MusicGear was opened in 2009 by **Stelios Vrettos**, a former session bassist who toured with three Athens rock acts in the early 2000s, and his sister **Iliana Vrettou**, a sound engineer with twelve years at Sierra Studios on Kifisias Avenue. The shop began as a 60 m² basement on Solonos in Kolonaki, originally a service workshop where Stelios re-fretted guitars between gigs. When neighbouring musicians kept asking him where to buy strings, picks and pedals between rehearsals — and getting tired of being upsold faceless gear at the big-box chains on Patision — the siblings rented a ground-floor unit two doors down and started stocking what they themselves played: PRS SE, Fender Mexico, Squier Classic Vibe, Tama Imperialstar drums, and a tight curation of boutique pedals from JHS, Wa