Bring your own brand
After Yasar and Vesna, Wiebke and Kathia gave us their impressions of Brussels and how their businesses, respectively A.D.Deertz and Startstyling, would fit in the Belgian capital.
For Kathia, the very concept of Brussels was, once again, linked to the usual stereotypes: the Atomium, the EU, chocolate, and ‘nice old buildings’. But Wiebke had something else in mind: she saw Brussels as a city where old and new meet among ‘nice, pretty people’. This is not the usual type of sentence one would expect from a Berliner talking about Brussels, but it was refreshingly satisfying to hear.
If Wiebke’s visit in Brussels gave her a new business perspective of the city after scouting the neighbourhoods and the types of shops present in different areas, Kathia was quite surprised with what she found, as she ‘didn’t expect it to be so multicultural! And the people seem to really love their city, are open-minded and love to be ambassadors of Brussels.’
‘The people seem to really love their city, are open-minded and love to be ambassadors of Brussels!’
When asked whether they would consider importing their concepts here, Kathia was quite enthusiastic, seeing it as ‘an opportunity to change something, to live something new!’ Change something, ok. But what? She had something in mind: ‘there’s a lack of colour’. The winter weather certainly didn’t help… Wiebke’s plans weren’t yet as concrete and would consider the idea with more planning: ‘we’re just looking… but we’re looking!’
And as she was looking, Wiebke seemed seduced by what she saw: the architectural mix of old and new is quite to her taste, with bits here and there reminding her of different European cities. Kathia wasn’t done complimenting Brussels either, and the way she would sell it to her friends who never visited the city was as charming as she was: ‘It’s a journey to a different world: everything is pretty even when it’s not, because it is so full of charm here! You have to come and taste it for yourself!’
