Buy a good fur coat in Greece. Secrets of furriers and useful tips.
Where to buy a fur coat in Greece? How to choose the right fur and manufacturer? How not to throw your money away? Questions that interest many of the fair sex. I have already written three stories on these topics with hundreds of photographs, documents and videos, where I gave quite detailed answers to them. I thoroughly described what happens in shopping tours for fur coats and how to go for a fur coat in Kastoria - the world capital of furs on your own. I am more than sure that there is not a single person who would not need this information on such trips. A fur coat is not a cheap thing, and the material and, most importantly, moral damage from money thrown away in vain can haunt you for a long time. Below you will find many useful and, most importantly, non-standard tips for choosing fur products that only furriers know about. Gather your courage and try to study the materials to the end, at least this one. You will say thank you later when you come from Greece)))).
http://www.turpravda.en/gr/kastorija/blog-81945.html
http://www.turpravda.en/gr/blog-99935.html
http://www.turpravda.en/gr/blog-104908.html
I would not like to repeat myself, but I will try to summarize the information already published, as well as describe the last impressions of two consecutive new trips to Kastoria and a mink farm in July this year. I made them during a three-week beach holiday with my family in Chalkidiki. And the Company was made up of six charming women with whom I knew through correspondence on fur coat topics. It just so happened that the time of their trip coincided with ours. I could not find any reason to refuse such a small service, especially since we ourselves were going to go to Kastoria to change the lining of a blackglam fur coat that we bought in the Mosino(Mousios) salon in Dubai five years ago with a new and slightly change the model.
I’ll write right away that if you decide to buy a fur coat in Greece, then it’s best and cheapest to do it in the town of Kastoria in northern Greece.
Here are the factories of many famous brands. On the territory of the rest of Greece, there are no significant fur factories, no matter how much. There are only representative offices and resellers.
Next, we move down a level. All that remains after sales at the place of production goes to representative offices in other cities and to dealers who operate under a franchise. The second largest fur sales center in Greece is the town of Paralia Katerini, 70 km from Thessaloniki. It has recently lost its status and it must be remembered that all the best and freshest is sold right on the spot in Kastoria. Everything that is not sold on the continent is taken to the islands. And this is already such a stock of the third level for tourists who are not very versed in furs, who do not have an easy opportunity to get to Kastoria, compare prices, quality of furs and are forced to be content with what the fur shop in the towns near the hotel will offer.
Well, the last thing is to buy fur products in the shops at the hotels themselves. And if in Kastoria itself there are still chances to buy a fur coat from high-quality auction raw materials and Greek tailoring, then further down the hierarchy, the percentage of illiquid assets and Chinese consumer goods is growing exponentially.
I am often asked where it is cheaper and better to buy a fur coat - in Greece, the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) or Russia. The answer is simple. Prices in the first two countries are about the same. The assortment in Greece is better. In Dubai, over the past couple of years, 70% of fur shops and factory offices have closed. Shopping malls are half empty. In Greece, about 30% of salons have stopped working so far. About the reasons below. I have been told more than once that among the largest fur manufacturers, the idea of leaving the UAE market as the second place for the sale of Greek fur coats in the world, after Kastoria, is gaining popularity.
Many fairly well-known brands have already done so for various reasons, the main of which is economic. But for now, there you can choose something for every taste and budget. A great advantage of Greece, I also consider the possibility of correcting or changing something in a fur coat. If you buy it from a factory, you can ask to change the collar, for example. Well, it happens - I liked the fur coat, but I want a hood. Shorten the sleeve, increase the length, etc. , etc. This will be done, if not with you, then at least during your trip, no matter how short it is, and they will deliver the fur coat to the hotel. In all other matters, you need to focus on the time of the trip and personal sympathy for the countries. It is absolutely not worth going to Dubai in the summer, which cannot be said about Greece. In winter it is often the other way around.
The situation with the purchase of fur products in Russia is also quite simple. There are practically no real Greek fur coats here.
There are fur coats that are called Greek or Italian. In fact, all their legs grow straight from the sky. The percentage of such goods is 99%. At the same time, their prices are one and a half times higher than in Greece for Greek ones. A couple of times I saw a real blaglam, lynx and so on. Single copies among hundreds of fur coats, and also illiquid. The price tag was about two times higher than Kastoria. The main thing is that no one will tell you where the goods come from. All goods are Italian and Greek, and at any time of the year, even at the peak of the season, you will get promotions and discounts. A fur coat is not a cheap pleasure, and if it’s real, then the difference in price can be spent on more pleasant things. Well, the dubious pleasure of buying Chinese junk, which is called a European quality product, at a European price is better left to someone else. At least, for the same vacation, in the same Greece. What we sell at prices of 40-80 thousand rubles.
for all sorts of promotions and special offers under the guise of Russian products in salons with female and male names, I can hardly call them fur coats. This is such a rare crap and profanation of the fur business that it is difficult to find words.
How to get to Kastoria?
The first and easiest way, at first glance, is to use the services of tour operators that offer shopping tours to Kastoria, often at a symbolic price of 1 euro. I described the details of such a shopping tour in my first story about Greece (the link is above). You can combine such a trip with a beach holiday. This is a package tour, where everything that does not concern a trip to Kastoria depends only on the thickness of your wallet. Hotel, catering system, etc. +1 euro for a shopping tour. Shop tours come with obligations to purchase fur products for a certain minimum amount and without them.
In case of refusal of obligations, you will have to pay a fine of 450-500 euros. Such a trip without obligations will not cost much more. I will not repeat myself and describe all the subtleties of this method of buying a fur coat. Read my first two stories about it. I am sure that there are almost no naive people who believe in fables about a certain community of Greek furriers who bought a tour to Kastoria for you, about which the guides tell (or no longer tell) in the age of the Internet. It's simple - with each purchase, the seller pays a very decent kickback to the tour operator. Every man for himself. Sold - paid for a fur coat. A bus with tourists drove in, paid even if they didn’t buy anything, the standard amount for the delivery of buyers. Usually in such tours the tour operator indicates two nights in a hotel in Kastoria. In fact, you will arrive in the city on the first day, when all the factories are already closed, and leave early in the morning when no one has opened yet.
