Our Story

All the big stories begin in a barn.

Illustration of a Hispano-Olivetti M40 typewriter between the two hands of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam
Illustration by Jacek.

Our Story

The garage. The shed. The barn. Almost nothing that changed the world was born in an office. It started in a cold room with a concrete floor, because that was the room available, and because somebody cared enough to keep walking out to it in the evenings. Those rooms are where the patience lives.

El Granero means the barn. Ours is in Fuengirola, on the southern coast of Spain, and on any given day it holds around five hundred typewriters in various states of undress.

We were both born in Poland and moved to southern Spain twenty-five years ago. Jacek is a photographer and a graduate in film studies. Ania taught English. Neither of those is an obvious route into repairing machines built before we were born, and for a long time it was not a route at all; it was a shared weakness for old objects.

What turned the weakness into a business was the street market. The largest flea market in Spain — twenty thousand square metres of it — runs a short drive from our door, and we spent years walking it on Sunday mornings, coming home with typewriters, lamps, books, and things we had no room for. In 2013 we opened El Granero as a vintage gift shop, mostly to give all of it somewhere to live. The typewriters took over within a few years, and we let them.

Before El Granero, Ania spent years in classrooms, teaching thousands of students of every age: small children, teenagers, adults beginning again from scratch. None of that transfers to a typewriter except the parts that matter most: patience, a real liking for people, and the knack for putting anyone at ease within a minute of meeting them. Most of what clients remember about buying from us is her doing.

Jacek's other training turned out to matter more than the photography. He qualified in construction, and to that he adds the kind of hands that understand a mechanism by touch and an eye that cannot leave an ugly object alone. Between the two, there is not much on a typewriter he cannot bring back.

A typewriter does one thing. It has no notifications, no second tab, no update waiting to install. Whatever you put on the paper stays on the paper. That single-mindedness is why people still want these machines, and it is the reason we spend our days taking them apart.

Founders

Jacek, co-founder of El Granero Typewriter Company

Jacek

Technician & Art Director

Photographer, film graduate, trained in construction, and self-taught on everything with a carriage return. He restores the machines and decides how all of this looks.

Repair & restoration
Ania, co-founder of El Granero Typewriter Company

Ania

Typewriters, Accounts & Events

The reason a parcel from El Granero arrives wrapped like a present. She looks after clients, runs the events, and holds together the dozen companies that carry a machine from our bench to your door.

Talk to Ania

There is no call centre and no chain of shops. There is a workbench, the two of us, and several hundred machines waiting their turn.

Ania and Jacek, founders of El Granero, in an Andalusian town square
A day off, somewhere in Andalusia. They are rarer than you would think.

What happens in the workshop

Every machine that arrives goes through the same nine stages, from intake to the packing bench. It is dismantled, degreased, and cleaned of whatever forty or sixty years of dust and dried ink have left behind. Segment and type bars are freed. Escapement and carriage are adjusted. Rubber, ribbon, and spools are replaced where they need to be. Then it is put back together and typed on, line after line, until it behaves.

A vintage typewriter stripped down to its frame and type bars, surrounded by workshop tools
Halfway through. Every part on that bench goes back where it came from.

We keep the character. A machine that has been used for decades looks like it, and we would rather it did. What we will not send out is a typewriter that skips, sticks, or types crooked.

Keyboardist Juanjo Martin collecting an Olivetti Lettera 32 from the El Granero workshop
Keyboardist Juanjo Martín picking up an Olivetti Lettera 32 for Simon Vargas, vocalist of Morat.

Sell, restore, rent

Most people find us because they want to buy a machine. We keep a working stock of several hundred, mostly Olivetti, Olympia, Hermes, Erika, Adler, Triumph and Remington, and we will tell you honestly which one suits the way you actually write rather than the one that photographs best.

We also service machines you already own, including ones bought elsewhere, and we source parts that are no longer made. Where an original part cannot be found, we print it.

