As I before have announced on the blog; Hollister opened their doors in Barcelona last week. This, along with the newly opened Apple shop, I had to go and check out. So along with many, many other people, I decided to spend my Saturday afternoon in the shopping centre, la Maquinista. (To get there, take the red metro line to Sant Andreu).
After arriving my friends and I went directly to the Hollister shop. There, as much expected, two nice looking guys, only wearing red surfer shorts and sunscreen on their noses were standing in the entrance. As we entered, they greeted us with a "Hey, what's up?" with a well studied American accent (not entirely hiding the fact that they were Spanish though).
(unknown girls on the picture)
The shop was darkly lit with a TV screen in the back with a beach and very crowded. I started to search around for the guys who in an American shop just would stand around to say Hi and look good, but to my disappointment all the sales assistants were actually busy selling, and not all of them were that good looking.
I am not really a fan of the clothes, nevertheless, I had a look. The clothes were quite basic, some of it okay, but I would never buy anything in there because of the prices. 40 euros for a normal cardigan and over 20 euros for a basic t-shirt! Yes, sex sells but not to that extent!
Anyways, that was my opinion. A lot of people seemed not to share it as there were long lines by the dressers and by the till. Some of my friends tried to buy some clothes, but after waiting for 20 minutes to try the clothes on and then an additional 15 minutes in the queue without moving one meter, they gave up. So my advice would be, don't visit the shop on weekends!
I also visited the newly opened Apple store. The shop was nice and huge and looked exactly like any Apple shop you would find in the States. The only thing I can say about the shop is that I think it is a shame it is not in the centre of the city.
'From this experience I can only say that I probably won't be taking the trip to La Maquinista before/if Forever 21 opens there.
Super shopper here wearing a cardigan she bought in Shana for 6,99€
She also bought a necklace for 2,99€ and earrings for 1,99€.
Also a top for 3,99€
On the opening night the entrance looked like this - as the typical blue box from Tiffany & Co. The guest list included the President of the company and one of their most important designers. Also many locally famous people attended such as Ricardo Bofill and Carmen Lomana.
The entrance is beautiful and already when you enter the door you will find an island with sparkling jewellery displayed. Unfortunately the price tags are not displayed along with them. I know it can be a bit intimidating visiting a store like this, but I had a trully nice experience entering the shop. Smiling people greeting me on my way in and out and the shop assistants immediately asked me if I needed any help - the kind of customer service you rarely find in Spain (and in other shops on Psg.de Gracia for that matter).
(unknown girls on the picture)
'
Black shirt from H&M - 10 euros (75 kr.)
Just to have a little something in navy - short sleeved blazer. Discounted from 30 euros to 15 euros.
Black boots from Stradivarius (another of the shops from the Zara clothing empire, Inditex) - they were 40 euros (300 kr.). Simple black boots that will go with most things, a must have in my fall-winter wardrobe.
Okay, so this goes on my wall and not in my closet.. I got big white walls in my apartment, so I decided to buy a clock to fill out some of the space on my living room wall. I got the clock from Casa viva for 35 euros. The great thing about it is that you put the numbers where you want, which means that you decide which size it gets. We arranged it to have 1 meter in diameter, and the result is big and nice.
Black leather gloves - 8 euros (60 kr.).
Black ankle boots, 8 euros (60 kr.)
Grey skirt with with straps. On sale, the label said 3 euros but at the till I only paid 1 euro!