In reality, you will have one day to tour the factories with guides. Everything is organized in such a way that you will not have time for anything else. This method is suitable for inexperienced tourists and people who want to buy an inexpensive fur coat up to 1800 euros. No need to think about where to go and what to do. Everything has been decided for you and you are in safe hands. The guides know their stuff very well. And the kickback for a cheap fur coat will be just about equal to the cost of an air flight and a hotel. You will not lose anything, but you will be spared many small difficulties. I will allow myself to give a few more tips, which I am sure will be useful to everyone who chooses this method.
1. Buy tours with the obligation to buy a fur coat for a nominal fee. Take my word for it - a tour without commitment for 500-600 euros per person will not save you from having to pay a kickback to the tour operator. And it will be no less than that of people who arrived for 1 euro. You just won't know about it.
And don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Jumping off the tour by paying a fine or simply expressing a desire to exercise your right to purchase without obligation, you will not get ninety-five percent. You are just throwing money away. I will not describe all the mechanisms for tracking purchases and tourists. It's up to everyone to take my word for it or not. Be sure that if you are flying to Greece on a shopping tour, you will not get off the need to pay for the rollback under any circumstances. It doesn't matter if you fly with obligations or not.
2. Never be fooled by shopping tours that you need to buy a fur coat here and now. Before buying, visit several salons of a similar price and fur category. Do not worry, if necessary, you can return to any factory to any coat you like at any time. Guides and factory owners will take care of it. It's free.
Do not believe in fairy tales that if you return there will be no discount, etc. On the contrary, the owners are often satisfied with the fact that you still returned and make the discount even more than at the beginning. Do not follow the inner voice, saying that you will not have time for anything and will leave without a fur coat. Do not listen to guides urging you to make a decision quickly. The main thing here is not to regret later on the money thrown away. Believe me, it will be necessary, they will bring you a fur coat even for a Greek evening, which is organized by the tour operator, even at night to the hotel.
3. If you take a tour without a beach holiday and your work schedule allows you, take seven-day tours 2 + 5. Two days of Kastoria and five days of Thessaloniki. Well, at worst 2 + 3. They cost almost always the same as three-day ones. I have seen many frustrated people fly home and see many stay for 3-4 more days paying the same price.
If you decide to fly to Greece on an official shopping tour, then choose Mouzenidis Travel.
No one but them will be able to provide you with the full range of services at the highest level. They are all polished and honed to a shine. Everything - from transport, professional guides, online services to blat in hotels and airports. You will be guided through all procedures at the airport and hotels. Guides are always nearby and are within walking distance around the clock. Drivers are professional and polite. I have been using the services of Mouzenidis for 10 years several times a year. Not only for shopping tours. Mainly for beach holidays. I have never had any complaints about them. Or maybe I'm just lucky? Don't know)). Undoubtedly, the fact that it is a Greek company with Greek capital under EU jurisdiction is also decisive.
Supervisory authorities in Europe do not allow such a situation as we have with the ruin of tour operators and scam tourists. Somehow calmer. Taking this opportunity, I want to express my sincere gratitude to this company from myself and my family for a worthy and impeccable service in everything for many years. Continue in the same spirit.
The second way to get to Kastoria is public transport, which is represented by buses and taxis. If you decide to go directly from Thessaloniki Airport, then you will have to take the city bus to the KTEL MAKEDONIA Bus Station. Travel time is forty minutes. There you just take a bus ticket to Kastoria. Buses run every hour. The ticket costs 17 euros one way. If you take there and back 30 euros.
From the hotel in the area of Halkidiki and Thessaloniki, you will also need to take any bus that goes to this bus station or directly to Kastoria. They go quite often and it is not a problem to find a stop on the road. The roads in Greece are good, the buses are comfortable. But they are still buses. I do not recommend using an official taxi for such a move. The price will be outrageous.
The third way is to rent a car. It is my choice. The roads in Greece are of excellent quality. There is practically no traffic on the highways. No police ambushes and auto-hams. Small traffic jams can occasionally be found only in the center of Thessaloniki. To get to Kastoria on an empty high-speed road, you will have to pay 2.40+ 1.20 euros one way. For example, from the peninsula of Chalkidiki to Kastoria, you can drive in 2.5 hours. From Thessaloniki in less than two.
You can order a car online in numerous European rental offices that are represented on the Greek market. The car in this case will be waiting for you already at the airport. This is the most expensive way. It is necessary only if you are going to go to Kastoria directly from the airport. If your path lies first to the hotel and there is a transfer there, then it is better to take a car in numerous desks, which are full in any settlement in Greece. The price tag will be much nicer. In addition, there you can ask for a navigator and a child seat as a bonus, for which you will definitely be charged when ordering via the Internet. You can bargain etc. etc. The approximate full price of renting a small sedan like the Wolksvagen Polo will be from 40 to 60 euros, depending on the duration of the lease, insurance and rental conditions. I advise you to take a car on diesel or gas fuel. Save forty percent on fuel.
Take insurance without deductible, it is called total. Be sure to check that this is written in the contract and specify that there is no limit on the mileage per day, otherwise it will be more expensive than a taxi)).
Finding Kastoria is not a problem. You can use the navigator. We were led to the right trajectories without any problems by the sophisticated Navitel and the standard basic Google, which is available on almost any smartphone. Just be careful if you use the second one, then the Internet traffic will be very decent and it is better to use it with local SIM cards.
You can get there without maps and navigators at all. Around Thessaloniki there is a bypass road like the Moscow Ring Road. On the signs it is called PEREFIRIAKO (Bypass). If you are coming from Halkidiki, you will not be able to pass it when approaching Thessaloniki. You just go to her. If you drive from Thessaloniki, then when you enter it, you need to turn left in the direction of travel.
Then we go to the turn to KOZANI and VEROYA, about which the billboards on the road will warn you several times in advance. And then we follow the signs, almost in a straight line to the first town past the second. Signs with the city of Kastoria will begin to appear in front of KOZANI. Well, then everything is simple. You won't pass by.
The fourth and very stupid way is free excursions to Kastoria from hotels on the coast. Free cheese is only available in ....The amount of the kickback when selling a fur coat to the organizers will be exactly the same as if you were brought on a fur coat tour for 1 euro directly from another country. But there, at least the cost of the flight, accommodation, food and other expenses are included in the rollback, but here ....The most stupid way to part with your money, I consider an individual transfer to Kastoria from hotels offered by tour operators. You will be charged a couple of hundred more euros in addition to the rollback.
