Christmas is a good time to generate demand in retail, and in fact, many companies produce more than 20% of their annual turnover during these dates. Especially the week from December 19 to 25, when shops are non-stop.
In recent years, Black Friday has marked the starting gun for Christmas. It is the moment when the shopping season begins, with significant sales and promotions in many stores. On the same day, the lights are turned on to fill the city streets with life. The Christmas campaign generally ends on January 7, after Three Kings' Day, although some activities extend a few more days.
During this period, consumption increases and Barcelonians are eager to engage in all kinds of activities. Therefore, a good way to attract them is to create new concepts that serve as an appeal for them to visit us.
For example, Christmas is when we eat more chocolate than any other time of the year. And this 2022, Casa Cacao, El Celler de Can Roca's chocolate factory, has opened a pop-up store at the Mandarin Hotel on Paseo de Gràcia which will remain open until January 5. In it, we find their well-known bars and chocolates, and more daring options, such as nougat made with cocoa seeds.
It is the first own store in Barcelona for this Girona firm. Opening in a pop-up store format is a very good idea, because it allows them to analyze the viability of the business in the city. Until now, their products could be bought at El Club del Gourmet of El Corte Inglés and at Vila Viniteca.
If Christmas holidays are characterized by anything, it is the decorations and lights that fill us with illusion. The Hotel Palace is very clear about this and always transforms itself during these dates. Until January 8, from Thursday to Sunday, classic Christmas movies, such as Love Actually, are projected on the hotel's rooftop. Armchairs have been arranged in its mini wooden chalets and they offer blankets, hot water bottles, sweets, popcorn and hot drinks to enjoy the film.
On the same rooftop is El Chalet, a gastronomic pop-up, decorated in the style of the Alps with checkered tablecloths, where you can enjoy a very appetizing menu for cold days, with options such as raclette or fondue.
Until January 7, at Gallery Hotels you can live the Dive Into Xmas experience that immerses guests in the city's Christmas atmosphere, starting from their own room, as if they were visiting the home of an acquaintance in Barcelona. There are several decorated rooms, some with more details than others depending on the category. The most family-friendly of all, the Gallery Xmas Deluxe, has a Christmas tree, nativity scene, and lights.
It is the first "Christmas hotel" in the city and its gastronomy is also unmissable. With chef Pablo Tomás at the helm, its Sintonia restaurant offers a very appealing New Year's Eve menu, which includes pheasant cannelloni; charcoal-grilled sea bass; or kid goat "embarrado" with a spoon with Robuchon of Jerusalem artichoke and trumpet mushrooms. Live music enlivens the dinner.
Many more spaces have been filled with Christmas this year. At Casa Seat the Merry Days are celebrated until January 7. The interior spaces are fully themed and an advent calendar occupies the facade in homage to Barcelona. Each day a window (a luminous screen) is revealed with the illustration of an emblematic building of the city. Inside the space there is a Christmas village, a toy factory, and a mini Seat collection.
In addition, they have organized some interactive activities, such as Create your tree, so that children can decorate their own digital tree using an electronic device that is projected on the main screen of Casa Seat. Or the video game Help Santa, designed for visitors to have fun with a virtual game, created by two students from the Seat Apprentice School, which consists of helping Santa Claus store gifts.
Ice skating is one of the Christmas activities that children and adults enjoy the most. One of this year's novelties is at the Tibidabo Amusement Park, where an ice rink has been opened in the Plaça dels Somnis and is operational whenever the venue is open, until January 5. The rink has a surface area of 200 square meters. It is made of a synthetic and sustainable material that does not need water or electricity to be preserved. Taking care of the environment is good for the surroundings, and it is also something that we must take very good care of as retailers, because very green generations are coming.
Finally, on these dates we always talk about La Roca Village. This shopping complex is 40 minutes from Barcelona and to encourage shopping in one of its 150 boutiques, every year it organizes activities and takes great care of its decoration. This Christmas, we find numerous artistic installations created by the Wanda Barcelona studio, an ephemeral world of constellations that expand across the facades of the buildings. The restaurants have prepared menus with seasonal products. There are pop ups of delicatessen and many ideas for gifts.