How the devil does one put on a duvet cover?

From the bed to the blanket, in addition to being a home textile shop since 1952, it is a nerve center of Gràcia. A kind of information center and tourist guide. People come in to ask where the market, the post office or the frankfurt is, as well as to buy a new set of sheets, towels, cushion covers or kitchen cloths. Oh! And to ask how on earth we are supposed to put on the duvet cover properly. It takes three degrees and two master's degrees to achieve this. Before there were ties and buttons, but people didn't like it, they prefer to complicate their lives by matching the end of the duvet with that of the cover.

Rodri Font, the owner – third family generation – possesses the gift of communication and empathy: “Customer service is essential for us, we want to be given a ten, we serve as we like to be served.” Personalization, an important key to so many lifelong neighborhood businesses that precisely survive thanks to this characteristic of their personality.

A client has just entered who is buying a dressing gown for her daughter and wishes to personalize it by embroidering her name on it. No sooner said than done, they turn on the machine they have at the back of the shop and the embroidery is finished in two minutes.

The founder of the business was Rodri's grandfather. And he tells us the exact date, November 22, 1952. He opened two shops at the same time, one in Plaça del Bonsuccés and another in Gran de Gràcia, which is still going strong today. And the name? Everyone must ask him, but Rodrigo never tires of explaining the story. It was a customer who asked about the quality of the blanket she had noticed, and one of the assistants was clear: “Madam, this has gone straight from the lamb to the blanket”. This was before Rodrigo Font the grandfather went into business on his own – he had a shop in Via Laietana with two partners –: “If one day I have my own shop, I'll call it From the lamb to the blanket”. And so it was.

It soon became popular, Rodri recounts, because many jingles were broadcast on the radio featuring the sound of sheep bells, and this was a brilliant idea to popularize the business. Robert, the second generation and Rodri's father, continued with the business, and when he retired, about twenty years ago, Rodri took over. Today, it is he and Jordi, who has been working for the company for over twenty-five years, who are at the helm.

They enjoy good health and a regular and occasional clientele. They prioritize one-on-one interaction, shop sales. “We don't have a website because selling online is another business, and they don't make it easy for small business owners when it comes to hiring staff.” Rodri's three children will not continue with the business, but he still has plenty of energy left: “It's not worth it for a small business owner to have employees,” he insists. “If you want to be well served, make your own bed,” he says. And never truer words were spoken in his case.

Having your own business is very sacrificing, demanding and enslaving: “Here we work from Monday to Saturday”. The star products belong to the semantic field of bed linen and towels. But they also sell carpets, tablecloths and cushions of all kinds. If you want a traditional blanket, made of wool, of course, you can find it there. And it’s not easy to find them, is it? There are few manufacturers dedicated to it. Apparently, people now like to cover themselves with a traditional blanket again because they are tired of duvets and their cursed covers. And Rodri is very clear about it: “The bed looks much better made with a blanket and bedspread than with a duvet.” Or with a comforter, which cannot be unzipped and therefore has to be taken to the dry cleaner to be washed.

Not many carpets are sold. Before, it was a winter decorative piece to warm your feet, to put under the sofa or under the living room table. And do you know why they are bought now? Well, mainly so that children can play or crawl on the floor or to cover a stain!

Towels are always needed and many are sold every day. Also night cushions, which people renew often. And for Christmas, travel and sofa blankets. A great many people go to Del be a la manta desperate because they are not satisfied with the purchase they made online – blindly, without checking sizes, colors or textures – and they need personal attention to get out of their headache.