Georgian Startup Hippie Opens Stores in Several New Cities

Georgian startup "Hippie", where they create handmade items, plans to open stores in several cities.

As the founder of the company Lali Tvaliashvili told Bm.ge, the store will open in Tbilisi in the fall, and later in Rustavi and Batumi.

"Our products received a great response from the very beginning. In a few months, the number of our users has grown to 100,000. We had two stores before the pandemic, closed due to restrictions, and switched to online work. We did not stop during the pandemic, but demand was drastically reduced. Now sales have increased significantly. Demand for the product is growing and the annual turnover is 25,000 GEL. As for exports, only immigrants place orders. We often send products to Greece, Italy, Germany, and Spain, ”said Lali Tvaliashvili.

"Hippie" founder says that one of the aspects of their business development will be in the direction of bus stores.

"We have two bus stores, through which we are constantly presented on the streets of Tbilisi on weekends. We also have a third bus where we have a bar and we will be attending events both as a store and a bar," Lali said.

As for the challenges, the founder explains that it would be good if it would be possible for startups to operate in big malls at discounted prices.