And we rent. Film sets, weddings, launches, guest books, brand events. If you need twenty working typewriters in one room for one evening, that is a normal Tuesday here. 

Shelves of vintage typewriters awaiting restoration at El Granero

The people who come to find us

The showroom is on a side street in Fuengirola, under a hanging bicycle and a sign that says there is no Wi-Fi. People come in meaning to look, sit down on the stairs, and leave two hours later with a machine and a story about their grandmother. We have stopped being surprised by it.

A client with Ania and a restored yellow typewriter on the El Granero showroom stairs Clients with Ania and a restored orange typewriter on the El Granero showroom stairs
Young writer Louise typing on a restored vintage typewriter
You can read about Louise here.

Made to suit you

Ribbon colour, a repaint, a keyboard layout in the language you write in, a case that closes properly. Much of what we do is adjusting a machine to one person. If you are not sure what you want, write to us before you order rather than after.

A custom-painted vintage typewriter prepared to order at El Granero

The machines we give away

People donate typewriters to us. Some arrive in good order, some arrive in a bin bag. We repair what can be repaired and pass those machines on, often to schools, so that a class gets to hear what a room full of typing sounds like. The rest we sell, and the money goes to animal shelters. None of this is a marketing programme. It is simply what we do with machines that come to us for free.

The four El Granero dogs, all rescues, running on the dunes of the Andalusian coast
Our four are all rescues. Two came from shelters. Nela, we found in a forest. Luna was the last golden retriever puppy of her litter and was handed over at a few weeks old because nobody wanted her. They are the reason the money goes where it goes.
A cat named Dink sitting beside a custom navy blue Olivetti Pluma 22 typewriter
Our client's cat, Dink, is presenting a custom-made navy blue Olivetti Pluma 22.

Where our machines have ended up

One of ours appears in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City. Others belong to Lady Gaga, Eddie Vedder and the writer Nico Walker. We have supplied events for Miu Miu, Sony Music and L'Oréal. We mention it because people ask, and then we go back to the bench.

El Granero in numbers

  • Since 2013 Thirteen years of restoring manual typewriters in Andalusia.
  • 5,000+ Machines restored and sent out from our workshop.
  • 75+ Countries we have shipped to, across six continents.
  • 500+ Typewriters in the workshop at any one time.
  • 4.9 / 5 Average customer rating. Read the reviews.

Buying from us

Every machine ordered from the shop carries a one-year warranty. Shipping is fully insured worldwide, with an expedited option when you need it sooner. Gifts come with custom wrapping and a greeting card at no extra cost.

We are registered in Spain and listed in the EU VIES database. Invoicing for EU companies depends on whether you are buying a machine or a service, so write to us and we will issue the correct invoice for your case.

A sheet of paper in a typewriter carriage typed with the words the future is now

Come and see the workshop if you are ever in Fuengirola. Otherwise, write to us. We answer.

Ania and Jacek
El Granero Typewriter Company

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Tihomir Miloš

The El Granero cover for my typewriter really met all expectations regarding durability and dust. Excellent product

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Julian Stachura

Very smooth shopping experience. Arrived with no problems. I can type away now!

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Pablo Barceló Moreno

Hace poco conocí a Jacek y Ania para que me ayudaran a poner a punto mi máquina de escribir Olivetti Studio46. Me recibieron en su oficina-taller con mucho naturalidad y sobre todo compartiendo conmigo su simpatía, amabilidad, pasión y amor por su oficio. Y por supuesto consigueron un resultado espectacular con mi máquina, la cual cuidaré y utilizaré con mucha ilusión cada vez que escriba. Además, pronto empezarán con un curso de mecanografía, a cual, si mi trabajo me lo Permite, asistiré para sacarle e
Mayor rendimiento a mi “Oli” Mil gracias de nuevo, y a todos aquellos que tengáis una máquina de escribir que necesite de mantenimiento o reparación, no dudéis en contactar con ellos! Un abrazo fuerte!

