The fluorescent lights bouncing off the products made them seem even brighter: hot pink plush llamas, miniature grocery-cart pencil holders, and a rainbow cloud tape dispenser. The Flying Tiger, or more commonly referred to as Tiger, is a small shop from Copenhagen that reached its way to Florence. Much like Swedish Ikea’s interior design reached international recognition, it makes sense that the Danish Tiger flew into the global market as well.
Most of the chain provides items that can be utilized in everyday life, but provide a creative approach to the mundane. One would think that stuffed elephant slipper-mops were pointless to have; but when I look at my feet after walking around the old wooden apartment-floor, I think of how great a purchase that would have been.
Oftentimes the shop would be filled with a younger crowd of people. All age groups tend to be drawn to the playfulness of products. Whether they be 25 or 12, one would hear a shrill noise of excitement lifting up a pen that seems like a lipstick. During the beginning of the school semester the tiny shop would be shoulder-to-shoulder with students purchasing banana-replica pencil bags, fuzzy neon-notebooks, and just for the hell of it maybe a pack of gel-pens.
Granted, this is a chain–and yes, this isn’t even an Italian shop. However, for a student abroad this little chain is a near life-saver. All these items are incredibly useful, but also well within price-range. Pens, notebooks, and even small canvases can be found from 1 euro to 3. The most expensive things in the shops tend to be llama-printed book bags, which reached to 8 euro!
So if you ever end up living in Florence for study abroad and you forgot a water bottle, blanket, or you just want to find a fun little party game within your budget–I highly recommend the Flying Tiger chain.
Logan Shary is studying Art Studio with a minor in Creative Writing at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. She’s studying with SRISA as an abroad student for a semester in Fall of 2018, with hopes of an internship in the following semester of Spring 2019.