The fifth way is the opportunity to use the services of private taxi drivers, whose offers are full on the Internet. The cost of this service is 150-250 euros. A good option for those who do not drive a car, do not like to walk in a crowd, do not know languages u200bu200band well and generally feel uncomfortable without supervision abroad. But there is a small nuance here. You should be lucky with the driver. It's no secret that many of them take kickbacks from factories no less than tour operators. Someone more modestly 100-300 euros. There are also those who earn money mainly by transportation and excursions, and if they have a rollback, then it is scanty. But such units. Their cars are usually on gas and fuel costs about 60-70 euros per trip. The difference of 100-150 euros per day is also considered a decent income. Everyone will say the same thing, that they have nothing from the factories.
Try to at least find real people who used such services and ask them for contacts of verified drivers. If you have finally decided to choose this method of travel, I can give the coordinates of such a driver. Send me an email, which I will indicate at the end of the text. We used his services once and several people to whom I gave his contacts. There were no dissatisfied, otherwise at least someone would have written to me. But there were thanks. He himself is Russian, serves in the Greek army. He moonlights as a driver and excursions. Calm, knowledgeable and funny guy. It will not be boring. Yes, you can arrange tours with him. He carries everywhere in northern Greece from Meteora to the monasteries of Athos.
The sixth, most interesting and absolutely free way, I will describe later when I talk about my trips. ))).
And finally, you can not go anywhere at all.
There is a way to buy a real Greek fur coat by ordering an individual tailoring at a trusted factory. You will be measured on Skype, and if you know what model you need and what kind of fur, then you can get a fur coat in one of the major cities of the Russian Federation. In Moscow, absolutely. Many take an advance payment and having received a fur coat in their hands, it will be very problematic to return it and return the money if it does not suit you or you do not like something.
But there are factories that do not take an advance payment and it is not necessary to pick up a fur coat if it does not suit you. And even with the payment of money, there is always the opportunity to return the product to the factory. I will write about one below. With such an order, you will not lose anything, but you can save on the trip. Usually, under such conditions, the factory goes out of its way to make the customer like the package and there are practically no failures.
Now I’ll tell you where to stay in Kastoria for the night, if there is one in the trip plan. If you are traveling with a tour operator on a shopping tour, then this issue will not bother you. Well, in fact, one day is enough to resolve all issues with the purchase of a fur coat. It is enough just to arrive early in the morning by 9-30. If you still decide to spend the night, then I can safely recommend three hotels. These are Limneon 5*, Tsamis 3* and Castoria 4*. The first two hotels are located near the city and are also located nearby, across the road.
You can read more about them here.
http://www.turpravda.com/gr/kastorija/Limneon_Crystal_Resort_Hotel-h28484-r81794.html
http://www.turpravda.com/gr/kastorija/Tsamis_Hotel-h13424-r99839.html
And a little video clip
You can't get to Kastoria without seeing them. Not far from them, within walking distance, there are a dozen well-known fur factories and salons, including Mousios, Avanti, Marco Varni, Vitaniotis.
There are also many smaller shops along the road, but they are either half empty or sell leftovers from other factories. It's not worth staying there.
Then, after leaving this settlement, after a couple of kilometers you will drive up to the Limneon and Tsamis hotels and the second cluster of factories and fur salons located around them at a distance of 500 meters on both sides of the road. It is with him that I would advise you to start your trip to fur salons. After a couple of kilometers you enter the town and driving along the street along the lake, turn your head to the left. You will see the last cluster of fur salons located on the first floors of buildings.
All this is wonderfully visible in the video. All signs and names of salons are also easy to make out.
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=WGkkSDg0z2k
So, now about our trips to Kastoria and personal experience in 2015. ))
In one of my stories, I described the Villa Paradise hotel on the coast of Halkidiki in the town of New Vrasna, which belongs to the owner of the MOUSIOS fur family factory, where I stayed for a beach holiday last year. His name is Nicholas. We met in Dubai in 2010, when we bought the first fur coat for his wife in his salon. We liked the communication with him, the quality of the fur coat and the price so much that I decided to write a review about buying a fur coat in the UAE. And the next year after a trip to a shopping tour in Greece and a story about this country. And so a whole series of stories was born that only a lazy person could not find on the Internet if he was interested in this topic. Since then, I have bought more than one coat at this factory, but how many acquaintances and friends bought them ...Looking ahead, I’ll say that this time we didn’t manage to leave without a purchase, although we firmly intended, as I already wrote, only to change the lining and fit by adding a belt to the very first fur coat from Dubai.
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The blackglam mink fur looked brand new, but my wife's model was a little boring. It was a pity to sell, so after consulting with Nicholas, we decided to do just that.
During my shopping tour with Mouzenidis Travel last spring, Nicholas told me about his Villa Paradise hotel and offered me to relax in it in the summer at sea if you wish.
The price for the room was absolutely reasonable, as was the location, rooms and service. The place is gorgeous, clean.
Besides, there was a place to play football with my son. And this was also important, because we are doing it seriously.
After thinking, I agreed, which I did not regret for a second. So this year, having decided that they are not looking for good, good, especially having seen enough of the bankruptcy of our pillars of the tourism industry, I decided to repeat last year's experience. Moreover, a fairly decent number of people wrote to me who, after reading my story with the mention of this hotel, the rating of which, by the way, on one of the most popular international booking portal is no less than 9.7/10. Rated based on 190 reviews over the last 2 years. This is not an inflated rating. There are many reviews, and you can leave them only after the rest and only by paying for hotel accommodation through the portal. These are the rules of this portal. The rooms are clean, not huge, but not small either. Everything you need is there, including a small kitchen. You can cook porridge or cook something.
50 meters from the sea, the beach is simply gorgeous. And most importantly hospitable hospitable hosts. And it's not just words. Read the reviews yourself.
Back in November last year, a girl from Sergiev Posad, whose name was Alena, wrote to me by mail and asked if I was going to fly to Greece this year as well. She also wanted to stay at Nicholas's hotel and go to Kastoria. It so happened that the time of our trips intersected and I promised that we would go there together and that I would help in any way I could.
And on July 2, Alena with her mother and little charming daughter took the sixth way to get to Kastoria)))). Absolutely free and comfortable. ))) Nicholas himself took them there in his car. He spends almost the whole summer in his hotel, constantly riding to Kastoria.
