Ana Barangé Sala is store manager in the Botiga Solidària of the Fundació Roure since approximately 2012. Ana came to the foundation through her brother, the first textile entrepreneur who donated new clothes. Upon his death, his family decided to continue helping through the company and Ana started as a volunteer, so she had studied a social worker degree. Do you want to know more about this store that has 87 square meters and was opened in 1998?

What is the relationship between the Fundació Roure and Natura Bissé?
Ricardo Fisas met the foundation and wanted both the family and Natura Bissé employees to know Roure. From then until now, Natura Bissé’s employees, suppliers and family collaborate with us by providing us with clothes and other objects, which are always in very good condition and are of a high quality: we are very grateful to the workers for their effort and involvement with our store.

What is your job?
Raise awareness of society, explaining to the donors that everything they neglect, can be very useful for other people and in keeping loyalty to donate all year. At the same time, speak with social entities and social services to derive more people, let them know that they can come to dress and dress their house, choosing what they want to buy.

In this store, it is more about serving than selling. Our store has a different concept, because here the people who come in, need especially affection and that you listen to them. We know customers by their names, because they come every day. For them, the store is like a social center in the neighborhood of La Ribera, in Barcelona, Spain, where we are.

What kind of people come to buy?
Our audience is very faithful and likes to come and visit us, because we have news anytime. There are elderly people of Spanish nationality who have no purchasing power, live alone and, therefore, have no opportunity to talk to anyone for hours. The second largest group is that of families without resources. The third type of client we have is foreigners living in El Borne and, finally, young people looking for second-hand items.

How is this client looking for second hand items?
It is a public from 20 to 30 years old, who is aware that things are not thrown. They want to promote a sustainable way of life and care for the environment. They know that everything (clothing, furniture, costume jewelery) what they do not wear, not use, can be useful for others.

We only sell clothes and objects in very good condition”

In addition to clothing and costume jewelry, what else can we find in the store?
We sell household goods (glasses, plates, cutlery …); small decorative objects, photo frames, pictures or lamps; household linen such as sheets, blankets, towels or pillows and products for facial and body care: tweezers, scissors, nail files…

How can a person make a donation?
We ask individuals to phone us and tell us what they have. If they have a very large volume of things and see that they fit with what we need, we can send a transfer, although we always try to have them come to know our work. If the volume is small, they can bring it from 10 to 20 hours to the store. In any case, what we do ask is that they bring us things in very good condition. In the case of clothes, for example, that is washed, without balls, that is not grazed… It is important that they think about the dignity of the person who will eventually acquire it.

What clothes, objects… are the most necessary and yet you do not have it in stock?
Household clothes and adult and children’s footwear.

How many people work in the store?
In the store we work 4 people. One of them at 40 hours and two at half-time. The workshop manager works 25 hours and, of course, we count on the help of 15 weekly volunteers who work hard! In addition, we have volunteers derived from social entities and institutes; boys who don’t know what to do in their future and who with their volunteering in Botiga Solidària learn habits: teamwork, punctuality, the shop’s office… And finally there are people who have to do work for the benefit of the community. They come to the store as an alternative to jail.

Do you need more volunteers?
We always need more and they will be very welcome. Here we try to take great care of our volunteers.

In the store we do not give away anything, because choosing and buying dignifies the person”

What do you do with the money you get with the Botiga Solidària?
The Botiga Solidària project is one of the nine projects of Roure that tries to generate sufficient income to cover the direct expenses of the store. Thanks to the involvement of companies and individuals, we are managing to increase our turnover and if Botiga Solidària generates more income, it will enable more people to be served in the social canteen or in the home support project.

Botiga Solidària of the Fundació Roure:
c/ Forn de la Fonda s/n. Barcelona.
Hours: 10 am to 8 pm. Saturdays, from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 to 8 pm.
Telephone number: (00 34) 93 310 38 85

Photos provided by Fundació Roure