Rambla Catalunya is changing, but not as many insist these days to make people believe. The historic Gancedo tapestries do not close their doors, they do not lower the blinds forever. They simply move to number 115 on Carrer Pau Claris.
And the family is a little pissed off. Because many are numb to explaining 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 lifelong business, to adapt to current times and guarantee its future.
"The business of selling wall paper has changed a lot in recent times - explain the upholsterers. We started in 1945. And people no longer walk down the street and suddenly say "let's buy the one with flowers for the kitchen", because suddenly they see it in a shop window. Currently, clients require advice, a very personalized treatment... and we also work with many professionals, with decorators, interior designers, architects... and the usual thing is to make an appointment. In addition, parking on Rambla Catalunya is very complicated. In this sector, conventional stores are no longer appropriate. And in Pau Claris we have found an ideal place, with a patio and everything, perfect for holding the relevant meetings. We are reinventing ourselves so we don't disappear!".
And the historic premises at number 97 of the Rambla Catalunya, because it is theirs and on this occasion no damn investment fund is doing the trick, the Gancedos rent it to the clothing firm Bobo Choses, known among other things for having wearing the creatures that appear in films as disparate as Parasites and Alcarràs.
"We are a family company born in Mataró already 15 years ago - they explain to Bobo Choses. We only have one store in El Born, but we sell in multi-brand spaces in more than 40 countries, especially in Korea, from Parasits. 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 miss the opportunity to open our first flagship store in Rambla Catalunya. We understand that it is a great location."
Analyst Susana Elhombre, director of main streets at CBRE consultancy, explains how this relief illustrates the latest transformation of this commercial axis, how in recent years it has become the most Barcelona-like of all, so to speak somehow "Until 2019, the growth of Rambla Catalunya came mainly through tourism, and the truth is that little by little it was losing its local essence". But the pandemic marked a turning point. "A few very well-known brands left the place, they preferred to stay in more touristic commercial areas... and then, also in large part due to the fact that in Rambla Catalunya the rent pressure is lower, many companies start-ups who are very active online and through other sales channels decide to set up shop here to make themselves known to the local public. At the moment this commercial axis is a cluster of new fashion".
Elhombre refers to the fashion firm Mi
In fact, as a CBRE study carried out with massive data analysis technology illustrated at the time, Rambla Catalunya was the first of the city's main arteries to recover the influx of pedestrians a when the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic began to be eased, and on top of that it did so at a rate much higher than that recorded in other streets where the presence of tourists is traditionally more decisive, such as the case of Passeig de Gràcia or Portaferrissa street.
Here in Rambla Catalunya we find a long succession of jewelry stores, tobacconists, perfumeries, shoe stores, children's fashion stores and even a toy store! And not a shop for cannabis goodies, cheap souvenirs or rude t-shirts, and only three or four of these supermarkets devoted mainly to the sale of drink cans and bottles of spirits to the most casual visitors to the city .
"Arrivals will slow down over the coming year, basically because there will hardly be any premises available - says the CBRE analyst. Perhaps the pending issue will be urban planning. Rambla Catalunya requires an urbanization that favors walking”.
What is happening is that a good part of the commercial fabric of Rambla Catalunya feels a little slighted by the City Council. Eduard Solé, from the merchants' association, recalls that this is the last of the major axes of Barcelona still pending reform. We are talking about Sant Joan and Gràcia promenades, Diagonal avenue, Via Laietana and also the Rambla. "And the last urbanization of Rambla Catalunya was a few decades ago".
What also happens here, to give an example, is that while the central section is very pleasant, the side sidewalks seem too narrow, inappropriate for an axis that wants to invite pedestrians to look at the shop windows, and moreover, the passage of waiters with trays on the way to the terraces located in the central section is also annoying.
"Perhaps a unique platform could be considered - points out Solé - it could improve the visitor's experience. But it would be necessary to study it carefully. In any case, we need urban modernization. The lighting should also be improved. In short, take care of this ride a little. We haven't been authorized to hold any events for about seven or eight years. Now we are waiting. We hope to find more complicity on the part of Mayor Jaume Collboni's government".
"We also love mobility - says the businessman, who in 2019 opened one of his shops at the bottom of this promenade and in 2021 another one at the top. If your clientele mainly comes from all over Catalonia, this artery is undoubtedly your best location. Here we have a lot of brands targeting a national audience. We make a neighborhood, we make a city. The problem for a while now, however, is the accesses, both to the axis and to the center of the city. I offer them free parking, but people tell me that they don't care, that getting down from Sant Cugat del Vallès is very burdensome".