We followed in a rented one. The purpose of their trip was two fur coats. One is simpler for mum and one is made of light pearl-coloured mink with a lynx collar. Our path first of all lay on the MOUSIOS factory and my plans were not to travel with them all over Kastoria.
But here are a few salons that are located nearby, I was going to go. These are Marco Varni and Avanti, as well as Vitaniotis, P. K. Z. and Alessandro Bosso.
We got to the place quickly. We drove a little over two hours. Nicholas' brothers, Lazaros and Kostas, were also at the factory.
We were greeted like old friends. During the summer, Lazaros runs the factory. Nicholas mostly spends time at his hotel in Halkidiki, so if you get there in the summer, most likely you will have to deal with him. The main focus of the factory was and remains, of course, fur coats made of elite blackglam mink fur of the highest quality category, expensive lynx and sable furs and their combinations.
Blackglama is just gorgeous. Raw materials for fur coats at the auction are bought only in the alpha category. Try to find a better one, I'll see how it works out for you))). I failed in 6 years.
There are unusual natural colors of light tones like pearls (pearls), crushed ice, etc. Popular now sapphire and electric blue (blue).
The new color, which is called powder, looks especially chic. Very dense fur, similar to blaglam in texture, but not black but light beige with a pink tint. The main change caught my eye. Last year, 90% of fur coats were blackglam black. Now there is a variety of colors on the hangers. In addition to light fur coats, there are a lot of products in brown shades, but not the classics of walnut tones, but a new, more beautiful color called starlight.
The mink farm in the middle mountains of Greece, which Nicholas and his brothers carefully began to equip three years ago, has already borne fruit.
They were engaged in this business with such love that it could not fail to bring results. A link to a video about visiting this farm will be below in the text. Own farm made it possible to start production not only from expensive auction blackglama, lynx and sable furs, but also from our own no less high-quality, but twice as cheap at cost. The price of fur coats made of such fur is at the same level as the prices of Chinese fur consumer goods, which have already flooded fur salons in Kastoria itself. But more on that later. MOUSIOS is one of the few salons I have visited, at the entrance to which, just by throwing a first glance at the hanging rows of fur coats, you understand that you need to choose a model, size and color, and there will be no problems with quality. I saw how these coats are checked and sewn at all stages. Sellers do not have to blush, offering them for fitting.
Each fur coat has a hologram with an individual number, by which you can trace the history of the fur coat on the factory website.
Who bought, where and when. It helps a lot if you want to sell it. An authentic item can be sold more easily and more expensively. There are no problems with fakes and those who try to write nasty things about the factory on the Internet, about supposedly buying low-quality products or fakes. The answer is always the same. Please fur coat ID, receipt and photo to the studio. Refund, replacement with a new one, repair service of your choice. The writers immediately disappear. No one in Greece can offer such a service yet. Try to return a fur coat to someone for money, if it were three times of poor quality ....I would see how it turned out for you. A manufacturing defect is very rare, but it also happens in good factories when sewing such a complex product as a fur coat. The question is different.
How will sellers behave if you try to resolve the issue of returning or repairing such a fur coat? For example, in my stories I described two similar cases with the famous factory P. K. Z. Papandopolous. People tried to return unusable fur coats the next day after the purchase, having examined them at the hotel. Tantrums, hand-wringing, threats. Nothing happened. They were only exchanged for the same g.....And I'm not unfounded. I have contact information for these buyers. One of these customers wrote to me that she sold the fur coat at home for less than she paid for it in Greece, very upset, you can imagine. Here's what you can get to. And it's a big factory. And imagine a small store at the best of times selling one fur coat a day, and now a week.
I digress a bit. So, we went to the factory shop, where work was in full swing, and talked with the furrier master. We discussed what and how he would change in our fur coat.
Having finished all the work, we returned to the salon, which is located directly above one of the factory workshops. Here the fittings were in full swing))).
Alena's mother has already chosen a fur coat for herself, just from that mink from the farm.
But I could not imagine that in Kastoria you can find a fur coat that Alena needed. Look for a product of a certain model, size, length, made of pinkish pearl-colored fur, and even with a huge Russian lynx collar attached .....Hmmmm .....Believe me, this task is impossible. No one will sew such fur coats in bulk, but I would count on luck and the chances of accidentally finding what you are looking for and getting into the size, in hundredths of a percent.
This question could be solved in only one way, which we did. Alena chose a model.
They called the master, took measurements, brought bundles of furs of the desired color already selected for fur coats. The lynx fur was just gorgeous. I will say this, that I have never seen better, and believe me, I have seen a lot. I would call it the perfect example of what lynx fur should be.
After choosing a shade of mink, no less high quality, and believe me, there are no two fur coats of the same color in natural colors, they gave the order to the workshop.
In the meantime, Nicholas and Alena agreed on a price for her work of art and for a simple starlight fur coat for her mother, but no less of high quality. I won't post the price. I don't know if I can. Alena had to ask permission. Trust me the price is great. She said that she was watching analogues of incomprehensible quality in Moscow by an order of magnitude more expensive. And there was no question of such fur and quality.
I tried to persuade them, at least for decency, to walk around other factories, so that they would be convinced of the correctness of their choice. I insisted, arguing that it would be more pleasant for you to wear it yourself, understanding how well you made your purchases by comparing furs and prices at other factories. Probably would have persuaded, but they refused, referring to the fact that little Adelinka was very tired. It’s time for her to sleep soon and in general they are absolutely satisfied with everything and so on. etc.
They only agreed, before leaving, to go with everyone to dine at the Allotino tavern, already well known to me, on the shores of Lake Orestiada in Kastoria. I have written about her in previous stories. It's very easy to find. Watch the video above, there is also this tavern. In the end, any way will tell. Show a business card or say the name.
Authentic Greek cuisine, tasty, clean (I visited the kitchen too) inexpensive. Our very heavy lunch with drinks cost us 46 euros for all. Five adults and two children. Less than 10 euros per person.
Very nice hosts. Also brothers: Yorgos and Nikos. We talked to them, listened to the stories that the cat cried for Russian tourists this year, for which there are objective reasons.
I suggested that he write any phrase on a business card, showing a scan of which any visitor could count on a bottle of wine, a Greek salad or a delicious dessert of their choice as a gift.
