The Commercial Triangle

The Commercial Triangle (Emporiko Trigono), is literally a nearly triangular area in the center of Athens, located between Athinas Street, Stadiou Street, and Monastiraki where economic life flourished until the 1990s. Until 2007, the Athens Stock exchange was in the middle of this area, specifically on Sofokleous Street. Several financial providers such as banks and insurance companies joined the exchange as a result. The gradual changes over time to the Commercial Triangle were made obvious when the Athens stock exchange moved to Athinon Avenue.

Today, the area has been transformed into a multi-cultural quarter with alternative cafes and snack bars.  The last remnants of its previously bustling commercial life is the Varvakeios Agora with its popular fish and meat market halls.


Gazi – The Industrial Area

Gazi (def. "Gasworks) was the original Athenian industrial space and lays on the western outskirts of the city, very close to the archeological Kerameikos cemetery. In 1857, a gas power plant was founded there to supply the city with power. Later, we saw several, mostly family-run, manufacturing trades and workshops settling around this neighborhood.

Today, this area is no longer on the outskirts of the city, rather in the middle of a popular destination for nightlife for Athenians. A trademark that distinguishes the area is the gasometer that now functions as the ever-popular  "Technopolis" event center.


Athens' Northern Suburbs

When one is searching for a business partner in Athens, it is difficult to pass up on Athens’ northern suburbs. Here you can find countless headquarters of well-known Greek and international companies. This makes sense because in Halandri, Marousi, and Kifissia, unlike the city center, there is still enough space for the architecturally complex new buildings needed to form a base of business. Moreover, Kifissias Avenue, stretching over 12 kilometers, runs through the north of Athens. This “artery” lined with banks, insurance, tourism, and pharmaceutical associations represents a direct connection to Athens’ center. Also next to these companies are furniture and car dealerships and one of the largest shopping malls in Greece.

In Marousi, there are predominantly advertising agencies, internet, telecommunication, and other tech firms established near the iconic OTE-Tower. It is a striking high rise and the main building of the State telecommunications company OTE, known today as Cosmote.


Piraeus and Surroundings

The Piraeus harbor is the third largest passenger harbor in the world and on the top ten list of Europe’s most important cargo ports. The image of the industrial areas in and around Piraeus is mainly formed by companies in the freight sector, transport businesses, and warehouses.

Even in the surrounding metropolitan areas such as Drapestona, Keratsini, Nikaia, Tavros, and Moschato, most of the trade is related to shipping. Residential areas, gastronomy, businesses, and hotels are purposefully tailored toward the simpler working class.

Most shipping companies themselves have their headquarters at the boardwalk or the yacht harbor, Mariana Zea. In these prominent locations, you can feel a vibrant social life in these parts of Piraeus. Next to the countless well known (and less-known) Greek shipping firms, you also come across branches of off-shore companies from tax havens such as Malta, Seychelles, and the Virgin Islands.

During the sovereign debt crisis, the Greek government sold shares of the Port of Piraeus to COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Corporation), one of the world's largest freight companies. Since then, the group has invested enormous sums in the modernization of the container terminals and expanded its cargo business to the ports of the neighboring industrial cities of Perama and Elefsina.