Some months ago, before coronavirus crisis started, we talked in this blog about the trickle of Las Ramblas store’s closings. We analyzed this sad process that is running for the last four or five years and it’s transforming the neighborhood, and all the city indeed, into a clone from western’s major cities. A process that, for diverse reasons, homogenize large city’s center based on switching emblematic stores for clothing brands franchises and fast-food restaurants. And the result is, at the end, city’s loose of own identity.
Precisely some days ago we read an article that went in depth about this question, adapting it to the circumstances originated by Covid-19. This El Periodico’s article, analyzes the economic situation for the local, native and traditional shops that languishes due to a lack of support, but also because haven’t been able to adapt to the new situation that this crisis is causing.
Our perspective: Las Ramblas traditional business
If you have the change to walk around Barcelona’s Gothic quarter and go across Las Ramblas, among emerging big brand’s clothing stores and fast food franchises, still can find the lifelong small local shops. Like our store, Corbeto’s Boots, businesses that have been for many years at Barcelona’s center offering a differentiating product where high quality and good customer care prioritize.
We are small native shops that survive to coronavirus crisis beat, keeping operative despite the confinement and following back to activity with very few visitors to La Rambla.
Adapting to circumstances and evolve, the key
Facing customer’s drop due to pandemic’ situation, as dealers we have two options. First is regretting for tourist’s low affluence, a basic need in an area like Las Ramblas and lack of local government aids. The second, start moving, evolve and adapt to keep going on.
At Corbeto’s we have decided following the second way. We can spend hours and hours to regret ourselves, but this won’t make the difficult situation to change. That’s why we have implemented strategies to maximize very few zone’s visitors stay. In our case, for example, adapting our opening hours and offering promotions to express our gratitude for the purchases to those clients that will be visiting us in person. As an example, we currently have running a promotion of 10% purchase’s value vouchers to spend in future purchases in the next 30 days.
Around us we see stores that will hardly reopen their doors. And we are sure that our way of business survival, the small, native and traditional shops, goes through the effort, differentiation and offering an assistance to gain customer’s loyalty and keep trusting in us.
