A young Währinger rediscovered his love for colorful clamping blocks like Lego. Without further ado, he turned his passion into a profession – and not only inspires his own neighborhood with great building block models.
VIENNA/WÄHRING. Some parents get angry, especially during the holidays. A scream goes through the apartments of Währing when father or mother climbs barefoot on untidy Lego bricks. Maybe they shouldn’t angrily snap at the offspring, but take a closer look at the small, colorful stones.
What children’s eyes have been seeing in the clamping blocks for a long time is also becoming a revival of their childhood for more and more adults: a tool for creativity, for switching off and for big ideas. Philipp Steiner is one of those adults who has rediscovered the love of “clamping”. “As a child I already built a lot of Legos. Between the ages of 16 and 22 I stopped for a short time, but then I started once more.”
He lives his whole life in Gersthof and has created his own building block kingdom here: “Phillips colorful little stones” is the name of the shop where enthusiasts of all ages can find all kinds of goods.
Passion becomes profession
The disc jockey made a virtue out of necessity during the pandemic and opened his shop for terminal blocks from various manufacturers: “It was the best decision of my life! I build stuff all the time and talk to nice people. The people here are incredibly nice.” , the likeable Währinger is convinced.
All sorts of treasures are stacked up along the narrow corridors – mind you, everything can be built from the colorful little stones. From the battleship to world landmarks such as the Eifel Tower, knight’s castles, Millennium Falcon from Star Wars to various “modular buildings” – houses that are fully equipped and can be taken apart and used floor by floor.
Most of us probably know the industry leader Lego, which until recently had almost a monopoly on the terminal blocks, but the range of products has grown: Qman, Cobi, Wange, Mold Kind and Co. are the names of the rising stars in the plastic building block niche.
Philip is “filthy rich” – but different
With the increase in providers, the range of products is automatically broadened. “Tomorrow a large delivery will come in: a Millennium Falcon from Star Wars with 13,000 parts,” Steiner smiles at the local newspaper’s local inspection.
Although more and more adults are rediscovering their old passion for building, Steiner does a large part of his business with children. Here he also benefits from the fact that the GTVS Köhlergasse is only a block throw away. But Steiner also has his hands full during the holidays: “I make regarding half of my sales with adults, and they also buy the big models,” says Steiner.
He is probably extremely rich – but in a different form than usual. “I might not get rich with my small business, but I can make a living from it, and it’s a hobby that I’ve turned into a profession,” explains the proud shopkeeper, who also shows his joy for building blocks in front of the camera. Because Steiner has his own YouTube channel where he tests the models and explains them in detail.
Down to business:
Philipps Bunte Steinchen at Gentzgasse 117 is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Information is available on 0660/ 166 69 23 or online at philipps-bunte-steinchen.myshopify.com Steiner’s YouTube channel you can find here.
Video by Johannes Reiterits/RMA
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