BarcelonaA new client commissioned fifty frames of pictures in the gold frame. Ok, no problem. The surprise comes when they discover the shipping address. IKEA’s offices in Madrid. Caram, with the huge amount of frames they must sell, it is very eloquent to order the frame out. They look for quality, of course, need the guarantee of the expert, which works fine, the framing as it does not fail. In commerce, as in life, the unexpected paradox is impressive. And descriptive, especially very descriptive.
Marco de Oro, in the center of Barcelona, on Pau Claris Street with Valencia, since 1939, of the Puigsech family, it is a referential within the trade, and today the brothers Carlos and Joan Puigsech are the third generation. The business was opened by his grandfather in 1939, a complicated time, hard postwar period, and time with a conception of trade that has nothing to do with today. You bring me some pictures to frame and I give you one of my paintings. Exchange, cooperation, resistance. In those early years, the business also included the sale of religious theme products. Today already parked, but there are still some vestiges on the walls and showcases of the store. Ah, and also homemade, dishes, kitchen battery and some jewelry. The clientele was varied and diversified. From individuals to art galleries who were commissioned by the frame of paintings for the exhibitions. In fact, exhibitions had also been made on the upper floor. They still retain the ladder and the label that accredit it.
What is the most common commission today? Well, still the private client who wants to frame a picture or poster. It is then convenient to choose the style, the molding, if you want wood or metal and little else. In past times, the Eixample neighborhood was predominant. Now, the newcomer who wishes to decorate the house is very stressed. All sum.
For this type of profiles, for a few years now the store has an interesting stock of old posters reproductions, both advertising and thematic, made with sheet or wood. From tintin to the Montesa, passing through Marilyn and all the myths of Hollywood. There are usual passavoles who want to only photograph the interior: “Eh! That is not a museum, huh?” They warn joking. Also customers who wish to replace a broken glass, some restoration works of old frames and desktop frames to make family photos and childhood memories look. Ah! And it seems a lie, but the framing of objects is still bound. Not of the times in which fans and guns were framed, but the worlds of the memorabilia and nostalgia vintage They are inscrutable.
A demanding trade
“We are like a dinosaur,” recognize the Puigsech brothers. An irreducible that resists leaving: “When we have to fold, we will do it without regret or regret.” They are not still clear if they will have generational relief, but they are not worried too much. They coincide with an opinion of consensus in the shopping office: the work for the public is demanding and wears out. They do not advertise much or bet on online sale. “To frame you have to see what you want, choose, decide in person.” What can be worth framing a picture or poster? It depends a lot, precisely on the choice you make. You can spend between sixty and four hundred euros. For all types of pockets, demands and preferences.
You could say that week and week they also have proposals for the sale of the premises, in an extremely sweet chaflán, next to the modernism of the Paseo de Gràcia. No offer has made the weight. In the same place for the frame on-site. Illustrious customers? Oh, a lot of variety. Puigsech are discreet, they don’t want to talk more about the account. They only mention one, Pedro Sánchez, who bought them a selection of advertising posters.