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Frank Broccoli

This company is absolutely fantastic the work is very professional polished can't ask for better service love this company

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Cristina Guimarães

Comunicação ótima com a equipa da El Granero, quer na escolha da máquina quer no seu envio. Tive um atraso na sua entrega dado que queria a minha máquina para escrever os votos de casamento. Felizmente, ainda chegou a tempo. Estou deliciada. Muito bem acondicionada.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Keith

Order lost in shipping between Spanish shipper and USPS in states.
El Granero is staying in contact and working diligently on their end to try to locate the package and resolve the matter.
The extra effort they are expending to ensure this relatively small purchase gets found and delivered is greatly appreciated and speaks volumes about the integrity of this small, family owned business.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Michael Southam

Excellent service. I ordered typewriter ribbons for my Hermes Baby and they arrived in the mail within days.

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Cecilia Cortés

He tenido problemas con mi máquina Olivetti Collegue y, la verdad, que encontrar a esta gente ha sido toda una suerte. Muy formales en cuanto a los tiempos de recogida y entrega, muy atentos en el trato y muy cuidadosos en el embalaje. La máquina ha regresado nueva, y además me han hecho algún obsequio! Muchas gracias por todo.

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Justin Goodstein

El Granero provided me with an exceptional level of service, attention to detail, and authentic communication. I purchased the Olympia typewriter from a friend and noticed the "a" key was not working properly. When I attempted to make the adjustment myself, the arm broke off, which began my journey of research to find a professional restoration service. Coming across El Granero, I noticed they had a 50 euro option to repair the typewriter (with shipment to-and-from their location in Spain). The process was not as difficult as I had anticipated, and the owners provided updates, videos, and demos of the fixes they made to my typewriter. I am truly grateful that they were able to not only fix the "a" key, but fully tune and restore my typewriter to its former glory. Thank you, thank you, thank you, I am now creating performance pieces with confidence, and writing with great pleasure.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Jose Antonio Ramos

Son encantadores, unos profesionales como la copa de un pino. Trabajo rápido e impecable. Repetiré sin dudarlo.
Tuvimos la gran suerte de conocerlos en persona, a ellos y a sus mascotas.
Experiencia de 10.
Maquina repasada, limpia, engrasada y en perfecto estado.
La maquina tiene mucho valor sentimental, por eso ocupa el mejor sitio de casa.

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Araceli Osuna

Total confianza, muy profesionales y amables, tienen unas piezas muy exclusivas y cuidadas. Totalmente recomendables!

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Angel Blanco

Excelente en todos los sentidos. Amabilidad y compromiso. Muchas gracias por todo.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Jeff Bender

Ania and Jacek were so helpful and made this purchase as easy as can be. My typewriter was packed incredibly well and arrived safely and is a real beauty. I'm thankful I don't live near their shop, otherwise I'd probably be buying more of their beautifully restored machines. :-)

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Michele Simeoni

A beautiful accessory for your typewriter. Quality craftsmanship that perfectly matches the spirit of a 'vintage' object. Highly recommended!

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Margarida Pinto

Absolutely beautiful Typewiter, restored to perfection, all wrapped with great love and care. It was a present for my husband’s 50th birthday and it couldn’t have been any more perfect. Thank you Ania and Jacek!

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Margarida Pinto (Portugal)
Absolutely perfect!

Absolutely beautiful Typewiter, restored to perfection, all wrapped with great love and care. It was a present for my husband’s 50th birthday and it couldn’t have been any more perfect. Thank you Ania and Jacek!

We are thrilled to hear that your husband's 50th birthday gift was a success! A typewriter as a gift is such a unique and meaningful idea. bery special. We can only imagine the joy it brought to your husband on his special day. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I'm sure this positive review will encourage others to consider similar gifts for their loved ones!

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Nikita

These guys are very knowledgeable and super helpful! They answered my queries with patience and shipped my order securely. I will be buying more typewriters from them in the near future!

