Bazaar Arribas
Bazaar Arribas
SINCE 1919 Toys, costume jewelery and trinkets in the Plaza Mayor María Concepción Arribas, helped at the counter by her daughter and her grandson, keeps open one of the few traditional toy stores that still exist in the center of Madrid, to keep the children excited
...It was opened by his father, Juan Arribas Aguado, in 1919, at number 19 of the current Plaza Mayor, which at that time was called Plaza de la Constitución. In those days, the store sold, in addition to toys, costume jewelery and trinkets (metal objects of little value such as key rings, scissors, thimbles or old coins). In 1935 the establishment was expanded with a second store, in the same square but at number 16, dedicated to costume jewelery and, a few years later, also to perfumery. As usual in traditional trade, the whole family is involved in the business: María Concepción and Ángel Arribas Navarro, sons of the founder, continue the business after the death of their father in the mid-1950s. Ángel, who was toy representative, took over the original number 19, and the new store at number 16 passed into the hands of Concepción, who definitively bought the establishment in the sixties. Today they continue to sell toys, with some concession to the ubiquitous souvenir from the Plaza Mayor. Its label, in Art Deco typography, and the red wooden cover with glass windows maintain all the charm of yesteryear.
Read lessPlaza Mayor, 16