Carlett is a company that has transformed a household utensil like the shopping cart into a micromobility vehicle for the elderly, creating a symbiosis between the traditional cart and orthopedic walkers, popularly known as tacataca.
The company and the brand have consolidated with this product in Spain and Europe, while continuing to manufacture and sell simpler carts for all ages that replace baskets and simple plastic bags for local shopping.
But such has been the reception of the walker cart since its launch in 2016 that Albert Cardona and Oriol Martí ---promoters of the idea and the brand--- have decided to rethink their business project to fully focus on assisted micromobility.
The key lies in digitizing the company so that technology increases the added value of the products ---"which have already been copied," laments Cardona--- and to delve into the Health&Pharma segment, where the brand has achieved good positioning in pharmacies and orthopedic stores.
"We are working on technological applications that will improve safety and incorporate other features into the devices to facilitate user mobility," Cardona specifies to The New Barcelona Post. These advances, which should be ready by next year, will also be a lever for entry into America, from the south to Canada, and in some parts of Asia, such as Japan, China, South Korea, or Singapore. Carlett's new business plan foresees being present in 46 countries by 2025.
Micromobility opens up a range of options for entering new lines of business, according to the brand's founders, who started in Granollers with an initial investment of 53,000 euros. The idea arose as a personal challenge: Cardona wanted to find a solution for his 97-year-old grandmother's mobility, as she was reluctant to walk with the help of a cane when she went out or went shopping and "even less willing to use a tacataca, which for many elderly people has connotations of invalidity or dependence." And this led to the creation of Carlett.
Immersed in growth and in contributing value to society, Carlett outlines several options. Among them, creating a line of products for pets ---animals with mobility problems due to genetic issues or diseases or others that are in a postoperative process--- and designing utensils for the transport of products of reduced weight and volume that adapt to micromobility vehicles such as scooters or bicycles. "And why not –Cardona asks– look for a system that fits into supermarket shopping carts and prevents the consumer from having to empty the basket to place the products in the trunk of their car and then also have to transport them in some other way to the kitchen of their home".
The company will open new business lines for people, but will also start in the world of pets"We will rethink and devise ways to make micromobility more comfortable new systems or tools that respond to the needs of a citizen increasingly committed to sustainability and to the philosophy of 'the 15-minute city', which is taking shape all over the world and, especially, in Europe," defends the founder of Carlett.
The pandemic has reinforced Carlett's arguments, which saw how sales of shopping carts grew during the months of mobility restrictions and were used to go to local establishments or municipal markets, and "it was young people who bought them," they assure. This trend is reinforced in large European cities in Germany, France, and the Nordic countries, which are, at the same time, the main markets for Carlett's walker cart.
Moving manufacturing to Catalonia and for social purposes
Thus, the business grew to 2.34 million in 2021, "and it will be three by the end of this year." Carlett markets its products in a total of 13 countries. Sales in Spain represent 35% of turnover, with Catalonia and the Valencian Community being the autonomous communities with the most users, and the rest comes from the European continent. The company has a headquarters in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and its logistics center, of 1,000 square meters, is located in Cabrera de Mar.
Its human team, mainly composed of professional profiles such as product designers and engineers, consists of a dozen workers; twenty if indirect jobs are counted.
Although it produces abroad ---shopping carts in China and walker carts in Taiwan---, the company plans to move part of the assembly and manufacturing to Catalonia, starting next year. "We have always designed and developed product engineering in Catalonia, but with manufacturing offshore," confirms Cardona, but admits that he has advanced conversations with the Ared Foundation to take on the tasks of assembly and textile manufacturing of the products. This labor insertion company and work center for people with disabilities and vulnerable individuals could become a key piece in Carlett's expansion.