Marc Llenas explains that he started working in the family store when he was 18 years old and is still there, at the foot of the counter. This is the Llenas fashion store, located on Valencia street in Barcelona, very close to Rambla de Catalunya. It was founded by his grandfather in 1953, almost seven decades ago, and for six years Marc Llenas has been in charge of the business.
In times of online shopping, permanent discounts and a pandemic involved, the businessman has managed to survive by adapting to changing times. Part of the success is due to Bjovuit, the shirt firm that Marc Llenas created about twelve years ago and which currently represents more than 15% of the store's turnover.
“I missed being able to find shirts that weren't very formal, but that weren't too casual either,” explains the entrepreneur. Since he couldn't find them, he designed them himself. The shirts are made in l'Hospitalet del Llobregat and, in addition to the online and physical stores in Llenas, they can be found in some 20 third-party physical stores in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. Although shirts are Bjovuit's raison d'être, the businessman has dared with other fashion items, such as sweatshirts or shorts. Of course, everything that is not shirts is only available in the physical and online stores of Llenas. Production is about 7,000 garments a year.
The store's website is another example of Llenas's ability to adapt. Its creation is the work of the fourth generation of the family. “My daughter Claudia developed it as a final degree project”, explains Marc Llenas. "Thanks to the web we can sell abroad and tourists who have come to the store in Barcelona can buy from us," adds the entrepreneur. It has been operating for a year and currently represents only 5% of the store's turnover, which is 1.8 million euros, including income derived from Bjovuit.
Beyond collaborating occasionally with her father, Claudia Llenas has not joined the family business. Neither is her brother Marc, who studies Law and, when he can, helps her father by doing errands. Four people do work full-time for Fillenas, one of whom she has been with the store since she was 14 years old and is now nearing retirement.
In case you were wondering: Bjovuit is a complex play on words with the B in Barcelona, jo when you were young and vuit for the number eight in Catalan, which when turned looks like the symbol of infinity. Taking into account Llenas' 70 years of life, the infinity symbol does not seem wrong.
