Vác, Március 15. tér 23.

Tuesday-Sunday

In Vác, at 23 Március 15. tér, in an 18th-century building painted blue, there is a special business company.

According to the map and land register commissioned by Frigyes Mihály Althann in 1718, this building was the residence of Gergely Sőcz (Szűcs). In 1780, as indicated by the garland-decorated masks above the windows, it was rebuilt in the Cof style, and then in 1830 it was supplemented with classicizing elements.

The building's special feature is the sign depicting an elephant. The grocers preferred to choose an exotic animal, a lion or an elephant, as their sign.

Az elefánt, mint cégér általában a gyarmatáruk – kávé, tea, kakaó, fűszerek - forgalmazására utalt. Hasonló cégérrel találkozhatunk Pécs és Kaposvár belvárosában is, de ez nem jelenti azt, hogy ezek a boltok egymáshoz kapcsolódtak volna.

Locals and market vendors in the area did not encounter elephants often, so it is not surprising that the vernacular simply called the shop on the Main Square of Vác "Bihalyos" (buffalo).

Az 1870-es években - Tragor Ignác szerint, akinek családjában több kereskedő is volt – „a kirakatok ismeretlenek voltak. A fűszeres az ablakba néhány cukorsüveget rakott, de olykor-olykor az üres ládákat és hordókat is kitette az üzlet bejárata elé, hogy lássa a nép: friss áru érkezett! Az idénynek megfelelően nagyböjtben heringes hordók, tavasszal vetőmagokkal telt zsákok akadályozták útjukban a járdataposókat."

The owner of the Elefántos, or “Bihalyos” shop, was Soma Intzédy. He arrived in Vác from the Upper Hungary in 1855, at the age of 15, and started working in his uncle’s grocery store. In 1864, he became independent and opened a grocery store, taking over the former Bodendorfer store, and then became part of the Tragor family.