Since it opened, La Roca Village has not stopped growing. From 30 stores, 200 employees and one million visitors a year, it has gone to 150 boutiques, 2,000 employees and receiving more than five million visits annually. It was June 1998 when the doors of an innovative outlet concept opened in Roca del Vallès with national and international brands of clothing and accessories, with discounts of up to 60% throughout the year. With its opening, Value Retail began a unique business model that, combining retail (the retail sale of an abundant stock), gastronomy and leisure, has contributed to the success of shopping tourism.
Throughout this year, this town of luxury shops and gastronomic establishments is celebrating. And yesterday it was his turn at the institutional event in which authorities such as the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès; the mayor of La Roca del Vallès, Marta Pujol, and the general director of Value Retail Spain, Michael Goldenberg, highlighted the merit of the path taken.
Aragonès, who greeted before the parliaments the head of the opposition in Catalonia, Salvador Illa, who 25 years ago was the mayor of La Roca del Vallès, emphasized that the three elements that explain the success of this commercial model and tourism have been: “Ambition and thinking big; the commitment to the quality of both the product and the service, and the search for prosperity" which aims to improve the environment". The president toured part of the outlet and greeted members of the company committee and some workers who have been at the center since 1998.
For his part, Michael Goldenberg emphasized that "we will continue to bet for the Roca del Vallès, the Vallès Oriental, for Barcelona and for Catalonia". He thanked all those who "believed in the impossible" 25 years ago and recalled the humble beginnings of a shopping center that has ended up becoming "one of the first tourist destinations in the world". Among the people who opted for this model two and a half decades ago there was, among others, the general manager of Punto Blanco, Josep Ignasi Reixach, who welcomed the bet made then and valued the excellence in the work of the operating company Value Retail, which puts the investment it has made since 1998 at 120 million euros.
The mayoress of La Roca, Marta Pujol, from Junts, recalled the "tenacious" work of Salvador Illa as mayor of the municipality for the establishment of the project and expressed her commitment to its continuity. In addition, he highlighted the importance of it being an economic engine for the area, since "76% of the workers are from Vallès".
The event ended with the participation of the artist Tvboy, who signed a large 25 that he had made himself. Born in Italy as Salvatore Benintende, he became a graffiti artist as a teenager. He is the author of the viral kiss of Messi and Cristiano that, along with other drawings, can be seen on the walls of this large outdoor outlet.
