“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Thursday May 29th — —

I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Thursday May 29th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Thursday May 29th — —

Concrete Matter

Concrete Matter, the Man’s Gift Co. began as a collaborative effort between graphic designer Tim, former FOAM curator Jacob and entrepreneur Tomas; three young, creative guys from Amsterdam. Bound together by a passion for useful, durable and beautiful products, they set up a small but comprehensive online store called Concrete Matter in early 2012. Inspired by the admiration and applause the online store received, their confidence grew that they weren’t the only ones with a passion for beautiful and durable goods. This confidence led to a new idea: an actual store, tangible and visible, located somewhere in Amsterdam’s vibrant city centre. A place to showcase their products and ideas in optima forma. A location was found in a former video rental at the Haarlemmerdijk, a street which over the last few years is given a totally new face with a lot of interesting stores and initiatives opening among which is Tenue de Nîmes, making it a perfect location for Concrete Matter.

The beautiful storefront was inspired by an old photo Tomas dug up from Amsterdam’s city archive, taken somewhere between the 1930s and the 1950s, when the building housed a tobacco shop. As an exemplification of the timelessness Concrete Matter strives for, the completion of the storefront truly felt like the finishing touch to an already fantastic location for the store.

With the materialized store Concrete Matter’s products finally got the space they deserve. Jacob even got his own workbench in the corner of the shop, where he sits down to create beautiful taxidermy. Now truly The Man’s Gift Company, Concrete Matter began to thrive. The inventory was greatly expanded, both online and offline. In February 2014, Concrete Matter was voted ‘best shop in Amsterdam’ on NLstreets.

Concrete Matter’s range of products now includes knives, vintage globes, vintage maps, shoe care products, taxidermy, outdoor gear, cufflinks, tools, DIY kits, lithography, personal care products and a range of compelling curiosities. But it doesn’t stop with the current inventory: Tim, Thomas and Jacob are always searching to expand it. If it’s one of those rare items that successfully walks the line between beauty and durability, then they are on it.

When in Amsterdam make sure to visit the store at Haarlemmerdijk 127, or when elsewhere look for it online here.