If you had enough of kitschy souvenirs and if you would like to find something more meaningful and unusual you should visit one of Budapest’s design stores. You would be surprised if you knew what kind of treasures are lying around in these little shops and designer stores – cool pieces of clothing, home accessories, jewellery, candy and sweets. Unexpected and thrilling – be prepared for a stylish journey around Budapest!
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Aron Design Store – Spice up your office desk
Don’t let your office desk become dull and boring, pimp it out with some fresh and wicked stuff. Get yourself some funny post it stickers, coloured pads or anything that you can play with while no one’s watching. Aron Design Store offers all sorts of funny gadgets – not only for your office by the way. Besides writing tools and card holders there are pieces of furniture, kitchen utensils, and games and so on from all around the world. American, British, German and French designs are available just to name a few. They have three shops; one on Deák tér, one in MOM Park and one on Jászai Mari tér.
Address: 1052 Budapest, Deák Ferenc tér 4.
1123 Budapest, Alkotás u. 53.
1137 Budapest, Jászai Mari tér 4/b
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Insitu (Bezárt)
Insitu has been in the forefront of design for years and years. The little shop, in the city centre, near Astoria, has all sorts of design pieces – vintage cameras, books, high-tech gadgets, watches, toys, jewellery and even designer clothes. You will also find world-renowned brands and designers like Karim Rashid or Nooka but of course there are items designed by local designers. Don’t worry if you don’t have time to browse in the shop, check out their webshop online.
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Black Box Concept Store – Unique clothing and accessories
Think outside the box – or maybe think inside the box when it comes to this design store. Black Box has a very youthful and modern atmosphere, it’s a hip store packed with designer clothes and accessories. The stock changes day by day so no matter when you visit them you will find something new, something extravagant. You can bump into IMOGEN, Anh Tuan, agneskovacs, Balint Sára clothes, lillasellei bags and Visy just to name a few but there are several other local designer collections to choose from. Don’t be afraid if you are on a budget – there are real bargains and there are quite a few things that you can get for a very reasonable price.
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Hybridart Design Shop & Cafe – Feel the beat of the city!
Hybridart is basically the gift shop of Design Terminál but as the name already suggests, it’s not a typical shop. It’s kind of like a mixture of everything – it’s a design shop, it’s a high-fashion store, it’s a café and it’s also sort of like a bar. It really is like a hybrid of everything that is cool about Budapest. Not to mention the fact that it is situated literally in the heart of the city. There’s always a huge buzz around here, on Erzsébet tér, with all the skater, the fashion junkies, the groupies and the businesspeople. Drop in, get yourself a nice piece of designer accessory – let’s just say, a Judit Takács bag or a ducsaijudit iPhone case – and order a coffee if you’re already there.
Hybridart Design Shop & Café (closed)
Address: 1051 Budapest, 13 Erzsébet Square
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Flatlab (Closed)
On hand Flatlab is a designer showroom – you can find designers and brands like MEI KAWA, UrbanLegend, Erdei Ildikó Virág, Kniff, Gergely Linda. On the other hand it is a workshop where talented graphic designers, Gergely Szőke and Eszter Laki create their stuffs. So either you’d like to buy some hip pieces of clothing or you’d just like to find out about how designer pieces are made look for Flatlab on Baross utca.
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Printa – Multifunctional design
The concept behind Printa is based on three key elements: prints, eco-design and education. The shop was established by graphic designer Zita Majoros and photographer Claudia Martinson, who also works with special prints. Printa, on Rumbach Sebestyén utca is situated right next to their own gallery and their café, what’s more they also have a workshop. It offers all sorts of goods made from recycled, environmental-friendly materials; bags, made from safety belts for example. You can also find pieces of revamped furniture and Printa has its very own limited edition collections too.
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Rododendron – Once a gallery, now a design store
Rododendron was originally a small gallery but throughout the years they grew into a bigger and better business. Nowadays they are in the mainstream of Hungarian fashion and art offering local and international design pieces for sale in their sophisticated and new-wave shop. They host exhibitions on a regular basis, they are present at the biggest fairs, festivals and art programmes. You can find Anja Zaboeva shoes, Csaba Lódi bags, a wide range of jewelleries, badges, paintings, Lomography cameras and the list goes on and on.
