It's All Greek celebrates 25 years!
Way back in 1999, a Classics teacher with a passion for ancient Greece had a crazy idea. That teacher was me, and the crazy idea was It's All Greek. This year, 2025, It's All Greek celebrates 25 years since the first website went live on 1st December 2000!
It's hard to believe, but in 1999 there were no smartphones, internet connection was mostly dial-up, and my Greek suppliers and I communicated via fax. Amazon and Google were just 2 years old, Ebay UK just 1 year old. It was 3 years before iTunes, 4 years before Facebook, 5 years before Etsy, and 10 years before Instagram.
It all started in 1972. My parents, Dilys and Wynne, took me to Greece when I was only 12. At that time, you could walk inside the Parthenon! I remember being utterly entranced and enchanted by the beauty, the colours, the sky. By everything, really.
After reading Classics at St Hugh's College, Oxford, I took a bilingual teaching qualification in my home city of Cardiff. I taught at Queen's Gate School in London for 16 years - hence making the students lie on the ground in Epidavros to make a QG each time we went there!
After each Greek trip, I would return with bits and pieces that had caught my eye along the way. My favourites were a solid bronze Diskobolos and a little bronze tripod. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a way of selling things like this to fellow enthusiasts?
With no knowledge of websites or the first clue as to how to import from Greece to the UK, things weren't looking too good at first. Nor did I have any idea of where to find suppliers, let alone how to pay them. And my Homeric Greek (not that brilliant anyway....) wouldn't be much use...
The first Greek supplier I discovered whilst trawling around Athens was Kostas Semitekolo. The little discus thrower and the tripod turned out to be two of his superb bronzes. His pieces have formed the bedrock of It's All Greek for these past 25 years. Other amazing suppliers soon joined team IAG.
I guess the USP of It's All Greek was its unique blend of suppliers, media, textures, and styles. The product range has in its time embraced miniatures, gift items, and interior design pieces.
From 2003, I had a succession of three shops near the British Museum - small, vast, then tiny! Our shop at 65 Great Russell Street (left) was a hub of Classical activity from 2006-2015, with book launches, fundraisers, academic talks, school visits, and celebrations! Busy, beautiful times, with so much fun! The Golden Age of It's All Greek, for sure! Over the years, It's All Greek supplied the movies Troy and Alexander, museum shops including the Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam, famous bookstores Blackwells and Heffers, various TV series including, more recently, Succession!
We had lots of fun when Omicron flew in to It's All Greek in October 2012!
These photos give a flavour of what life was like at 65 Great Russell Street!
Since leaving Bloomsbury in June 2018, It's All Greek is exclusively online. I run the website and the business flexibly, from home, in tandem with other bits and bobs at elinorwynnelloyd.com. As I find myself on the vintage side of 65, it is wonderful to spend more time in Greece and to speak the language. Finally!
During this 25 year odyssey, I've been beyond fortunate to have the best Greek suppliers, colleagues, and customers. THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and encouraged me along the way, particularly in recent years when I wasn't sure whether I had the mojo to keep going with It's All Greek, without a shop and my lovely staff! But it is my beloved brainchild, after all, so on we go!!
I hope you enjoy your visit. By all means email me on hello@itsallgreek.co.uk if you have any questions. I always LOVE hearing from you!
Elinor xx
It's All Greek's first Instagram post was on 19th October 2012, just after the Olympics!
This is a photo of my parents and me in 2003, just before opening the shop. My mother died in 2005, my father in 2010. I shall always be so grateful to them for taking me to Greece, and for continuing to inspire me every day.
