Not everything is closing in pandemic Barcelona. On the eve of Christmas, Virginias has just opened its first store in the Catalan capital in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, in an emblematic location that enjoys the highest level of protection from the City Council, as it is considered an establishment of great interest for the city. This is the premises at number 2, Carrer del Bisbe, which until 2016 housed the Antiga Cereria Lluís Codina, a business that had been dedicated to selling candles since 1825.
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The historic candle shop, next to the Casa dels Canonges and alongside the Palau de la Generalitat and Plaça Sant Jaume, closed after a decade of accelerated decline due to the crisis of the moment and the prohibition of lighting candles inside the nearby Cathedral. A year after closing its doors, the espadrille shop Dos Espadrilles moved into the premises, preserving all the original interior and exterior decoration and also the furniture.
Now, the owner of the espadrille shop, who has another store on the same street, has chosen to reorient the establishment's activity as a consequence of the absence of tourists. Instead of closing, he remains as a tenant but will sell nougat instead of espadrilles, having partnered with Ángel Jubete, the owner of another emblematic Catalan brand, Virginias.
"I am in love with Cereria Lluís Codina; I was a customer of the store when it sold candles, and it so happens that I knew the owners of the espadrille shop, and we have reached an agreement to give continuity to the premises," explains Jubete to The New Barcelona Post.
New life for the brand after suspending payments
This businessman, well-known in Lleida, rescued the Virginias brand in 2019 through the company Acrimont Foods after it suspended payments at the end of 2017. He has a growth plan underway that aims to reach a turnover of 20 million euros within ten years and prioritizes the creation of a network of own nougat stores. He already owns two establishments located in Reus —where Virginias was born— and in Agramunt —the Catalan capital of nougat— and now has just simultaneously opened two more stores in Barcelona and Madrid.
According to Jubete, the Gòtic store will not be the only Virginias location in the Catalan capital, where it plans to open at least two more stores. It has already located sites around Las Ramblas and the Sagrada Familia. "I'm looking for emblematic shops, places with history in which to sell a product that also has a lot of history; we will make Barcelona one of the brand's flagships," says Jubete, who also owns the gardening products company Flower, based in Tàrrega.
The store in the former candle factory opened on October 30 and offers about 60 varieties of nougat, mainly from the artisanal nougat range, which is marketed under the El Taller de Virginias brand. These are artisan-made bars from the Agramunt workshop and have a retail price of between 7 and 10 euros.
Out of caution, with this panorama, the logical thing would be not to open, but we want to see what happens; people have reacted very well, we are very happy with how sales have gone these first few weeks."We haven't touched anything, the premises remain intact," emphasizes the owner of Virginias, who is delighted to contribute to preserving traditional and local commerce. "Out of caution, with this panorama, the logical thing would be not to open, but we want to see what happens; people have reacted very well, we are very happy with how sales have gone these first few weeks," he assures. According to Jubete, "Bisbe street is very busy, and not only with tourists, but also with Barcelonians." "If people go to the Gòtic, they will surely pass in front of the store," he believes.
For its location in Madrid, Virginias has also chosen the historic center, a premises on Calle de la Sal, on the ground floor of a centenary building declared of cultural interest in the so-called Esquina de los Austrias, next to the Plaza Mayor.
Acrimont Foods, the company that bought the Virginias brand and part of its productive assets, has managed to invoice three million euros in its first year of operation. "We started from scratch; the Virginias brand disappeared from the market, it wasn't in supermarkets in Christmas 2018," the businessman recalls. After a titanic effort to recover the brand, renew the entire product line, and redesign all packaging, Virginias re-entered homes last Christmas, and is now facing the second campaign of the new era.
Confident in the Christmas campaign
The brand's most commercial line, with a factory in Reus, is present in practically all supermarket chains, such as Caprabo, El Corte Inglés, Alcampo, Condis, and Bonpreu. In parallel, with the challenge of increasing the added value of this product and de-seasonalizing production, Jubete launched the premium line, the Virginias Workshop, with a plant in Agramunt, and in collaboration with the Culinary Institute of Barcelona (CIB). In total, the company employs about sixty people.
And what will happen this Christmas? Àngel Jubete is optimistic. He believes that the restrictions of these days are an extra effort so that Christmas celebrations can be as normal as possible. "I believe we will be able to spend Christmas with family; people will not stop eating turrón, whether it's the basic one or the most innovative one," he concludes hopefully.
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