'Batega amb el comerç''. It is the slogan of the Pimec campaign to which 3,500 establishments from Lleida, from 25 commercial entities, joined yesterday Friday to have visibility one weekend after Black Friday. The only condition to join is not to offer discounts and to propose exciting activities. It is the pilot test of the employer's commitment to transfer Small Business Saturday of the United Kingdom to Catalonia, to set the day of small businesses on the calendar.
Exhibition of old photos in shops in Alfarrás, tasting of products in the Gremi de Forners establishment, messages of local trade values in shops in the Balafia neighbourhood, models posing in the window or decorative details provided by the Clot neighborhood association de les Granotes, are some of the Lleida initiatives.
“It was born to be a contrast to Black Friday, with the intention of establishing a small business day and demonstrating that you can start a Christmas campaign without those aggressive Black Friday discounts, which only focus on online campaigns and big brands or chains, with which small businesses become deserted”, says Manel Llarás, president of Pimec Comerç Lleida.
The campaign, he says, "should be a heartbeat for local and proximity commerce, vital for the territory because it generates wealth and diversifies the offer." Llarás acknowledges that it was Pimec Girona who raised the idea that is maturing in Catalonia and that the Lleida merchants have already wanted to launch. The objective is clear: to see that it is possible to start the Christmas campaign without a discount policy, as Black Friday does, which only benefits platforms and operators of large surfaces”.
In this sense, the director of PIME Comerç Girona, Marta Julià, specifies that the idea arose in Girona a few years ago and work has been underway for three years. “We took the initiative to all Pimec headquarters and the reception has been very good. We proposed a more powerful campaign and we didn't have time to do it the way we had worked in recent years. We have decided to wait and in Lleida progress has been made in a simpler format”.
In the other territories it has been very popular, I have the feeling that by working on it more thoroughly we will all do it", points out Marta Julià, who insists that it is a weekend sales campaign: "two days of reception". For her It is a very good way to bring customers closer to the trade when the establishments are already prepared for the Christmas campaign. publicize local products”.
Lleida has made an advance of the Catalan campaign that is just being defined and will be linked to a common image and a web page. The Lleida slogan is one that Pimec Girona had worked on. The idea is also to try to link all the local administrations and the restoration.
