Concrete Matter started sometime during the summer of 2012 as the brain child of Jacob Garvelink, who quickly found Tim Boelaars and Tomas Huveneers as the co-parents of his idea. This resulted in Concrete Matter, The Man’s Gift Co. being born December 2012. After existing for a few months online only, a pop-up store on the Haarlemmerdijk in Amsterdam ignited the fire behind the wish for a real brick and mortar store to show all the items we had collected.

An old video rental place on the Haarlemmerdijk was found and with our own blood sweat and tears transformed ‘back’ into its former glory. A photo we found on the Amsterdam city database showed how beautiful the store used to be and we followed this image. October 3rd 2013 saw us opening Concrete Matter The Man’s Gift Co. at Haarlemmerdijk 127. Here our journey lasted five years. With a collection of items which could best be described as a mix between Indiana Jones and Ernest Hemingway. 

In 2016 we found a second location in the beloved 9 Streets District in the city centre of Amsterdam. Here we started selling clothing for the first time with the Pike Brothers brands, quickly followed by curated vintage clothing. 

In 2017 we closed our store on the Haarlemmerdijk and focussed on our store in the 9 Streets.

The Shift

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Our collection of curated vintage started to expand and along that our name for the place to be when looking for unique quality items grew as well. Our focus shifted from a very wide collection of goods to a more focussed selection of quality goods and curated vintage workwear, denim and military clothing.

Since Jacob and Tomas grew up close to Haarlem, we always felt that a store there would be great. So when Tomas stumbled upon an amazing location at Warmoesstraat 24, a new adventure began. Opening a store when the corona pandemic hit presented a score of challenges but we overcame those in the end and we are still here and moving forward.

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No Rock Unturned

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The need for quality goods and curated vintage is only growing at the moment. A counter movement to the wasteful practices of fast fashion and over consumerism we fully support. We have since secured our spot in the fascinating world of vintage clothing, leaving no rock unturned in our continuous search to help you develop your personal style with all the great items which are already out there. 

Visit one of our stores below or shop online