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Sarah Cabrera (United States)
2021 and happy

In 2021 I had bought a beautiful Olympia Traveler de Luxe...it looked like new. Between moving from one country to another and place to place I was finally able to bring it with me. I lost the manual and was stuck. I was scared so I contacted them quickly via Instagram. Not even 2 minutes passed and I was resolving the mess I had. They sent me the manual and wow it was working again. They even sent me photos with drawings so I could understand since I am new to this world of clippers. Super happy, and now let's write!

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your wonderful experience! We're thrilled to hear that your Olympia Traveler de Luxe made the journey with you and is back to working like new. It was our pleasure to assist you quickly and provide the manual and helpful drawings. We're glad to have made the process easier for you as you dive into the world of typewriters. Happy writing!

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Ryan Buesgens

El Granero does a fine job. I once had two rare typewriters of the same make and model. Both had problems. However, they were able to fashion one working and complete Groma Kolibri typewriter to me. I was on holiday in southern Spain shortly after the work was complete. he went out of his way to deliver the machine to our hotel. superb service everytime I have worked with El Granero typewriter.company.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Cristina Colucci

I am very pleased with the typewriter I ordered. The restoration is great and I’m very much looking forward to writing with it.

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Francisco Martinez ramos

Ha sido fantástico: me dejaron en un estado fenomenal una máquina antigua que no había quien diese algo por ella. 100 por 100 recomendables

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Cristina Di Sandro
Articolo non funzionante troppo caro

Articolo non funzionante troppo caro

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Amy Shatila
It's gorgeous and perfectly restored!

It's gorgeous and perfectly restored!

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Lamprini Koleidou

I'm so happy with the service experience provided by Ania and Jacek. I am also thrilled with my typewriter, which arrived in perfect condition. Despite placing my order on New Year’s Eve, they were open and promptly responded to my emails, offering suggestions and helping me find what was best for me. I was looking for a typewriter with a Danish keyboard and they were the only ones I found in Europe that could accommodate my needs. I was amazed by their effort to accommodate my needs. It was a perfect service experience. I will definitely recommend them to anyone looking to buy a typewriter. They are true professionals.

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arantxa suso

No tengo palabras para describir lo que sentí al recibir la máquina de escribir. Fue indescriptible. Está super bien restaurada y funciona a la perfección. Es una de esas cosas que no pasan desapercibidas por la vida de uno y que tienen un valor que va más allá del material. Gracias por hacerlo posible.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Lu Mac

This is my first Hermes Baby, It is in good condition it is clean and pretty ! really an ultraportable one ,ready to use .Thanks to Ania of El Granero for keeping track of the shipment ,for packing it securely and giving an additonal extra touch of wrapping in time for Christmas .I really appreciate it .Of course for the wonderful cute typweriter Pin and dust cover freebies ! 😍

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Mads Bolaris

I couldn’t be happier with my shopping experience with El Granero! To no fault of their own, the first typewriter I purchased was lost in the mail, but El Granero was quick to help me out. They found a replacement that fit all of my needs and were able to refurbish it and send it to me before a deadline that I had.

During every step of the process they were there to answer my questions and to make sure I felt great about my purchase. I definitely felt supported by them.

I’ve already begun using the typewriter I purchased to write personal letters to friends and family and it couldn’t be more perfect. It’s been professionally serviced and works flawlessly! Thank you for the great typewriter; it’s already one of my favorite things I own.

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
victor

Beautiful little black Olympia typewriter. Eager to start using it. Thanks for the excellent service. A big thank you to the team for providing such outstanding El Granero service. Your efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Best!
ANDRÉS

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ElGranero Typewriter.Company
Daniela Arreola Seg
Beautiful machine and excellent craftsmans...

Beautiful machine and excellent craftsmanship. Shipping was a little delayed but Ania was super communicative and wonderful. Will buy again!

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