A ghost store belonging to Barça drives Girona residents crazy

GironaFor the past couple of months, an empty storefront next to the Stone Bridge in Girona has garnered media attention and been the target of criticism and graffiti due to its supposed future use. The reason is that Barça had planned to open an official store there, something that hasn't gone down well with some local fans, who consider it an offensive gesture, since Girona's official store is located just a few meters away, in a symbolic spot on the Rambla de la Libertad, very close to where the club was founded in 1930. As of now, there's no guarantee that Barça will go ahead with the project. Off-field rivalries aside, in purely sporting terms, Míchel's Girona and Flick's Barça will face off again in the Catalan derby at Montilivi this Monday (9 pm, DAZN).

The facts are as follows. In early December, word spread quickly that Barça would be opening a store in the aforementioned location, most likely during Easter week. A few hours later, the store was found vandalized with graffiti. "In Girona of Girona"which was quickly erased. And days later, another one appeared that read, "Are you sure you want to play at our place?" In response to these acts of vandalism, whose perpetrators have not been identified but which have spread like wildfire on social media, a security camera system was installed around the different entrances to monitor the premises and identify those responsible if it happened again—which it did.

But with the space permanently closed and no activity, either internal or external, current reports point in the opposite direction: they claim that, due to various circumstances related to the high cost and the small size of the space—considering the product they generate—Barça might not open the store. ARA contacted the Girona City Council, which stated that they are unaware of "any problems regarding the license or the corresponding procedures." "What we can't say is whether the brand has decided not to come; they have to do that because we don't know," a City Council representative said.

Strategic Business Objective

The initial news did not surprise Girona, because Barça has long considered the city of the four rivers a strategic target for doing business, as outlined in their detailed expansion plan. which is managed by Barça Licensing and Merchandising (BLM), a company created in June 2018. It has more than twenty Barça Stores, and the only one in the Girona region is located in Platja d'Aro. The Girona club, on the other hand, only has one establishment, in addition to the small shop on the north side of Montilivi stadium.

The presence of a Barça store so close to the Girona store raised concerns within the Girona club. In the boom During Girona's recent footballing success, including their Champions League run, revenue skyrocketed by 2,400% in just eight seasons, reaching around one million euros in merchandising income. Now, this has dwindled due to poor results. Their most frequent customer is the casual tourist who visits the city and stumbles upon the Girona store in a prime central location, a place they are almost forced to pass by, using the excuse of visiting the Barri Vell (Old Quarter). If Barça were to open a store so close, it's logical to think that these tourists might spend their money there, attracted by the Barça brand, and not Girona's, even though many tourists visiting the city have already been to Barcelona and may have come across one of the club's stores. The possibility of opening one in Girona, however, is causing quite a stir, and Girona fans are not happy about it. If the opening doesn't happen, more than one person will breathe a sigh of relief.