In december 2019 this newspaper advanced one of the commercial deaths most famous of center of Barcelona: The bicentennial shirt store Xancó de la Rambla would close before the end of the year. Despite its valued enclave, the business has remained two and a half years with the blinds down and without relief. Everyone wondered what could fit in a local opened in 1820which stands out on the list of emblematic establishments of the city and that preserves its fantastic furniture from 1912. The final answer is a pottery shop artisans from all over Spain, from the Art Escudellers chain, with five other businesses in the same Gòtic neighborhood. This increases the list of businesses focused mainly on tourism.
The Xancó case, at 78 La Rambla, increased the worrying share of closures of historic stores in Ciutat Vella, sometimes due to increases in rents, or due to the lack of generational change, due to the loss of profitability in an environment so touristically themed or the lack of institutional support. The unexpected thing was that it took so long to find a new tenant, because the start of the pandemic crossed his path, which commercially deserted the area. During all this time the establishment has maintained the poster announcing its availability (for 11,000 euros per month in 2020), without finding a boyfriend and with continuous graffiti that punished her blinds.
imminent opening
The marketing was managed by the firm Laborde Marcet, which confirms that in the end the lessor has signed directly with the property, that it is a socimi with local and foreign capital. The works for its new activity are already underway, confirm from Art Escudellers, which will thus open what will be its sixth store in the heart of Ciutat Vella.
On its website, this operator defines itself as “a young and dynamic company”. “We intend to maximize the crafts produced mainly in Spain (…). We have been working in Barcelona continuously since 1997 to publicize and bring crafts and traditional guilds of ceramic production closer to both the national and international public,” they say. They claim to have popular pieces but also other unique ones. They burst into Escudellers street, and until now they also have a presence in Banys Nous, Petritxol, Avinyó and Plaza del Àngel, enclaves, all of them, where the tourist buyer has great weight.
The architect Alberto Mejias, who in 2004 was the founder of Emblemàtics Barcelona, usually supports and advises the owners of historic businesses with continuity problems so that this heritage legacy, both physical and in terms of activity, is not lost. In the Xancó shirts took care of inventorying all the centennial furniture just before closing, he recalls, since as part of the catalog of emblematic establishments the city council requires that preserve the protected elements, among which were its fantastic shelves and counters from over a century ago, as well as its cash register. The expert claims more support from the city council for the preservation of commercial heritage, so that the bleeding of stores with historical identity is stopped.
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Xancó kept all its furniture since 1912, when the shop was reformed, inaugurated almost a hundred years before. Upon the death of the founder, Antoni Cotchet, it was the employee Josep Xancó who took over the reins and launched a prosperous business that kept his saga alive. Tristan Xanco represented the fourth generation and hoarded an equally valuable backroom, while his wife, Pilar Satta, reigned behind the counter for half a century, until a closure that did a lot of damage to the promenade.
the president of Friends of the Rambla, Fermín Villar, applauds the reopening, taking into account “what the axis has suffered”, the blinds that continue to be lowered and how complex it is to reactivate a historic premises with that level of protection and conditions. He points out that the brand of craft is well established in the Gòtic and that at least its activity will be able to fit in with centennial interior design.