Efstathios Chindimpatoglou: a mattress repairer

Athanasios Chindimpatoglou from Kastamoni (Kastamonu) in Asia Minor married Vithleem and the couple had two children, Anastasios and Georgios. Vithleem arrived in Volos in 1921 with her two children. They first lived in the temporary encampments and then, in 1924, moved into one of the refugee houses of Nea Ionia in the neighbourhood known as ‘Squares’, named after the square clusters in which the tiny houses were arranged.

Ο Αναστάσιος δούλευε ως τσαγκάρης στο Φαρδύ. Παντρεύτηκε την Γεωργία και απέκτησαν δύο παιδιά τον Αθανάσιο και τον Ευστάθιο, μόλις ενός έτους. Σκοτώθηκε το 1943 στη διάρκεια της γερμανικής κατοχής, αφήνοντας τη γυναίκα του Γεωργία χήρα με δύο παιδιά. Ο Ευστάθιος ήταν μόλις ενός έτους. Παρά τις δυσκολίες κατάφερε να επιβιώσει και να μεγαλώσει τα παιδιά της.

Anastasios worked as a cobbler on Nea Ionia’s main street, known as ‘Fardys’. He married Georgia and had two children, Athanasios and Efstathios. He was killed in 1943 during the German occupation, leaving behind a widow and two children, the youngest of whom, Efstathios, was just one year old at the time. Though her life was difficult, Georgia managed to survive and raise her children.

At the end of the 1950s, Efstathios started working as a mattress repairer out of a small storage room in the family’s refugee house on the corner of Kallipolis Street and Eirinis Avenue. Everyone still remembers Efstathios coming to their courtyard, taking mattresses or duvets and opening them up. He used a long stick to tease the cotton stuffing and make it fluffy. When he was done, he would sew the duvet or the mattress back together and it would be good as new. In 1963, Efstathios expanded his activities by selling furniture and used neighbouring refugee houses to open his first store on ‘Fardys’.

Efstathios Chindimpatoglou married Maria Dimitrakou, a kindergarten teacher from Larisa who was also a refugee descendant hailing from Axari (Akhisar) in Asia Minor. The couple had two sons, Anastasios and Evangelos. In 2005, Efstathios’ furniture company was passed down to them and they became very active in the furniture business, expanding their activities first to the entire city of Volos, by opening a second store, and then to the whole country through e-commerce.

Efstathios Chindimpatoglou died on October 3, 2021, at the age of 79.

Written by: Eleni Diplari