SPAIN –'Pangkamot sa likod' or wooden back scratcher is the top-selling item at 'Narra,' the first Filipino handicrafts shop in Barcelona, Spain.
Costing 1.95 euros or roughly P100, it has become an instant favorite among Spaniards and tourists who find the itch-relieving stick a novelty, according to Armie Cabarubias Colada, one of Narra’s owners.
Narra also sells wooden kitchenware, anahaw fans, and decorations, which can only be seen in Filipino homes. The shop has shell chandeliers, rice field paintings, and bamboo and coconut adornments too.
Bags, accessories, clothes, a small quantity of Filipino grocery products, and even hot siopao and adobong mani are also available in the store that caters to both Filipino and non-Filipino clientele and aims to further promote Filipino culture abroad.
Asian decorations, said Armie and her sister-co-owner Annie, are getting the spotlight in the home decor scene in Europe and the United States.
So while Spain is still picking up from recession, the Cabarubias sisters took the courage to put up 'Narra' with the help of their family.
Business and entrepreneurship run in the family as they once had a Filipino restaurant bearing the same name as their handicrafts shop.
The sisters, born and raised in Spain, still plan to continue with their respective jobs while managing 'Narra'. Armie works as bank operations manager, while Annie has a casting-advertising agency for dancers, once recognized for business excellence by Barcelona-based Centro Filipino.
"If you won't give good service, the product is not of good quality, and the store location is not good, the business will not prosper," said Annie in Spanish in an interview with TFC’s Balitang Global.
'Narra' is located at Calle Valdoncella, in Raval, a neighborhood close to Barcelona city center and where a huge number of Filipinos reside.
They are currently looking for suppliers and cost-effective ways to import products from the Philippines. Some of the store’s products are manufactured in Spain using imported raw materials from Asia.
An online store will also be launched soon, and as the holidays are fast approaching, Filipino Christmas decors like parol are expected to be part of Narra’s dainty gift and pasalubong items.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
