As a child, Alexandra Barba accompanied her father to flea markets where he taught her to zero in on what she describes as “old, genuine, well-crafted everyday objects.” She is now a parent herself, and these made-to-last wares have become her stock in trade: Alexandra is the owner of Bric-à-Brac, the newest entry in our short list of favorite indie housewares stores the world over (scroll to the end for some others).
Bric-à-Brac is located in Alexandra’s home city of Constanta, in southeastern Romania, on the Black Sea. It took her a year to build out the emporium in a primo but long empty ground floor spot across from the old Palace Hotel. “Bric-à-Brac is a place that aims to turn back the clock to a time when everything was simpler,” says Alexandra. “We are proud to offer products from brands that tell the stories of people, identities, and cultures.” Join us for some armchair browsing and stay tuned: Bric-à-Brac’s online store is slated to debut soon.
Photography courtesy of Bric-à-Brac (@bricabracromania).
Above: The shop’s planters come from Remodelista/Gardenista favorite Bergs Potter of Copenhagen: “they have a beautiful story,” says Alexandra (read a bit about it here). 
Above: The toy department includes French games, German metal sand buckets, and pint-size dust pans and brooms.
Above: Bric-à-Brac’s beeswax tapers are “made by a small atelier in the Netherlands that uses traditional machines and manual techniques.” They’re paired here with French matches and a Hungarian snuffer.
Here are few other favorite stores specializing in rigorously edited collections of household goods. Find many more in the Resources sections of all our books.
- Berdoulat: The Last Word in English Artisanal Design
- Better Tools for Living: González & González in Madrid
- Goodee: Byron and Dexter Peart’s New Essentials for the Home
- France’s Oldest Hardware Store and Home Emporium
- Utilitario Mexicano: A Shop Devoted to Useful Wares and “Objects in Danger of Extinction”
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