Our Story

Beautiful things have been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Roots in Paper and Craft

In 1963 my parents Rolf and Elsbeth Gronau founded their printing workshop and bindery in Hamburg. I grew up surrounded by paper, presses, binding tools and fine writing instruments. Material, colour and craft were never just a profession to me. They were part of my life from the very beginning.

Yet my own career took me elsewhere first. I trained as a travel agent and later managed my own branch. In the early 1990s I returned to the family business, and a passion slowly turned into an idea.

Paris, Colette and My Own Stationery Shop

I wanted a stationery shop of my own.

Paris played a decisive part in that. Whenever I arrived there, my first stop was always Colette on Rue Saint Honoré. To me, Colette was the finest concept store I knew. That effortless mix of fashion, design, fragrance, art and unexpected finds fascinated me. From my travels I nearly always brought a special piece home to Hamburg.

In 1995 I finally opened my own stationery shop on Poelchaukamp.

From Hamburg into the World

But paper and writing instruments were soon not enough. Fashion, jewellery, leather, fragrance, home accessories and unusual design had always inspired me. I wanted to offer things I found beautiful. Things you would not see in every shop. And I wanted to develop our own pieces, available only from us.

Little by little, the stationery shop became the Trixi Gronau Concept Store.

I always looked beyond Hamburg. I travelled to trade fairs, design studios, small workshops and unusual boutiques. Alongside the shop, a wholesale side gradually grew. Our clients included 10 Corso Como in Milan and The Shop at Bluebird in London. We supplied customers as far away as Korea and presented our collections at trade fairs.

For a time, Dubai became part of this story too. After a trade fair there, we opened our own showroom in the city.

Back to What Matters

It was an exciting, international chapter. But at some point I realised that bigger does not automatically mean better.

I deliberately stepped back from wholesale and returned to what had mattered most from the very beginning: my customers, our own designs, exceptional products, our workshop and working personally with our clients.

To this day I look for pieces you will not find on every corner. It makes no difference to me whether they come from a well-known international designer, a small workshop or from our own atelier. What matters to me is the idea, the material, the craftsmanship and the design.

Workshop and Family

Craftsmanship has always remained at the heart of what we do.

In our Hamburg workshop we create our own collections, books, stationery and leather accessories. We print, bind, emboss and personalise. One-of-a-kind pieces are as much a part of what we do as small editions and individual commissions for our print clients.

And we are still a family business.

What my parents Rolf and Elsbeth began in 1963 is now shared by the third generation. My daughters Simona and Antonia bring their own perspectives. Simona comes from the agency world, Antonia is an industrial designer. My sister and her family support me with their different talents. And my husband is the all-round craftsman who steps in whenever machines, technology or very practical solutions are needed.

The Concept Store Today

Today, you can experience the Trixi Gronau Concept Store online and in our showroom on Bullenredder in Hamburg.

Our shelves and display cases still hold stationery, writing instruments, accessories and special finds. The showroom reflects exactly what I love about a concept store: it is a place to discover. Visits are by appointment.

After all these years, much has changed. One thing has not.

I am still looking for the beautiful things in life, and above all for the ones you do not find everywhere.

For years my sister has put it far more briefly:

“No one else has that.”

And that, most likely, is exactly what TRIXI GRONAU is.