A pioneer for his time, he launched the annual sales, established radio and television advertising, installed escalators and air conditioning and brought Santa Claus
Athens is changing and the historic square of Omonia has entered a trajectory of complete transformation in an attempt to regain its lost glory, leaving behind the image of degradation and abandonment it had in the past. The reconstruction of the legendary Mignon department store, which will be completed in the spring of 2024 and will breathe new life into this part of Athens, plays a decisive role in the upgrading of Omonia.
The impressive lighting of the historic building last week in three colors (orange, which was Minion’s trademark, olive green and white), ahead of the festive season of Christmas, it brought an air of another era to the city centre.
The older ones recalled their childhood memories of the once jewel of the capital and the younger ones admired the building that had been abandoned and unused for years.
The birth of a legend
Minion’s story began in 1934 when Yiannis Georgakas and Angelos Serafimidis opened the kiosk with the name “Minion”. In 1944, G. Georgakas discovers the building on Patision Street, which he buys gradually, with the aim of turning it into a department store and housing his business there.
Since the 1950s, Mignon has gradually developed into a department store with 120,000 items and 1,000 employees, while its profitability reaches 1 billion drachmas.
Minion, a pioneer for its time, launched the annuals discountsput fixed prices on products, abolishing haggling, established the advertising on radio and later on television, he placed escalatorsput air conditioningused a computer, established the shopping list and wedding listcreated sales and executive schools and staff seminars, worked cafe-bar restaurant on its floorsestablished art events, sold cars, entered into an exclusive partnership with The Walt Disney World and brought from Orlando the original Disney costumes and finally brought “Santa Claus» to distribute gifts to children and be the place where dreams come true.
The rebirth from the ashes 20 years later
In the early hours of December 19, 1980, the department store was completely destroyed by arson.
In 1983, with loans, the damage to the building was fully repaired and the store reopened, but due to debts, it was nationalized.
In 1991, following a call for tenders, G. Georgakas again buys Mignon from the state. In 1998 “MINION” closes for good and the property passes into the hands of Elmec Sports of the Feis family. After the sale of Elmec to the Folli Follie group, the store is passed to Folli Follie Holdings SA The company initially tried to rent the building to the Ministry of the Environment, but after the venture failed in 2012, it began preparations to convert it into a store, a a process that was stopped in 2018 when the virtual sales and non-existent profits of the group were revealed. The value of the building was estimated in 2019 at 25 million euros.
The building had been derelict for 20 years, virtually empty and covered on the outside with a painting project.
In 2021, the Mignon building was put up for tender, in which the real estate development company Dimand bid with an offer that exceeded 25 million euros.
This time, the historic department store which had been an abandoned carcass for almost two decades, will not become the “biggest big store” but will be a new lifeblood for the wider area that had been in decline.
Dimand’s design envisages its conversion to mixed-use building (shops, offices and apartments) with LEED Gold certification.
The property, with a total area of 18,500 sq.m. consists of buildings A (4,500 sq.m.) and BGDE (14,000 sq.m.) and is bounded by Patision, Satovriandou, Doros and Veranzerou streets. From the -1st to the 2nd floor of the BGDE buildings will be constructed shops with a total area of 6,100 sq.m. and from the 3rd floor to the 7th floor it is planned to create office spaces (with a total area of 7,700 sq.m.
It is noted that the BGDE buildings will be completed in about a year.
In building A, -1 and the ground floor are intended for commercial uses, while on the remaining floors approximately 30 apartments and five maisonettes of 50-125 sq.m. will be created.
The residences will occupy approximately 3,500 sq.m. Development of Building A will begin in 2024, with a target of completion in two years. Dimand estimates that the total gross development value (GDV) of the project upon completion will be approximately €50 million.
Source: Skai
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