Yunxiao Chen
Yes, I am going to introduce a store. But I am not here to persuade you to spend money. And neither is Raima! Of course, buying things that impress you is wonderful, whereas I would like you to be a laid-back tourist, regarding this store as a scenic spot, and enjoying a visual feast.
Raima, which opened in 1986, is one of the most iconic stationery stores in Barcelona. Located in a 15th-century palace on Calle Comtal, the shop is an absolute attraction for passers-by. Customers who stumble into Raima are like Alice down the rabbit hole, dazzled by the range of goods in front of them. Especially if you like the retro feel, Raimas air will definitely take you back to the late last century. The reform and expansion of the Raima began in the year 2016 and ended two years later, in 2018.
Their roots go back a year 1979, when the founder, Núria Raja, opened Folder, a conventional and unique neighborhood stationery. Even more amazing, the building is from 1513, the year when Juan Ponce de León and his expedition become the first Europeans known to visit Florida, landing somewhere on the east coast.
The staff here may be low-key artists. Silvia is one of the shop assistants, she studied fine art before she started working in Raima. "I really enjoy my work here, feel like I am delivering happiness to people," she smiled.
From the second floor to the sixth floor, each floor seeks to convey an emotion and a feeling from the brand.
Maybe it is more appropriate to regard Raima as an art gallary.
To complement the unique infrastructure, Raima arranged the products with a very characteristic chromatic balance and classified them by plants with clearly defined environments, all different but complementary.
Raima is very selective in purchasing. "Many of our products come from small producers, " Silvia said. These individual workshops are very specialized where some of them are exclusive to supply Raima.
In addition to the fairy tale color filter of the store itself, the products sold in the store are to take care of the needs of people with various tastes or back grounds. There is a wide variety of brands in the store. In addition to a complete range of well-known European brands, there are also special display cases for well-known Japanese stationery brands such as Dragonfly Tombow and Sakura.
The artistic interest of paper art is everywhere in the shop, which complements the classical interior space of the building and creates a lively and warm atmosphere.Water pen, ball pen arranged according to color series, handmade paper art paper with various patterns, elegant and exquisite or fashionable creative office furniture supplies...... You don't feel tired walking down floor after floor.
Delicate layout manifest the collective aesthetics of individual items
The zero floor is the plant that welcome visitors. In this place, you will find traditional writing, office supplies, journals, notebooks, photo albums, board games, drawing utensils, personal accessories, and more. Everything has been carefully selected to capture you bit by bit in a wondrous universe.
Plant 1, also known as Plant Noble, combines metal industrial structures with golden frames in the Baroque style to accentuate the product.
Move on to the heart of Raima, where we spot its DNA: the paper mill. Here you can find a selection and a wide range of papers from all over the world. Nicely sourced materials from Mexico, Japan, India and many other countries, true wonders can be used in many applications such as painting, bookbinding, restoration, decoupage, fine art and colossal to name a few. According to Silvia, we can customize boxes in using of different color and size of the paper. Raima even has its own measurement: one raima is equal to 25 sheets pf paper.
A large portion of the paper is from Japan. It is a symbol of tradition, prestige and quality.
Beyond the sea of colorful paper, you will also be able to know the specialized services with care and dedication. "We will be happy to help you with the binding of notebooks and albums, to record your agenda or to give you personalized advice in the manufacture of your restaurant menu and of course, we will cut out the paper and the cardboard to the size you want." one of the staffs in the second floor told us.
In the their third floor, there we meet the plant of creativity, handicrafts, fine arts, boxes, ribbons, wrapping paper, hospitality and home decor. On this floor the vast majority of the furniture you will see has been recovered, restored and decorated by the RAIMA paper-- this is how the team giving them a second life.
Nimura Room, another name of the fourth floor, in honor of the Japanese designer who painted the wall. Nimura is a sociocultural space conceived as a meeting point for artists and creatives. A place where they can be made workshops, presentations, talks, workshops, concerts and much more. It is a multipurpose room, open, with large windows and designed to share and grow together.
Cross Nimura, we will meet the two terraces. A luxury in the center of the city of Barcelona overlooking the rooftops of Ciutat Vella. A space to take in as much air as you can and disconnect from the energetic pace and lifestyle of the city. Raima frequently host concerts, artist talks here.
Humans love beautiful things. It is somehow superficial to simply conclude that it is beauty that makes the store stand long. The more sincere answer is love. Love means devotion, persistence, and response. Raima' s founder, owners and the staff enjoy engaging in doing art, injecting their passion into the products. Then the customers and visitors are able to discover, appreciate, and utilize them-. Beauty is materialized and manifested through the two-way investment of love.
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