LIBRERÍA PAPELERÍA SANTANDER

When you think about your business, what are you most proud of?

The Papelería Santander bookshop has been open in the Aluche neighbourhood since 1968, more than 50 years. Our raison dêtre is to contribute to the social and cultural progress of our neighbourhood. We want to bring books and stationery to help people grow, create, imagine, feel and enjoy. Aluche, our neighbourhood, is our raison dêtre and that is where we have been for half a century.

What is the history of your commerce?

The Papelería Santander bookshop has been open in the Aluche neighbourhood since 1968, more than 50 years.
It began as a result of the entrepreneurial initiative of Amparo de Frutos, my mother. Amparo, mother of 6 children, built an institution in the Aluche neighbourhood. Now things have changed a lot, but at that time the Aluche neighbourhood was full of young families with many children who went to the small shops to do their shopping for school and toys. Librería Santander has been in the Aluche neighbourhood from the beginning and has seen how this neighbourhood in the south of Madrid has evolved. Right now we are still going strong, we have launched our website, and we have modernised the management of our small shop with digitalisation. Now I, Antonio, second generation, am at the helm, and with a lot of enthusiasm.

What is your professional experience?

Ive been suckling the world of shops since I was born, in addition to many years working in my own shop, Ive worked in the Abacus chain of shops, and in Espasa Calpe, in its chain of Casa del Libro shops. I have a degree in advertising and public relations, as well as some mba and other courses.
Above all, I am passionate about bookshops and stationery shops. It is not unusual that when I go on holiday I end up visiting, like someone visiting a church or a monument, the bookshops or stationery shops in the city in question.

How has covid 19 affected your business?

In the short term, it has shattered us, especially with the suspension of the Book Fair, but in the medium and long term it has helped us to change our mindset and reinvent ourselves, to get out of our comfort zone and out of a certain lethargy. We have now expanded the ways in which we relate to our clients and the services we provide.