Beginnings: how to open a cafe?

”Raštinė“ is a small and cosy coffee shop and stationery store right in the heart of Vilnius. It’s easy to spend endless hours there sipping green matcha lattes, browsing through beautiful books and cute pencils. Equally loved by visitors and locals, ”Raštinė“ is a must-see when visiting Vilnius. We sit down with Saulius [Saulius], one of the owners, to ask what’s the secret to their success.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BEGINNING, HOW DID EVERYTHING START?

We're not just the owners of "Raštinė", but a couple in real life too. Ieva is an architect and an interior designer and I had more jobs in various areas than I can properly count. We met five years ago and were bonded not only by life together but also a passion for well designed, interesting stationery. Ieva uses it in her professional life and I buy and store it in my desk drawers with hope to make use of it all one day.

While visiting some of the big cities in Europe we always find time to stop by local stationery boutiques and book shops. By the way, my first gift to Ieva was an Italian notebook. I truly tried out many professions in life. I love a challenge and hate having a routine so it really was just a matter of time before I’d gather enough courage, find the right idea and create my own business. There was this ache to become the boss of my own business and my own time.

DO YOU REMEMBER HOW THE IDEA WAS BORN?

During a trip to Milan I visited one of Moleskine's coffee places where they also sold their notebooks. That’s when the idea that Vilnius needs something like that was born. It seemed like Ieva's experience in creating interiors and knowledge of stationary could go well with my know-how in food and sales. This wasn't the first business idea we had but
while arranging the specifics, the earlier ideas just wouldn't stick. There was never enough financial support, or we weren’t feeling that this or that idea was "the one".

After I came back from Milan, just for the sake of interest, we looked up available properties for rent and found the one we currently have on J.Basanaviciaus street. It had it all - the big windows, a busy old-town street, an architecture faculty across the street and an emerging MO museum right next door. So we decided to rush and sign the lease before it got too late - the opportunity seemed too good to pass on. After arranging the facilities, we had to polish the very idea of "Raštinė". We had only two months before giving the property up for reconstruction, all of our evenings were spent discussing and planning how the new place should look.

You can read the full article in -What do people do? magazine, order at our online shop.

WORDS: VIKTORIJA APRIMAITĖ

PHOTOS: UGNĖ HENRIKO