Portuguese design and product engineering company Weproductise is about to open the very first 3D printing store in Ponte de Lima, near Braga, in the North of Portugal, close the border with Spain. For the company, a start-up born to boost creativity, innovation and business with eco-designs for a better living experience, the PiP Eco Spot Braga will be a venture in a new concept store. Within it, the Weproductise team will be offering 3D printing and 3D modelling services alongside a wide array of other products and services, including laser cutting, toy robots, eco-products and cafè shop items.
The store — which will be inaugurated with a grand opening ceremony on May 2nd — will be proposing a business model that will offer franchising to open new stores in all cities throughout Portugal, thus contributing to build a new model for sustainable production and a platform for selling designs and products. The store’s defining eco-sustainable, laser-cut cardboard furniture will also be for sale.
Although other products may initially prove important in sheer revenue terms, 3D printing is the defining product line for PiP (an acronym that, I’m guessing, stands for “Printing in Portugal”) aimed both at the maker community and commercial adopters of the technology.
The store’s catalogue includes the MakerBot Replicator 2, one of the most consumer oriented 3D printers, as well as the Creatr by Leapfrog, one of the companies that pays close attention to the educational aspect, having even released a specifically tailored Educational Package (available for €2,449 from PiP). Makers will appreciate the Printerbot Simple (one of the most versatile machines) and particularly the Printrbot Maker’s Edition (available from PiP for €545). If that were not enough the catalogue also includes the Ultimaker+Doodle3D WiFi-Box and a wide range of filament material and colours.
Workshops on 3D printing and 3D modelling, ranging from beginners to professionals, will be offered and conducted by the Weproductise team, that has been doing it since mid-2013. Other subjects covered will include Blender and Arduino tutorials, as well as cutting and engraving courses using CNC mills and laser cutting machines.
The basic idea behind PiP is not entirely dissimilar from many other 3D printing shop ventures that have recently sprouted up across Europe, although perhaps this one has a slightly more targeted focus on eco-sustainability, as often seems to be the general Southern European trend, while Northern European stores tend to focus more on technology and freedom of creation.
These trends are not to be taken as absolutes – especially in this early stage of 3D print shop evolution – and in many cases are interchangeable. All 3D print shops do share one common goal: giving as many people as possible every means necessary to fully express their creativity, from Portugal to Stockholm.
