Interview with the CEO of the most beatufull hookah shop in the world of 2021. Fre Shisha Store Agit Göktas.

In 2021, Hookah Battle held a series of 18 events in 9 countries: local judges determined the best Hookah Shop and Hookah Lounge design in their country. The finalists of local events (the best hookah lounges and shops in their country) got into the international Grand Prix, where 9 judges from 9 countries determined the winners in the World.

– Best Hookah Lounge Design in the World – Russia, John Calliano Lounge (read the interview with the founder here)

– Best Hookah Store Design in the World – Germany, Free Shisha Store

You can briefly read how this epic project went in this article, and if you want a deep dive, then here is a 1.5 hour show on Youtube.

With a support of Shisha Journal we have interviewed CEO of Fre Shisha Store Agit Göktas

Hello Agit, first of all let me congrats you with a 1st place in the world of Hookah Shop Interior Design Hookah Battle 2021. Tell us how you decided to participate in this competition? Were you surprised by this award?

Firstly, I want to thank the whole team for the award and the recognition.

We were quite surprised that we won said award since the competition was also very strong.

The participation in this event has been a good platform for us to present our exclusive store.

It was very important to us to be put into focus and that was the perfect opportunity.

I think it would be interesting for you to learn something about your closer competitors in this event.

I think you will be interested to know about your close competitors of this contest:

– 2nd place in the world (#1 in Russia): Russia “Best Shop”

– 3rd place in the world (#1 in Spain) Spain “1001 Cachimbas”:

Can you please watch the video-presentations from these shops and tell your opinion / comment what do you think about the design of Russian shop and Spanish shop?

The best shop was one of my personal favourites. The design was more than perfect, the tidiness and cleanliness speak for themselves. A well-earned second place.

I also really like 1001 Cachimbas, particularly the neon colors are one of a kind and extraordinarily beautiful. The use of Colors inside the store is more than remarkable. I am a huge fan of the storage of the shisha-bowls. 🙂

I know that you have several locations of Fre Shisha Store. Can you please tell you story, how you have started this project? And how long are you in the hookah industry?

We are now part of the shisha-scene for more than eight years. We started off with little money and a small branch in Wesel on 60 square meters. Very small and also a little naive, we made our hobby into an occupation. Today, we have four wonderful locations that are split off the following:

Retail trade branches in which we pass on our knowledge to our trainees, the branches are each split into a branch manager and employees.

We also have a wholesale where we manage our online shop and where the major customers pick up their goods and where traders like to visit us to present their new products.

The E-Commerce area, the core of our company, is also stocked with permanent employees as well as trainees.

All of the company is being managed from there. The separate establishments are located in Wesel Borken and the Flagship store in Düsseldorf.

What inspired you when creating the interior of FreShishaStore? Do you believe that its important for hookah shop to invest a lot into interior design?

What was the investment share of interior design compare to the full investment into this shop? Like 20% or 30%?

Personally, it was very important to us to deliver a well made design as we wanted to set us apart from other stores. Negative feedback is a big problem in this domain. Therefore, we would like to present ourselves as an idol for all the establishments to strengthen the domain. Furthermore, prejudices will be put to an end.

I‘d say you should just visit us, enjoy some hot or cold beverages in our lobby and we will ensure a first class shopping experience.

The design was planned together with a special architect, the colors are very bright and expressive and should be realised in different designs in the next few years.

As a good merchant I can only say that the investment into the store was very high, as well as into the design. But the selection of tobacco goods, accessories and hookahs is spilt into 60 percent design and 40 percent selection.

What is your best seller brands and flavors now?

1. Double crunch (Al-fakher)

2. African Queen (O’s)

3. Cold peach/love 66/black nana (Adalya)

What is your future plans? Are you going to open more shops? Do you have plans about the franchise? Plans about some other countries?
Of course we have various projects planned, at the moment we have more to do with our online shop. Freshishastore.com plays an important role in our company. We hope to have worldwide projects and many locations in the future.

According to the rules, you (as a winner of 2021) will be invited to be the Jury of next Grand-Prix of Shop and Lounge Interior Design award 2022, which Hookah Battle is planning to organize on the territory of Intertabak in September 2022. Do you like the idea to be a Judge in this contest?

We are excited to find out who will participate  in next year‘s event and we are looking forward to be part of the jury. It will be a great honour to us.