chalkida in 1920, from Loukisia, dressed in a fustanella ( traditional pleated skirt-like garment that is also referred to as a kilt) , which is why he was nicknamed “Vlachos”.
In 1922 it started operating as a grocery store, which was later named “To Kapilio tou Vlachou”. Since 1922 the country is constantly suffering. Asia Minor catastrophe, World War II, civil war, uncertainty. Such places function as information centers, hiding places, warehouses. At a time when half know how to read and others do not, where brothers and families are lost, where wine was drunk with beans and onions, Kapilio played its role, healing for social life and as a crossroads of cultures.
The milkman, the tinker, the chair maker, the basket maker, people of all social classes meet in Kapilio of Vlachos, weaving the highest art, the Art of Life.
After the occupation, the shop was taken over by the grandfather of the current owner, George Eleftheriou. It also produces its own wine, 23 tons every year, with its large barrels adorning Kapilio.
The store is upgraded and gets an ice refrigerator. In 1973 his grandfather added a cooling mechanism and the refrigerator continued to operate until 1988. Today, It is the same refrigerator that operates in the Grocery with the exact same mechanism.
The store started reopening in July 2015, with an emphasis on local products from selected producers. We strive for our products not to be just a quality product on the shelf. We wish to highlight their course until they reach you, but also the values with which they are produced. So, we visit the producers, we see their workplace, we draw from their knowledge and we recommend them to you, after we have tried them first and we like them.
At the same time every day you can find at the Pantopolio 1922, cooked food from the local products that we trade. Here you can enjoy old and new flavors, for every appetite, using our traditional ingredients in new recipes.
At the Grocery you can also enjoy many other Tastes of Life, through the music and other events we organize, as we continue what its patrons have been experiencing since 1922: the meeting of people, the joy of communication and friendship. We want to embrace the beauty of Life and Art, learning and creating together. We want the Grocery 1922 to inspire us in the search for “life in abundance”!
Together, and not just here, we can make the change we want. “Life in Abundance” can only be experienced through human relationships, built with love and respect for man and nature, but also the relationship with the Creator of every Good that we enjoy !!
Thank you very much!