The nostalgia for winter holidays spent in their grandmothers’ cozy, warm home in the country inspired two young people to transport some of this romantic atmosphere to the city, but also to help pay several elderly ladies for their work.

Two years ago Venelin Dobrev and Alexander Ivanov created a platform “Buy from gran” that offers users an emotional journey back in time, with the help of a pair of hand-knitted slipper socks. They selected several different models of woolen slippers, found a Bulgarian woolen yarn manufacturer and contacted six “digital” knitting grannies from the social networks, and they put all this into, what has now become, a magical website.

“The idea came up at Christmas when one of my own grandmothers decided to give all of the women in the family beautiful hand-knitted slipper socks,” Venelin says. “That was when the idea came to me – that the emotion of childhood, of the time spent with your grandparents in their village, can be transported to our own time with the help of beautiful hand-knitted accessories – slipper socks, shawls etc. But we started with the slipper socks because they are the most easily identifiable items.”

Talking about his work with the elderly ladies, Venelin Dobrev says that he certainly does not want to make people feel sorry for them. Because they love to knit, and do it for pleasure and love.

“The social element is actually the icing on the cake. But we don’t want to play superheroes saying that we are on some kind of social mission – what we did is to create a business model with a gratifying social element. When people buy slipper socks they know that some of the money will be paid to some elderly woman who likes to knit, but they will also remember the times when they themselves spent their summers with their grandparents in the country. That is why we launched our campaigns at Christmas time, to highlight this nostalgic feeling, and I think we succeeded.”

Putting up for sale gran’s knitwear the feeling of going back I time, the sense of warmth, are very strong. But the authors of the idea want to go beyond romantic element, so that more elderly ladies will be able to sell their wares via this virtual “knitwear” mall, and fetch a good price.

“What we are doing is telling a story in a way that will touch people and transport them back in time,” Venelin says. “And we want to develop the idea with the help of a platform where all women who want to, will be able to upload their knitwear and earn more money. At this time the money coming in is divided fifty-fifty, but once we take a step back, we shall give them a bigger percentage of the sales.  The platform’s users on the other hand, are given a heartwarming experience that will remind them of their own grandparents and of the time they have spent with them in the country, so that is an additional bonus.”

At Christmas time, the slipper socks knitted by the Bulgarian grannies travelled as far as Germany, taking the emotion of childhood to our compatriots living there. The founders of “Buy from gran” say there is a capacity for growth in all Balkan countries, that is why one of the aims they have set themselves for this year is to form strategic partnerships with logistics companies. Meanwhile they have been trying to work out how grannies can join efforts with grandpas on an online platform that will serve to bring people, who can make things with their own hands and post for-sale ads online, in contact with the people who would like to buy the items they have made. And this, coupled with the noble idea that you can add to the family budget of an elderly person.

English version: Milena Daynova