I do this often in the taverns and restaurants I like, but only where I'm sure everyone should like it. Consider this a bonus for my readers who find themselves in this institution by the will of fate)). Say hello for me.
After lunch, we said goodbye to Nicholas and our companions - a family of three generations at once. We decided to take a walk around the nearest salons and in general around the town around the lake. Of course, I had such a trip with Alena, her mother and baby Adeline in my plans.
We really didn’t need anything and we could force ourselves to go only to those salons that are located within a few hundred meters from the tavern. Moreover, we were expected by the second train to Kastoria with an even larger company, which was supposed to arrive at Nicholas's hotel in a week. If we list the shops that we visited that day, then these are: Papadopoulos (not to be confused with P. K. Z. Papandopoulos), Rizos bros. and a salon of fur things and Furhome interiors. I have not been there before, I liked it, so I recommend it. Carpets, chair covers, blankets, etc. etc. Then, getting into the car, we drove along the road along the lake for about 600 meters and visited the salons of Chrisos, Filimegas, Mitsiadis. How to get to and get to the above establishments, as well as the tavern itself, can be clearly seen in the video above. All of them are located in a bunch on the embankment of Lake Orestiada. On the other side of the road going around it. It's easy to find. Again, watch the video with the drive through Kastoria above.
In my previous stories, I described in detail many salons and factories, with photos and videos, their range, pricing policy and attitude towards their customers. Who is not lazy, you can read by clicking on the links at the beginning of the story.
This time I won't do it. I do not want. Looking ahead, I will say that I have seen enough of different things during these two trips, more bad than good. And I will not begin in this story, although I could describe in detail what I saw in specific fur salons, naming brands. The reason is very simple. Many sellers and owners are in a really bad situation. All living people, with families and children. I don't want to make things worse for them. Although, on the other hand, they do not really feel sorry for us, selling junk at very decent prices.
I am very often asked by mail or in private messages to name several factories in Kastoria, to give a recommendation where quality goods are sold.
And if 3-4 years ago I could easily do this, now believe me the situation is changing so fast that I don't want to risk my reputation. I personally saw how many well-known factories last fall, which were selling quality goods, having bought new raw materials in the spring and dismissed half of the workers, sewed this .......And many generally bought batches from China mixed with old fur coats of their own tailoring. Now in Kastoria the situation is changing not even by seasons, but by months. I don’t want people to write later and say that they bought some rubbish on my tip. No one has ever accused me of this. Let it stay that way.
If you want, consider this an advertisement, if you want to take my word for it, or even better check it yourself, but today, I personally, based on my rich experience, can only give such a recommendation to the MOUSIOS, Nicholas and Lazaros factory. Everyone has their own experience, I'm just sharing mine.
And I do not pretend to be the ultimate truth. I can not write that only they have a quality product. There is, of course, undoubtedly in other places, but I cannot guarantee that what was yesterday will remain tomorrow. But in the case of MOUSIOS, I can put my reputation on the line, knowing the situation from the inside. Believe me, nothing and no one will be able to prevent you from forming your own opinion after a trip to Kastoria. I'm just expressing my opinion, whether someone likes it or not.
By the way, as in the previous stories, I advise you to print out a business card with a note from Nicholas, just in case, which he gave me 5 years ago in Dubai or Lazaros. It's even easier to download them to your smartphone or tablet.
Show it to Nicholas or Lazaros and I will guarantee you a special treatment and a favorable price right away. Check.
This is not possible when a person receives a kickback. The price of a fur coat can only rise when the owner of the salon finds out that they came on a tip, for which they will have to pay more. It's up to you to show the business card right away, not to show it or show it at the end. Here is my answer to all the doubters.
So let's get back to Kastoria! We did not see any visitors in any of the salons that day, except for us. The sellers were frankly bored, willingly went to talk, especially since human nature is characterized by the desire to complain and pour out the soul. And there are very good reasons.
In a nutshell, it is sadness and longing. Unfortunately, I note that every year the situation with the quality of furs and tailoring in Greece is deteriorating steadily and very quickly. Finding a real, high-quality Greek fur coat (like 10 years ago) is very, very difficult (in our country, it’s practically impossible).
In salons, mostly illiquid assets from old collections and Chinese junk hang (somewhere more, somewhere less). To the request to show the catalog with the new collection and what to see from it in reality, the sellers react painfully. Many have catalogs, there are no fur coats from them. If they sewed something, then in single copies, for an exhibition and a photo from the same catalog. To the question - is there such a 48 size? The answer is, almost always, no. Can I order tailoring a model from it by the standards? We'll be back in a week. Also no. The factory is probably closed or it simply does not exist either.
It was striking that the store staff was all on their nerves. Many sold the last fur coat a couple of weeks ago. And this is during the tourist season. Well, you can imagine the situation.
There are several reasons for this situation with the fur business in Greece.
The first and most important is the difficulty of price competition with mass-produced Chinese products.
A lot of salon owners simply switched from their own tailoring to buying products from Chinese factories and sticking tags. Almost all the rest, who have not completely switched to goods from the Middle Kingdom, buy such fur coats and raw materials, diluting their assortment with them in the store. The percentage of Chinese fur coats and products made from low-quality raw materials in such salons can vary from 50% to 95%. The saddest thing is that almost all previously known and impeccable brands in their reputation were engaged in this almost without exception. No problems with salaries to employees, social security, taxes, equipment, etc. etc. It is difficult for a simple tourist and buyer in Russia and the former CIS to explain why one fur coat costs half as much as another if, at first glance, they look almost the same to an uninitiated person. The situation is exactly the same as with the purchase of a Chinese copy of the iPhone.
They seem to be similar, but one of them is made of guano, so it is and usually does not live more than six months.
The seller of one of the listed salons, after a long conversation and after I pointed out the discrepancy between the degrees of protection well known to me and the reference for elite blackglam mink fur, and the fur itself, too, admitted, provided that I will not name anywhere a specific salon is that she is tired of deceiving people, that every time she is very ashamed to call Chinese fakes Greek and high-quality fur coats. That in almost every such fur coat you can find a dozen places with marriage and often they are so obvious and clearly visible that an awkward situation arises when you talk about quality, and the buyer trying on the tenth coat in each of the previous ones finds flaws in fur or tailoring. And this is not an experienced furrier, but just ordinary people from the street. And it's a pretty well-known brand.
