It all started in 2014, when Bruno Martins started making wooden surfboards. The taste for the art of working with this unique material intensified and the pandemic served as an incentive to give the two dogs another life.
With the pieces he made «for entertainment», the idea of creating a business, «more serious», and the desire to participate in markets, together with his wife, to show the work to other people. «With the markets, we saw that our products began to sell very well and the truth is that it's been two years of this», says Bruno Martins, the author of all the pieces.
In these two years, Two Dogs was incubated in QRIAR – Algarve Creative Incubator, launched by QRER cooperative, which has helped them to develop various aspects, namely those more connected to the business. After selling parts all over the world, Bruno and Filipe now thought it was time to move on to a physical store, in Faro.
«In the markets, people always asked if we had a store and we said no, until we started to realize that it could be a gamble. In addition, it gives more credibility to the products. Some of our pieces are expensive and that way people know they have a place where they can go if they need any clarification», says Filipa Martins to the Sul Informação on the opening day of the store, the 21st of January.
At Two Dogs, located on Rua da Misericórdia, in Faro, next to Arco da Vila, there are pieces for all tastes, ranging from cutting boards to coasters, wooden spoons, coffee capsule holders, trays or simply decorative pieces. Prices vary between 5 and 120 euros.
Anyone who enters there immediately feels the smell of wood and it is impossible not to get lost in appreciating the detail of the pieces made from recycled material.
«Everything here is made from old furniture wood that people throw away. My job is to disassemble everything and work the wood until I reach this final result», explains Bruno Martins, stressing that a board takes, on average, two hours to make.
Although «no piece is exactly like the other», Bruno says that if people want to order a certain piece, they can do so. There have been many requests and they have even sent work abroad.
«I think that many people already have the notion that artisanal work must be paid for. And that's why they value the fact that they are products made from recycled material, made manually and that they are unique pieces», says Filipa Martins.
Bruno also adds that he has already had «clients who bought boards at IKEA, but who later brought them here for us to restore them».
On the day they opened the store doors for the first time, they received dozens of visits and even sold a few pieces. «We can't complain about the first day, now it's time to see how it goes», concludes Bruno Martins.
The shop is open from Monday to Friday between 10:30 am and 17:00 pm and on Saturday until 19:00 pm. You can follow her on Facebook page , Instagram or in your website.
Photos: Mariana Sedge | Sul Informação
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