Small shop – great idea!

Posted on August 9, 2011 Updated on August 9, 2011

I am a big fan of the European retail scene – yes they have huge retailers just like we do. But there always seems to be space for the small independent retailer with a great product or idea. The majority of town and city centres consequently have a much more varied retail offering than we are used to in the UK.

This is exactly what I have found in Barcelona, not just a great idea, but use of a unit that would prove almost impossible to let in the UK.

The retailer in question trades as ‘Happy Pills’ – it’s basically a sweet shop, but the choice you make is packaged up in pill bottles (of various sizes) with a choice of labels for giving as gifts as ‘happy pills’. It’s frankly brilliant – and was very busy when we went in. In our PC world it probably wouldn’t be acceptable – but that would be our loss!

The other aspect of the shop was the unit it was in – basically a single storey infill between two buildings – less than 6 feet wide but probably 40-50 feet deep. Who could use such a unit in the UK? Well here in Barcelona it works perfectly – room for thought?

Long and narrow!