What can we say about small shops and handicraft industries. It's embarrassing to sell this product. Respect to her and respect, as they say for recognition. The rest were engaged in praising their goods, convincing us that the neighbors had almost all Chinese fur coats and vying with each other telling how to distinguish them. ))))) Yes, it is enough to remove one Chinese chip from many, so that later you can talk about its absence in your products, as strong evidence that the Greek fur coat. Each has its own chips and evidence. Someone shows tables filled in Greek by hand, printed on a printer with the number of skins, etc. Someone offers kilo certificates. Someone says that there should be such a small insert in the seam with a certain inscription. Well, of course, the rest are all fools and do not know this. If you wish, you will be given such information in confidence)))).
You try to flatteringly ask to show, using the example of the proposed fur coat, how to distinguish China)))).
The second reason is of course the exchange rate. Unfortunately, people's salaries do not keep up with its growth and the dynamics of price changes in stores. A fur coat is not an essential item, and many have postponed their planned purchases for later or abandoned them altogether. At times, the number of tourists, both stray and organized, has decreased.
The third reason is the almost complete absence of buyers from Ukraine for the last two years, and after all, every fourth fur coat sold fell on them. The reasons probably do not need to be explained.
The fourth reason is unrealistic, abnormally warm winters of the last three years. The demand for fur products, as well as for air conditioners, is extremely low in cold summers.
My acquaintance installer of climatic equipment is crying with burning tears about this Moscow summer.
The fifth reason is the lack of lending and long-term loans for the development of production. I hope it is not necessary to describe the economic situation in the banking sector of Greece? One word - disaster. Ninety percent of all factories in Kastoria worked on the principle - took a loan, bought raw materials, sewed fur coats, sold it, repaid the loan, kept the profit. The first condition fell out of this chain and further according to the domino principle. I could name factories of famous brands that are on the verge of closing and have stopped production. There are a lot of them. Many have arrested property and goods. Loan non-return lawsuits are underway. If pillars like Chrisos, Alessandro Bosso and others are closing their stores in Dubai, then what about the rest.
In the UAE, after the last season, more than two-thirds of the Greek offices and fur salons have closed.
All this together has created a situation where almost all factories do not have the funds to sew new collections and purchase high-quality raw materials. Nothing to pay salaries and taxes. In the salons hang what has remained unsold over the past 10 years, plus Chinese goods, which helpful partners often give for sale.
But this does not mean at all that high-quality fur products cannot be found in Kastoria. There are still those who work for the future, even at a loss, but at the same time do not compromise with their conscience, value their brand, their name on the brand. As the same Nicholas and Lazaros from MOUSIOS say, the economic problems of people will pass, the sanctions will be lifted, time will pass, our surname will remain on the name of the factory. Our sons are growing up. How do we give them a name stained by quality compromises.
Maybe that's why they have no problems with the need to take loans, sales, layoffs of the most experienced craftsmen, tailoring fresh collections and the work of the factory. There will always be a buyer for a quality product, even during the worst financial crises. And having dropped the brand, it is very difficult to raise it again. It's easier to change the name. It has become more difficult to look for quality things - this is a fact. But it is also a fact that in Greece you can buy such a good fur coat that we cannot find in the afternoon with fire. You just need to be careful and prepared.
Now, before describing our second visit to Kastoria and visiting a mink farm, I will give some valuable, non-trivial tips on what to look for when choosing a fur coat. This is not written about in numerous articles on the Internet on the topic - how to choose the right fur and fur coats. I'll try not to repeat myself.
If at the factory the principle is to take it here and now, then discounts, love and all that, then never rush. Pay attention to it. If the alignment is like this, then you will 100% find something better and cheaper. If the owners and sellers are calm, they are not in a hurry, they don’t put pressure on you, they offer to go for a walk after trying on and bidding and try to find something better and cheaper, then the likelihood that you really won’t find anything better is extremely high. The seller and the owner are confident in the price and quality. We are sure that you will return anyway. Well, if not you, then it is not difficult to sell a high-quality fur coat with a good price. But, to hand over consumer goods, which they want in bulk everywhere right here and now. And they get very upset when you say - we will still take a walk. They may not show it, but an attentive person will feel it.
If you go for a fur coat in autumn-winter after the summer beach season in Greece, be sure to take into account the fact that in the salons there will be a huge number of fur coats that have made multiple moves and flights, which cannot affect their quality. The fact is that at the end of the season, tens of thousands of fur products given for sale to shops on the Greek islands and resorts are returned to Kastoria. They can travel like this dozens of times. Imagine old fur coats hanging in Kastoria itself plus travelers. The appearance of these fur coats is restored in various ways. At first glance, they do not differ much from new ones, but if you look closely, you can see some shabby things quite well. Walking through the salons of Kastoria, you will learn, just by entering the factory and casting a glance at the rows of fur coats, to distinguish naphthalene from fresh products. Pay attention to the lining and how the fur coat holds its shape.
A product that has been measured two hundred times is still visible, no matter how you mask it. They hold their shape worse. Often they are measured by customers with a larger size than the fur coat itself. Many do not wait for sellers, but take off and put on themselves, trying to fasten and squeeze their shoulders out of size. Repeating this procedure many times deforms its shape. Notice the fur. At least the same mink fur. It should be perfectly soft. If the hair is harsh, then the fur coat is old. If you have such a feeling even for a second, refuse the purchase.
3. Pay attention to the fact that fur coats in the same row and in the same color are not exactly the same in shade. Be sure to have coats lighter and darker. This is just the difference between dyed fur and natural fur. An experienced furrier simply selects, under powerful lamps, according to the color of the skins for one fur coat, one shade from a batch in which there are hundreds of them. And they are all different.
High-quality selection of fur shade is the first important operation in the factory shop. Even two black blackglam fur coats are not exactly the same, if you look closely. If the skins on all fur coats of the same color do not differ at all, then they are dyed. If they are natural in color, but poorly matched, your fur coat will resemble a patchwork quilt. In those salons where twilight reigns and there is no bright, white lighting, be especially careful and do not buy anything without examining it in sunlight. Take the fur coat by the edges of the hem, turn it upside down and unfold it like a sheet. Perhaps you will see something that you did not notice before))).
