Simply Rickshaw

When you think about your business, what are you most proud of?

We love the idea of bringing to the heart of Madrid very special pieces selected by us during more than two decades of travels to remote parts of the world.

We like to document each piece and offer our customers the possibility of finding out more about its history and origin by consulting our books. It is a place to exchange knowledge and travel experiences.

On the other hand, we love this district of Madrid de los Austrias. We found a small place that we reformed, to get all the constructive essence of the old Madrid. And surprise, we found a beautiful brick arch that is the soul of the space.

What is the history of your commerce?

Our shop will be five years old in October 2020 - thats soon!

We have always been very restless and travelled. We had many wonderful pieces that we had accumulated throughout our travels. Objects with soul acquired in markets, artisan shops, ateliers and native villages from remote places that now many of them, unfortunately, could not be visited.

When we returned to Madrid, we realised that there were very few places where we could see, enjoy or buy amazing pieces from other cultures.

Thats how the idea of Simply Rickshaw came about. To create a space where each object takes you with its history to authentic and remote places.

Our aim is to recover genuine pieces that lie between ethnography, art and decoration. A local business concept with which we want to bring to Madrid, objects and crafts of great cultural value already in disuse to give them a space in the home of our days.

As we say, Simply Rickshaw are fragments of the world carefully selected for you on each of our trips.

What is your professional experience?

I have always been dedicated to the world of art, communication and tourism. I have worked in cultural management and communication departments in cultural institutions and museums in Spain and Italy.

In addition, for more than fifteen years I worked, in my spare time, as an international tourist guide in Asia and Europe, which gave me the opportunity to investigate and get to know unusual places, but also to keep abreast of the latest trends and the avant-garde in art and decoration.

Different restructurings and changes in the company where I worked, forced me to reinvent myself and so I decided to turn my passion into a profession. First I opened an online shop to sell some special pieces and then I dared to take the analogical leap and started going to markets and events in Madrid such as Mercado de Motores or DecorAcción to make myself known. From there, the physical shop was born.

How has covid 19 affected your business?

The pandemic has emptied the neighbourhoods and in the historic centre of Madrid in particular it has been very noticeable. There are fewer and fewer neighbours and the tourists have disappeared.

At a time when many projects and events were planned, the pandemic has cancelled them all, leaving our shop in a complicated moment.

However, the idea took off on the internet and from there we made the leap to the physical shop because we love people and small businesses. We believe that we have to promote another type of consumption; more sustainable and closer. That is our contribution. We must reconquer the neighbourhoods.

During the state of alarm we have promoted social networks and our online shop, as many of our customers do not live in Madrid or are foreigners. This is how we have kept the spirit of Simply Rickshaw alive.
We are confident about the future.

What services and products does your business provide?

It is a space to discover with time and to look carefully. Here you will find:

- Unique, curious and antique pieces
- Objects of everyday use,
- ethnic textiles from Africa and Asia
- Berber carpets
- traditional ceramics
- furniture...