Shop-in-Shop
The Artisan Cello Gallery is an exclusive part of the Dutch cello shop ‘Cellowinkel’. It is a general partnership (dutch: VOF), headed by owners Mirjam and Johannes.
Mirjam
Mirjam Daalmans is a cellist, both in performance practice and teaching. She has been active as a cello professional since 1995. Over the years, the focus of her activities changed from performance and teaching to coaching and broadening her commercial activities by starting the cello shop and the cellocafé.
In its current form (a physical shop with teaching practice), Mirjam has been working since moving to the chapel (workspace) and rectory (residence) in 2021.
Johannes
Since 2023, Mirjam’s partner Johannes has stopped his career in the mental health sector and supports Mirjam in all her activities. He is responsible for organisational matters, such as administration, the web shop (cellowinkel.nl) and PR and Publicity.
Collaborations
The Artisan Cello Gallery collaborates with several professional violin and bow makers in the Netherlands and abroad. This way, they guarantee craftsmanship and authenticity of their instruments and bows.
“This is not just any random shop for musical instruments. It is a specialist shop for cellists, with everything one could want in terms of the cello and cello playing.”
What characterises their activities is purity, quality, honesty, service, warranty and simplicity.
Everything they offer ‘works’ for cellists. Nothing is sold that is not relevant or does not work well in the practice of playing the cello. All instruments are ready to play with a setup that brings out the best in the instrument.
“Here on the cello, the hands of the cellist meet those of the builder. Over years, sometimes centuries…”
In contact with others (the customers, suppliers, the government and the environment), the owners consider it important to focus on good relations and cooperation. In customer contact, this manifests itself, among other things, in honest and objective advice-on-demand, on the basis of which a customer can make an informed decision for himself.
The owners treat their customers as they would like to be treated when making a very personal purchase. Every effort is made to think along with the customer, both in face-to-face contacts in the shop and in other contacts. Even when it is certain that no financial transaction will take place. Every customer is treated with equal respect.
The return or repair policy is generous and focuses mainly on maintaining a good relationship between the shop and the customer. The concern for quality is enshrined in its own quality certificate.
The shop’s interior exudes tranquillity, quality and simplicity. Something that is also reflected in the owners’ expert and professional but also modest and helpful attitude, about which customers express their appreciation in reviews, among other things. The shop is open by appointment only, allowing customers to browse at their leisure and have the owners’ full attention.
“With the Artisan Cello Gallery, we are developing
a meeting place for musical connoisseurs
and lovers of handmade perfection.”
In the Artisan Cello Gallery, customers will find hand-built cellos and bows that have been created using artisanal techniques and represent a retail value between €10,000 and €25,000 (cellos) and €2,000 and €5,000 (bows) with occasional outliers above this price range.
The chapel is located in a natural environment of the Netherlands, which the owners want to emphasise with, among other things, the natural garden around the premises and the business operations (environmentally friendly energy supply, rainwater recovery system, organic products in catering, recycling of packaging materials, et cetera).
