Boutique retailer solebox are continuing their European expansion with the latest opening of a new store location in Barcelona.
Inspired by Barcelona’s famous market places and stands, solebox Mercat was created. Equipped with different market-like stalls, counters, refrigerators and transport boxes, the feeling of an outdoor market is created inside the store. Locally sourced olives, tomatos, wine and olive oil complement the concept.
The new solebox Merkat store in Barcelona is officially open for business!
solebox Barcelona
Carrer del Pintor Fortuny, 23
08001 Barcelona
Hi Aljoscha, please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us what are you responsible for in Solebox
Aljoscha: Hey, my name is Aljoscha and I am the general manager at solebox, so I am basically in charge of the full concept, from buying, to marketing, product collaboration design, store concepts, etc.
You just announced that you are opening a store in Barcelona. Why exactly in this city?
Aljoscha: Barcelona is a very important city for the European sneaker and streetwear community. I remember days when the bread and butter tradeshow was happening in Barcelona and not berlin. Besides that we see a lot of similarities when it comes to the creative community to our homecourt berlin.
How long did the preparation take?
Aljoscha: Longer than expected – we started over half a year ago, then covid hit and slowed down the processs a little bit. When you work on concepts like this there are always unexpected surprises that need a solution, but overall its always a fun and one of a kind project.
Each of your stores has a unique design and concept. What will the store in Spain look like?
Aljoscha: Correct, all our stores have unique designs that are inspored by the city and the local community. For Barcelona we looked into our neighbourhood again and understeood that ourdoor markets are very popular in this area. So the store concept is based on a Spanish mercat.
Is this your last store? Are you planning to open another one? Perhaps in Warsaw?
Aljoscha: First of all it is very important that we keep the level of energy in a new city when we open a new store. So after a successful opening like this we need to make sure we work with the right people locally and continously have events and activations going on. That’s what we are focusing on right now, but for the future we are looking in to global key cities that make sense for us. We want to serve a purpose for the local community. So when that purpose is there, we start to plan.