4. Pay close attention to the rubber bands, the loops with which the buttons are fastened, especially the top one, usually beautiful and large, like a brooch. In old fur coats, after dozens of fittings, they are loose and the button fastens and unbuttons very easily.
In new fur coats without effort, you will not do it. Also, in addition to buttons and elastic bands, watch how the fasteners that you insert into the loops click. If they are loose and not tight, then do not expect anything good.
5. Try to buy fur coats where the question is - can you make a shorter sleeve or change the collar for a hood will not lead sellers into a stupor. Even if you are not going to do this, ask such a question for backfilling. It is even better if you are ready to personally tailor any model to your measurements. Here it becomes clear what kind of store it is. If such services, especially tailoring, cannot be provided, then either they are simply dealers or they sell junk, and the factory has long been closed.
6. Try to buy fur coats in salons where style and direction are felt. If the store looks like a Chinese shop and there are fur coats in it of all colors of the rainbow, completely different styles and different quality, then it’s better not to take anything there.
7. Never drink alcoholic beverages during fittings or during bargaining. Offer will be almost everywhere. It is possible and necessary to wash a perfect purchase, but before that, no-no))).
8. A separate topic is the elite Blackglama mink fur. Fur coats made from these furs have several degrees of protection, from linings, special sewn-in inscriptions on tags that glow in ultraviolet light, to individual numbers, passports, etc. I will not repeat myself in previous stories, I described in detail how to distinguish a fake. And I shot a video that will help in choosing not only blaglams but also other furs. Especially if you buy a fur coat sewn according to technology in dissolution, and not from plates. Watch carefully the video where Lazaros shows a secret that none of the sellers will tell you about, how to check the quality of such tailoring.
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=CbCLyJ2-tNE
I'll tell you one more secret that no one will tell you about. Pay special attention to the presence of certificates from the purchase of this fur at the AMERICAN LEGEND auction in Seattle. Those who have nothing to be ashamed of hang them in a conspicuous place.
These certificates indicate, ATTENTION, the numbers from the batch tags, the number of fur coats for which skins were purchased and, most importantly, the date of purchase. Look at the tag of your fur coat, ask to see a similar certificate for the last couple, three years, if it has not been hung in the salon in a conspicuous place. It's not a problem. The auction takes place twice a year. There are no such certificates. most likely in a counterfeit store. At best, a genuine fur coat from a repurchase or sale. Their history is dark, their age is unknown. Pay close attention to the number of coats for which furs were purchased.
If the bill goes to several hundred and more than a thousand in one certificate, then the factory is alive, working and prospering. Here's how it is, for example, March 1500, May 1500, and so on.
Take a photo of the certificate. Information about the tags can be checked on the AMERICAN LEGEND auction site or by writing a letter there. In the case of fake certificates and tags, the seller will face a huge fine. They don't want to show it, they don't let you take pictures openly...Draw your own conclusions. No one will hang out such a linden. But if there is something to be proud of, then they will not hide it, believe me.
So, a hot day smoothly flows into a cool evening. After shopping, we managed to walk around the beautiful lake Orestiada, where along the banks, like in a zoo, you can look at the lives of dozens of species of wild birds, feed them and take interesting photos.
We went to the dragon's cave. We went to an ancient monastery nearby. Very beautiful.
Here you can take a pleasure boat and ride around the lake. Price, if taken with a ticket to the cave 6+2 euros.
We sat for an hour in a cafe right on the shore and slowly moved back.
Kastoria is generally a very beautiful and calm city, especially colorful in its old part. there are a lot of churches, monasteries, beautiful views from the hills surrounding the city. In addition to buying a fur coat, you can get quite pleasant impressions, like an ordinary tourist.
Having left the town and passing by Mousios on the way to the hotel, we decided to stop by the salon again to drink coffee. go to the toilet before the road. We talked with Lazaros and Margarita. It was about some new color in the assortment of the factory. It's called Eletric Blue. Let's just see.....Interesting. Why missed?? ?
In general, let's see, it ended up costing me a tidy sum of unplanned expenses. Yes, let it be at a huge discount, let the wife be delighted ...
I'm not even going to write the price, so as not to embarrass people. Perfectly shrunken in size, length, etc. There were no coats of this color and the desired model. We decided not to be wiser with the sizes and ordered in-house tailoring, especially since we were going to come again in a week. Read about what happened below.
Then there were two hours on a beautiful empty highway and we were at home - in a hotel in Halkidiki. Three days later, a custom-made mink and lynx coat for Alena was also brought there. She sat down perfectly. See for yourself in the photo. Washed, as it should be with Nicholas and his charming wife Iota.
On our second trip to Kastoria, we went a week later in the same format, only now a family from Saratov, Natalya and Viktor, and another correspondence friend from Moscow, Lena, went with us.
Hello to you if you are reading these lines. They also came for a week to rest at Nicholas's hotel and combine the rest with a trip to Kastoria. Again two cars. Here you are again, by the way, the sixth way to get to Kastoria)))). Nicholas agreed to give them a ride, especially since he rides there so often. You just need to choose a free day. This trip does not obligate you to anything. This simple courtesy does not impose any obligation to buy a fur coat. This is absolutely accurate. They could go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted in Kastoria. Another thing is that Lena already bought two fur coats from Nicholas in Dubai two years ago, and one of them was made to order and now she came to Greece for the next new clothes, having given the previous ones to her daughter. Natalya, too, having studied the reviews on the Internet, also, first of all, wanted to see coats in Mousios.
Well, we had to pick up our converted blackglam fur coat, try it on and buy, if it fits, the blue sheepskin coat ordered on our last visit.
We arrived in Kastoria. Of course, first of all in Mousios. Lena already knew what she wanted. She chose a model from a catalog from the Internet. A long, strict, chic blackglam fur coat with a sable collar. We decided to sew according to size, because in the desired model there was no such collar. The master brought sable skins. And I will tell you that this Barguzin sable could be set as the standard of this fur in the auction window. Perfect dark fur with the most expensive shade. Only narrow strips of backs, which are valued twice as much as tummies. Noble gray hair, fluffy, soft. Just fantastic. Well, blackglam didn't need to be introduced. Here and so everything is clear. A photo of what happened is below.
Lena also chose the second coat, 3/4 long, from Starlight mink fur already from finished products. Softer in contours and not so strict. like the first.
