Rambla Catalunya is changing, but not as many these days insist on making us believe. The historic Gancedo tapestries do not close their doors, they do not close the blinds forever. They simply move to number 115 Pau Claris Street.
And the family is a bit sad. Because many insist on telling everything as bad news, as a fatal and apocalyptic bad omen, another example of the inexorable loss of Barcelona's traditions. And the Gancedos see their move as an opportunity, as a way to modernize a long-standing business, to adapt to the current times and guarantee their future.
“The business of selling wallpaper has changed a lot in recent times,” the upholsterers explain. We started in 1945. And people no longer walk down the street and suddenly say let's buy the flower one for the kitchen because suddenly they see it in a window. Nowadays, clients require advice, a very personalized treatment... and we also work with many professionals, with decorators, interior designers, architects... and it is usual to do so by appointment. Furthermore, parking on Rambla Catalunya is very complicated. In this sector, conventional stores are no longer appropriate. And in Pau Claris we found an ideal location, with a patio and everything, perfect for holding relevant meetings. “We are reinventing ourselves so as not to disappear!”
And the historic premises at 97 Rambla Catalunya, because it is theirs and on this occasion no heartless investment fund is making the pass, the Gancedos rent it to the clothing company Bobo Choses, known among other things for having dressed the kids who appear in films as diverse as Parasites and Alcarràs.
“We are a family business born in Mataró 15 years ago,” Bobo Choses says. We only have one store in El Born, but we sell in multi-brand spaces in more than 40 countries, especially in Korea, from Parasites. And now we want to make ourselves known even more among the people of Barcelona, the people of the metropolitan area and all of Catalonia. So we couldn't waste the opportunity to open our first flagship on Rambla Catalunya. We understand that it is a great location.”
Analyst Susana El Hombre, director of main streets at the consultancy CBRE, explains how this change illustrates the latest transformation of this commercial axis, how in recent years it has become the most Barcelona-based of all, so to speak. “Until 2019, the growth of Rambla Catalunya came mainly from tourism, and the truth is that little by little it was losing its local essence.” But the pandemic marked a turning point. “A few well-known brands left the place, preferring to stay in more touristy commercial areas... and then, also largely because the rental pressure is lower on Rambla Catalunya, many startup companies are very active online and Through other channels they decide to settle here to make themselves known to the local public. "At the moment this commercial hub is a cluster of new fashion."
The man refers to the fashion brand Mi
In fact, as illustrated at the time by a study by CBRE itself carried out with Big Data analysis technology, Rambla Catalunya was the first of the city's main arteries to recover the flow of pedestrians once the restrictions imposed due to of the pandemic began to decline, and on top of that it did so at a rate well above that recorded in other streets where the presence of tourists is traditionally more decisive, such as Passeig de Gràcia or Portaferrissa Street.
Here on Rambla Catalunya we find a long succession of jewelry stores, tobacconists, perfume stores, shoe stores, children's fashion stores, even a toy store! and not a cannabis candy store, really, not even cheap souvenirs or rude t-shirts, and just three or four supermarkets of those dedicated mainly to the sale of cans of drinks and bottles of spirits to the most occasional visitors to the city. .
“Arrivals will slow down over the next year, basically because there will hardly be any premises available,” concludes the CBRE analyst. Perhaps the pending issue is urban planning. Rambla Catalunya requires an urbanization that favors walking.”
What happens is that a good part of the commercial fabric of Rambla Catalunya feels somewhat ignored by the City Council. Eduard Solé, from the merchants' association, recalls that this is the last of Barcelona's major axes still pending reform. We talk about the Sant Joan and Gràcia avenues, Diagonal avenue, Via Laietana and also La Rambla. “And the last development on Rambla Catalunya dates back a few decades.”
Here, what also happens, to give an example, among other things, is that while the central section is very pleasant, the sidewalks seem tremendously narrow, inappropriate for an axis that wants to invite its passers-by to look at the shop windows, and also the passage of waiters with their trays on the way to the terraces located in the central section is also annoying.
“Perhaps a single platform could be considered,” says Solé, “it could improve the visitor experience. But it would have to be studied carefully. In any case we need urban modernization. The lighting should also be improved. In short, pamper this walk a little. It's been seven or eight years since we've been allowed to hold any event. Now we are waiting. We hope to find greater complicity on the part of the government of Mayor Jaume Collboni.”
“We are also very concerned about mobility,” says businessman Javier Cottet, who in 2019 opened one of his opticians in the lower part of this boulevard and in 2021 another in the upper part. If your clientele comes mainly from all over Catalonia, this artery is undoubtedly your best location. Here we have a lot of brands aimed at a national audience. We make a neighborhood, we make a city. The problem for some time now, however, is access, both to the axis itself and to the city center. I offer them free parking, but people tell me that they don't care, that lately getting down from Sant Cugat del Vallès is a pain."
