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The history of the Siberia Leather Factory has its beginnings when a young man named Josep Ticó i Rebert, born in Balaguer in 1870, arrived in Barcelona to make his way in life, starting to work as an apprentice in the old Curtidos Montiu house and dreaming of have a better and brighter future by dedicating yourself to the fur industry.
Drunk with enthusiasm and hopeful of achieving a future, he heads to Paris to learn more about the trade and manages to get a job at Can Revillon, a famous French fur factory throughout the world.
He learns to cut with a son of the owner of the Revillón house and meanwhile the idea of returning to Barcelona and establishing himself on his own matures.
During his stay in the French capital in 1890, a world event occurred in leather manufacturing.
That year, a sophisticated leather sewing machine was patented, which revolutionized the world of clothing and eliminated the difficulty that until then was involved in making joining seams by hand.
Josep Ticó returned to Barcelona in 1891 at the age of 21 and with a backpack full of enthusiasm, experience and a desire to succeed. Those dreams were far away when in his native Balaguer he dreamed of becoming someone in life.
He founded the first leather store La Siberia in a small store on Portaferrissa Street where he began to sell leather goods, very fashionable at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, among Barcelona's high society.
Not satisfied with the acceptance that his establishment has had among the clientele, his concern leads him to expand possibilities and change locations on several occasions.
From Portaferrissa it moved to Petritxol street, returning once again to its beginnings, opening a new store on Santa Ana street.
He is already a furrier with fame and prestige, but, according to him, he is not in the right place to consolidate his progression and his desire to progress leads him to look for a new, more central and important location.
The opportunity comes when they offer him a place located in the heart of Barcelona, on the corner of Gran Vía and Rambla Catalunya on the Llobregatmar side, an unbeatable place for a great dream.
Josep Ticó, in 1906 at just 36, established himself as one of the most prestigious furriers in the city of Barcelona.
He had only needed 15 years to become the mirror in which to look at himself and a guide for other companies in the sector to follow in his footsteps in an incipient Barcelona that dreamed of becoming great, just as Josep Ticó wanted to become a master furrier.
The decoration of this store was carried out by José María Ticó Roig, who was inspired by the emerging Art-Deco of the time to capture it in the interior of the fur shop.
The decoration of the premises was carried out by the interior designer Carles Rojas, who recreated the walls with snowy Siberian landscapes that adorned the walls. The wooden furniture was made by Batista Moixi, who not only built the store's furniture, but also a series of large medallions on the doors.
In Paris I had discovered a new service for maintenance and conservation clients of quality leather garments, by placing them in conservation chambers, saving them from heat stress.
In the new store, much more spacious, it installed conservation chambers in the basements to offer its customers a maintenance service for their garments in the summer season.
A service created by French manufacturers and that Siberia was the first fur shop in Spain to put at the service of its customers. It was quickly well received by clients from high society not only in Barcelona but throughout Spain.
Due to the First War, between 1914 and 1918, Catalonia experienced an expansion that favored the upper classes and was positive for the growth of Siberia, which not only sold its products in Catalonia but throughout Spain, even making articles for the Royal House.
Between 1918 and 1919, the primitive decoration was renovated in a style close to Art Deco, carried out by the interior designer Carlos Rojas.
The 1929 International Exhibition served to gain recognition not only in our country but also internationally, obtaining one of the awards for his dedication to the training of new furriers.
With the coup d'état and the start of the war, the company was collectivized and experienced its saddest moments with the death in 1936 of its founder Josep Ticó i Rebert.
During the dictatorship, Siberia aligned itself with the interpreters of the New Song, who rehearsed secretly in the premises.
In 1988, he opened a new fur shop on Ganduxer Street. Today the store occupies half of its original space, since the other half was managed by a cafeteria.
At this time, a fourth generation of furriers works to honor the memory of Josep Ticó, so that the furrier industry continues to offer its services and so that the furrier's trade continues.
