Virginia Gomez Madrid

Madrid

Updated Sunday, February 25, 2024-00:00

There is a

new fashion

, or a phenomenon, whatever you want to call it, that has unleashed the craze for setting

special

, well-kept, colorful and different tables every day to receive guests at home.

And also, of course, to show off to the world on social media the creativity that many (or many) overflow around a plate.

Decoration stores

(

and clothing stores, which have now joined this) invade their windows with irresistible proposals, magazines no longer show a living room without a well-dressed table... It is no longer so important what we eat but how beautiful it is. let us do it.

And there is an

accessible luxury

in this sense that is multiplying this effect.

From north to south, in the capital, outlets

selling

Portuguese tableware by weight

have begun to appear

.

In less than a year, nine stores have opened, from four different companies, which have brought the essence of the markets and fairs of the neighboring country to the door of our house.

Dinner plates, dessert plates, deep plates, bowls, salad bowls, platters, cups, jugs... All kinds of pieces can be found in any of these stores, which sell surplus

production

(in some cases with small defects) that factories Portuguese companies produce for well-known American, Dutch or Nordic companies (none that sell in our country).

The variety is immense and you can buy products per unit

from 1.50 euros

, mixing them together.

Popular prices that have skyrocketed its success (with lines at openings) and have contributed to its rapid expansion.

«We were born in Coruña in March 2022 and it was a total success.

We were the first large-scale ceramic outlet to open in Spain.

Through social networks they told us: 'When in Madrid?'

And we made the decision to come here.

In June 22 we opened

the first store in Griñón, in a 400 m2 warehouse

," explains Romina Nion, the woman behind

A Mercadoría

, the pioneering company that has paved the way in this new business [the small stores that have been selling artisanal and exclusive pieces for a long time in Madrid] and which has 15 establishments throughout the country.

In the capital the reception was such that

it did not take long to spread

: in September of that same year they opened in Carabanchel;

in November, in Alcalá;

and on February 23, in Villaverde.

Additionally, they held a

pop up

at the Only You hotel last February.

And he does not rule out opening more.

A table with dishes by weight at A Mercadoría.BERNARDO DÍAZ

«We seek to offer something different.

People are tired of the same thing.

Here they can make a different table, to their liking

» says Nion, who has always known the business in Portugal as a user.

«The plates we have are surplus from international brands, some have small defects, even below the plate, or simply a change in tone that does not pass the firm's standard.

But they are useful and durable," says the entrepreneur, who also points out that they have

many clients from restaurants, hotels and rural houses

: "It is an economical option to renew the message in places where it is used continuously."

«We have dishes from 1.50 to 3 euros.

For 35 euros you can buy a complete set of dishes

for six people.

We have the flat, dessert and deep plates by weight and the rest, by unit.

And we also have our

own editions

at affordable prices, exclusive designs that are not offered in any other store," adds Nion, who assures that the most valuable piece they sell is a 19 euro flower pot.

Martha Blanco, a Venezuelan of Galician parents and a lover of tableware, entered this world shortly after, in November 22. And she brought, through

Las vajillas de Martha

, these products to an industrial area of ​​San Sebastián de los Reyes.

The idea was to open for four months and close, but things went so well that... now they have

two stores in Madrid

(the other is in Las Rozas) and three more in Spain: in Zaragoza, Barcelona and Mallorca.

Composition of dishes in Las vajillas de Martha.EM

«Since I was little I have gone to the markets in Portugal.

I have bought a lot of tableware there.

When I had dinners my friends always told me: 'How cute' and asked me to buy them the same one, but it's impossible because every time you go there are different things.

In the end, I ended up washing the dishes after dinner and packing them up to take away.

In one year I bought 50 tableware and I only had one left

," Blanco remembers that, in his store, in addition to kitchenware, he sells textiles by weight.

"I think it's important to give things a second life

," he says about the surplus production he has, which until recently was wasted because factories were prohibited from selling to third parties.

«They are very good quality products, which we sell for 35 euros (a set of dishes for four) and in the brand they cost you 250 to 300 euros.

“It is an accessible luxury,” he asserts.

"

The hospitality industry changes the menu a lot and doesn't want the same dishes

, it wants different things that make the customer feel like they are at home," their clientele says about that part.

"There are also people who take pieces to make floral arrangements," adds the businesswoman before ensuring that the pandemic has changed something key: we now receive more.

Original tableware at Las Vajillas de Martha.EM

«People like to share, show off about cooking and setting up beautiful tables.

There are groups of women around this who show what they do on Instagram

.

And there was also recently an international meeting in Madrid.

They came to visit us.

They were dish

geeks

," she says. Although there are also "clients who come every week. And one who has stopped going to the psychologist since she came here! It's like doing therapy for her," Blanco says proudly.

The furor is such that even in one of their stores, they have even stolen one customer from another, says Alberto, an employee there, just before serving Miglena, who is looking for different, unique and economical tableware for the special days in which meets with family and friends.

"I don't rule out coming for another one for everyday use

," he tells GRAN MADRID.

Plates, glasses and bowls at Julietta.EM

After Martha's tableware, she opened

Julietta

, a company that was dedicated to selling clothing and accessories and has now expanded the business by joining this fashion.

They started in the CC.

Plaza de Aluche and then they extended to Soho de Las Rozas, where they have a larger location for those two aspects of their business.

«

Our policy is price and news

.

The most expensive thing we have is a 12 euro vase,” says the owner, Eva Navarro.

«People love Zara Home but they can't shop there.

Here we have very good quality, design and price.

“We are reaching a lot of young people,” she adds.

The last to set up shop in Madrid, direct from Santiago, are

Alouza

, who have opened (in April 23) the largest warehouse, 800 m2 in Rivas (they are also in Barcelona), where

entire trailers are unloaded every one or two weeks

.

Influences

such as Laura Escanes, Aretha Fusté or Marta Castro have been seen in this store, which like A Mercadoría and Las vajilla de Martha, also has its own production where unique tableware can be created, combining the pieces desired by the client.

To differentiate itself from this wave,

La Official

, the first store that opened in Madrid's Rastro back in 2017 with Portuguese tableware, has stopped selling by weight.

«

We rethought the business

since the

outlets

opened .

We sell exclusive, traditional, handmade collections and almost everything is Spanish," says Toni Torrecillas, one of the owners of this business, which has a second headquarters in Las Salesas.

«They are fashions.

And competition is always good », he adds.

A fashion that is seen more and more every day on Instagram or Pinterest (or at your friend's house), which has been favored by the

publication of several books and specialists

on the subject and also by the offer that

low-cost

fashion stores like H&M or Primark -Zara Home is in another league- offer among their coat racks.

A contagious trend that doesn't seem to be going away.

Teacher

  • If anyone knows about setting good and beautiful tables in our country, it is

    Beatriz Satrústegui

    , a lawyer by profession and practitioner of this art by hobby.

    Since ever.

    For her, the phenomenon we are experiencing is due to two things: that "we have stopped going to restaurants to receive at home and that social networks have increased vanity.

    «Before you would set a table and only those who were going to dinner would see it.

    Now we expose it to the world.

    There are people who set up a table to seek the

    like

    - it does not mean that it is always like this - and raise their self-esteem," says the promoter of Table Academy and author of the book

    Platonic Love.

    The art of decorating the table

    .

    Defender of craftsmanship, of special pieces, she does not share this "madness."

    «We have gone too far.

    There is brutal consumerism.

    And it's not necessary.

    With little, and well, she says, you can be very creative.