The only thing was that something had to be done with the sleeves, either lengthen or shorten. I do not remember. Everything went great afterwards.
Natalya also chose a model from those that were available, but she was also made of blackglam, black, but she needed brown. They also brought the skins, measured the size and the order went to the shop.
Looking ahead, I’ll say that all three coats were then brought a couple of days later to Halkidiki right to the hotel. Everyone was very pleased.
It was all sewn, re-sewn and adjusted to fit the figure, it was to order.
I'll say it again. The ability to order according to individual sizes and the ability to make any changes to your favorite and well-shrinking coat model at the existing factory is of great importance when choosing a place of purchase. Here you are 100% guaranteed against buying stale goods that have been hanging in the cabin for perhaps a whole five years, traveled all over Greece from the islands to the mainland and back, visited Dubai and several stores in Greece itself. The fur coat will be sewn here and now and just for you according to your individual sizes. And she will sit better than an average fur coat sewn for sale.
Such an order with delivery to Russia can even be made via Skype and e-mail. Skype at the Mousios mousios-furs factory.
Delivery will be in about a week to one of the fur stores in the city. I did not like the principle - you do not need to give money. It is clear that selling such a fur coat in the same Moscow, at the Greek price, will not be difficult for any salon. Real Greek fur coats have not been sold or imported for a long time because of their higher purchase price than for Chinese products. It's just that Nicholas still has old connections. And your fur coat will be delivered to one of these stores in the Russian Federation. And they will sell it there if you refuse to buy. But such cases, as far as I know, have not yet been.
So our altered fur coat looked great. It feels like you bought a new model. If you don’t tell your friends, then it’s quite good for a new thing.
It actually looked like it could be hung in the salon and sold.
Blackglam is a very wearable fur, and a well-tailored fur coat will not be demolished even for 15-20 years. They jokingly suggested that Nicholas buy it out so that he could hang it on a separate mannequin and show it to customers. Five years of active wear is a long time for a fur coat. If in the first year she was still somehow careful, then she simply rushed about in the tail and in the mane. The blue fur coat that we ordered on our last visit also sat down perfectly. I had to take. )))
In fact, the money was not superfluous at all and there were no plans for such a waste. But what happened, happened. Couldn't resist the price for this item. The main argument was - come on, if anything calmly in Moscow we will sell twice as much. And this is actually so.
Just like last time, we could not persuade our companions to take a walk around the fur coat shops. And we didn’t really want to, to be honest. We went ourselves only to three large and famous factories in the neighborhood of Mousios.
I won't write names. One is known for its odious owner and disgusting attitude towards customers and service after a perfect purchase. Another neighborhood looked more like a store in which they had just begun to deliver and hang goods. The store of the third figured in Orel and Tails shopping, and megalomania does not allow you to really look at things and set adequate prices for products even in the most severe crisis. Yes, there is something to choose in terms of quality, but all the same can be bought much cheaper. At the first of the factories, the salon was arranged so that tourists and buyers first passed through the busy workshop, and only then got into the showroom. And on the third, at the entrance, behind a translucent screen, several sewing machines and tables were also previously visible, at which people worked.
Of course, it was half show-off and as soon as a group of tourists left the same shopping tour, the shop was instantly empty. This time we were greeted with deathly silence. Nobody worked. A very revealing fact. On sale are mainly goods from old batches from previous years.
Then everything is the same as last time. Lunch in Allotino and walk around Kastoria. Feed the birds on the beach.
Very entertaining. You will have lunch, ask in any tavern for old bread. Though in the same Allotino. There is a Russian-speaking waiter. Each of them has a bread that has not been thrown away. It is brought with interest to every visitor. What is not eaten is not put on the table anymore. It will be gladly given to you. Do not be shy.
This is an absolutely normal and adequate request. Again, it was delicious.
It's a pity you can't swim in the local lake, and there are no beaches and places to enter the water))). Occasionally, our tourists swim there, who are in a certain state and the sea is knee-deep.
On the way back, we all stopped at the Mousios mink farm. I have already been there and wrote about it and even made a short video report. Nicholas with particular pleasure shows what is there and how. And indeed there is something to be proud of. This farm is better equipped than the famous blackglam mink farms in the US.
It is new and of course everything is there with the latest automation and technology. The tour was really interesting. It was especially interesting how the selection and selection is carried out. Crossing and analysis of results. This topic is very large and worthy of a separate story, but it is more interesting for specialists, although the average buyer, of course, is also interested in how everything happens. Watch two short video clips. I shot one last year, one now.
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=2nnEx4fe04Q
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=VhWB1_M6u2o
< iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VhWB1_M6u2o" width="640">
After visiting the farm, it remains only to get home and wash the purchases, which we did, culturally and meaningfully. ))
This is how this summer fur marathon ended.
I'm still willing to give a fraction of my time and answer questions that you send me to sacho1@mail. ru. I will answer everyone. Maybe not as soon as the letter arrives, but everyone, I promise. By the way, you can also drop a word of gratitude there, if this or that information from my stories was useful to you in one way or another. I will be pleased.
Let me remind you once again that everything written by me is my personal opinion and experience, which I am ready to share with you and nothing more. Who wants to consider my stories as advertising, I don't care. The main rule in a situation where you are not sure about something is to check everything yourself. They don't take money for this. This is what I urge all readers to do. Come to Kastoria, go around as much as possible, make your choice yourself. I write only about what I saw and checked myself. Nothing more. And most importantly, share your experience with others. Both good and bad, most importantly. Don't forget about it. Sometimes it helps a lot.
Chic interesting places, but I will write about this in another story. Travelogue in Greece. I love this country very much, this hard-working, a little naive and very proud people, who, without exception, treat us very warmly. If you have never been to the land of Ancient Hellas, then try to correct this misunderstanding as soon as possible. Well, if the dream of buying a fur beauty has moved from the stage of what to buy to the stage of where to buy, then the choice is obvious. Kastoria itself is quite worthy to visit as a touristic, interesting and beautiful, ancient city with an interesting history and stunning nature. If you have such an opportunity, even without plans to buy fur products, be sure to use it. Thanks to everyone who made it through to the end. Hope it helps you a little. There hasn't been a letter that I haven't answered. May not be at the same time. as received, but answered all.
Write if you have questions by mail or in a personal message here on the portal.
Sincerely, Alexander (sacho1@mail. ru)
