A room divider, beautiful things and delicious coffee: these are the apparently simple ingredients that have turned an Oudorp living room into a cozy and village shop. It’s called Kazei. Neighbors Manon Hertog and Carina Ligthart really want to add something to their village: “This was not there yet, while it fits so well with Oudorp.”
The shop brings an old Oudorp history back to life. Because this house, now Hertog’s home, was once a cigar shop. “We used to buy chewing gum here,” one of the customers told media partner at the opening of the pop-up shop this week. Regional city Central.
The room divider is a striking element in the shop. Behind that screen is Hertog’s living room. The feeling that you are ‘visiting’, that the boundary between home and shop is vague, makes Kazei what it is and wants to be: a real ‘(Ou)dorps’ shop. With the old Munnikenweg recognizable in the logo. At the same time, time certainly does not stand still here: “You can also order the entire breakfast vegan,” Ligthart explains.
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Because you can also have breakfast here. Outside, in the yard, there is a shack with tables on the sides. There people can sit and enjoy coffee, cake, yogurt and a conversation with fellow villagers.
Connecting the neighborhood
“It really has to be something connecting.” And that works immediately, because the question ‘whose are you?’ is never far away in Oudorp. “I knew your grandmother well! Manon is in my phone as Manon Neighbor,” says Ligthart.
“You are just listed as ‘mother of’ on the phone,” adds a visitor who knows Ligthart from the primary school that is right next to the shop. This completes the village setting: the church and the pub, both across the street from the shop, the weekly market on Wednesdays on one side and the school on the other.
“And we have a very deep garden,” Ligthart adds. “We also want to do something with that.” The plans here are certainly not set in stone, they grow while the neighbors are busy with their shops. The shop is full of trinkets, antiques and nostalgic items.
Kazei is open on Wednesdays and can be found on Herenweg.