Marci Árvay is not only a prominent figure in the Hungarian graffiti scene, but also a successful businessman. Nothing can prove this better than the fact that it opened its doors 2 years ago All Caps store, which over time became a very popular place for participants in the graffiti life. They help Hungarian writers with tools and accessories, and they also consider it important to maintain personal contact. How did it start, where is the business now? Among other things, Marci told us about these.

Please tell us a little about the establishment of the business and its history. When did you open, where did the name come from?

It's funny because I know for a fact that the store opened on June 2, 2018. A bit out of necessity, we planned it for later, but the situation made it so that we had to bring it forward in the end. The name itself was invented by Fat Heat, he also designed the logo. In fact, we immediately liked it and we clicked on it, which is how the name of the store became All Caps. There were several ideas, but in the end this one was unanimously liked by everyone. History...hmm, the company itself, who have always come together as a collective for things, was formed in 2016. Only then we didn't have the name and how we wanted to present ourselves to the public. At that time, there was absolutely no talk of opening a store. This year, during the organization of the Meeting Of Styles, the company that continues to do everything to keep this shop running came together.

What do you do? What are your main profiles?

The shop itself is a graff shop in the classic sense, in addition to the fact that we do not necessarily only sell spray paint. In addition to our main profile, we try to do various Pop-up exhibitions, graffiti or related events. I would like to open a little bit and we would also like to sell prints and paintings, but at home it is not so popular. We are looking for faces whose work we would like to present. Also, they have just gotten to know the brand itself, so that people who are completely unknown to us come to us to say that they want a graffiti-oriented workshop, or that they just liked our clothing. Exhibitions and events are also planned for this year; In the near future, we will present Ádám Lachner's analog photo collection. So we are constantly thinking, spinning and planning for the future.

What products do you sell?

A personal friendship developed over many years LOOP COLORS company, they repeatedly stated that they would be happy if we represented their brand in Hungary, to which we gladly said yes. So, in terms of paint sprayers and markers, you can find this brand in the store. We also sell ON THE RUN felts specifically developed for the street, as well as Stealth Ink brand products. It has always been important to me that we deal with brands that represent this subculture, as well as that the relationship between us be personal, not just business.

In terms of clothing, we present several brands. The IRIEDAILY Berlin-t; ezt tervezzük kicsit frissíteni. Fontosnak tartjuk, hogy ha már tartunk egy márkát annak a legújabb cuccai legyenek a boltban. Ez nyilván nem egyszerű feladat, de lépésről-lépésre… 🙂  Ott van még a THE SEVENTH LETTER, which is an authentic street wear brand with links to California graffiti, which is connected to Hungary in many ways. We are also in constant contact with them so that over time we can import as many of our products as possible. Also, what we are very proud of now is that we have also launched our own street wear brand. In a relatively limited number of copies, it was very well received by people, and we received good feedback.

It was important to us that even the smallest details were beautifully worked out, and when choosing the material, we paid attention to using raw materials that are ethical and preferably locally produced. We also sell books and magazines from various publishers related to graffiti and urban art, such as THE GRIFTERS, TOP SAFE. It is important that these also continuously trickle into the store and that we are aware of the latest publications.

What are your goals with the establishment of the business?

Maybe it's to clear your head a little about conceptual issues. What is graffiti really, it doesn't matter why it is that someone likes a nice drawing, but hates the members... so they are a little connected, that here everything is connected with everything. I don't think that we are the greatest sages of this matter, there are much smarter art historians than us; and by that I mean people who understand this subculture/genre at the level of this title. But we live in this world, don't we, we have a bigger perspective on things. In general, this subculture exists and has its needs. It would be good if there were more legal walls, more events, this has already been said by many people. However, for this you have to go and find these places, so we have taken it upon ourselves and are trying to expand the number of legal places in our country and organize events. Writers exist on a fairly broad spectrum; who tries to add to things here and there. I see that I can get the most out of these tasks.

Who is the current team?

Now there are only Hungarians in the team, this will probably change in the future. Our current line-up is as follows: ANGEL, FORK, FAT HEAT, MR. ZERO, TASK, CASK, UPIK, LEHEL, SIFTY, CYBER, BÖKI, TRANS. Nagyjából az alap formáció 3 ember kivételével (Lehel, Task, Upik) félig meddig ez volt, a plusz embereket mi kerestük meg, felajánlottuk nekik, hogy mi lenne, ha csatlakoznának hozzánk. Szívesen fogadták és azóta ezek az emberek erősítik a teamet. Az új emberek bevételénél természetesen megkérdezek minden elérhető tagot és ha ők is rámondják az áment, akkor mehet a dolog. Az alap team, ahogy már említettem a 2016-os MOS szervezése alatt formálódott meg, ami ilyen graffitis csoportot nézve 3-4 különböző crew tagjaiból ugrott össze és alkot azóta is egy kollektívát. Ami azt jelenti, hogy egy bizonyos értékrend mentén gondolkodunk együtt, természetesen mindenkinek megvan a saját véleménye nagyon jókat szoktunk vitatkozni és nem egyetérteni, de hova is haladnánk, ha folyton egyetértenénk. 🙂