Ironmonger, a cast iron designer products store, reopens in Kochi 

Thirty years ago Mary John, now 84, started an outlet, Ironmonger, to make cast iron artifacts for home and garden in the garage of her home in Thevara. The utility and home decor products—pot holders, curtain rods, napkin holders, wall hangings—were a novelty then. She began it as a hobby using the welders in her husband’s building firm to crate the products that she had designed. It was pocket money for amma,” says Anu Abraham, her daughter who began helping her mother as the business expanded. Slowly Mary added new materials like wood and cane with wrought iron and diversified into contemporary designs like metal birds figures- owls, ostrich, wood pecker- for garden, cane and wrought iron lamp shades and such. Etchings on wood and water cutting on metal are recent introductions in techniques. One of the most popular products is the wooden and cast iron name plate. Post Covid 19, the store has reopened with a new look and a new range of products like cots, side stands, key holders and candle holders. Prices of products range from Rs 400 to Rs 20,000.

(The store is opposite the Juma Masjid in Perumanoor, Thevara Market. Contact: 9995694454)