Kallithea’s Covered Market at the Magic Number 56

Irini Maroulidou: ‘Market bride’

On the corner of the market, there’s a grocery store with its fruits and vegetables so impeccably arranged that the crates almost look like they’ve been pulled out of a cartoon. Irini Maroulidou sits on a stool among the fresh produce, peeling a pomegranate and placing the seeds in a transparent container, ready to be eaten. 

Earlier, she had also chopped and washed some greens that a regular customer and friend of her daughter had come to buy “ready to cook,” so that she could prepare them before she goes to the office. This is what Irini does every day, while her daughter Julia sells their produce. “We don’t let our mom handle any technology, because every time we have done so, she’s done something crazy,” her daughter says with a laugh. On one occasion, Irini accidentally entered 400,000 euros into the cash register instead of 40 euros.

Irini has been at the Kallithea market since 1966. At that time, she came to Athens from Messinia in the Peloponnese to get married. “She is known as the market bride,” says her daughter Julia. She married her Pontian husband, who was the second generation to take over the grocery store – his parents were among the first Pontians to establish the market.

Since then, and with the third generation now in charge, Irini continues to come every day to make sure the produce is properly arranged. “Sunday is the only day I don’t come,” she says. “Well, you need to rest too,” I tell her. “No, we just have lots of cooking to do to feed the children, the grandchildren,” she replies, confirming that it’s as if the older generation of Greek women can never really sit down. 

And while all the old-timers know Irini, and the regulars are now like friends of the store owners – they come, shop, share their news, maybe even sit down for a coffee – Julia admits that “the world of the market has changed a lot. Something has to be done to revive the market. It has remained as it was built.” Nonetheless, she has found a way to attract younger customers who may not know exactly where her store is located: She has put it on the delivery service apps. So even as we speak, she’s sneaking a peek at her tablet to see if a new order has arrived.