Colom: The new three-storey, multi-brand shop in Palma that’s raising the bar for retail

In the heart of Palma, the doors have just opened on a new multibrand shop for men and women – and it’s one of the braver retail ventures that the city has seen in a long time. Challenged by the impact of tourism, many old-school bakeries and shops here have closed and trinket merchants have replaced them. But in the heart of the Mallorcan capital are a trio of neighbouring businesses that cater for locals and the sort of visitors who want to return home from a city saunter with something more substantial than a fridge magnet.

These are places that are helping to raise the bar when it comes to design, service and the commitment to doing retail well. Monge is a purveyor of Mallorca-made shoes; Relojería Alemana is a luxury watch and jewellery shop; they are now joined by the three-storey Colom, which takes its name from the street where they all sit, Carrer de Colom.

Colom was created by Suso Ramos – the co-founder of another fashion shop in the city, La Principal – his partner in life and work, Liticia Cerqueira, and Pablo Fuster, whose family owns the watch store. “We had been talking about opening a womenswear shop for many years – somewhere with the space to show brands,” says Cerqueira. “Suso and Pablo had lunch one day and Pablo mentioned this vacant property. Suso suggested a pop-up but Pablo said, ‘Let’s do a store.’”

Instead of just offering upscale womenswear, they decided to bring in menswear, luggage and fragrance across the 750 sq m space. To re-engineer the building, the team called on De Prada Arquitectura, whose founder, Carlos de Prada, had designed a house for Ramos and Cerqueira. Here, he inserted a black timber staircase that unites the three floors, employed local furniture-makers (Resmes) and lighting producers (Contain), and commissioned vitrines and benches from island carpenters.

The outcome is a tranquil backdrop to the collections on display. “The architecture cannot eclipse the clothing; it works like a gallery, a space where you can show the clothes,” says De Prada. He stresses that the final design was the product of a close partnership with his clients, who were keen to treat materials with respect and eliminate the use of chemical-heavy paints. “I love this profession, this island, but you need the right clients to help protect it.”

The shop’s spacious, elegant design is important for more than simply customer experience. “At La Principal, we don’t have enough space so we focus on casualwear. But here we can attract more elevated brands and give them the space to be shown well,” says Cerqueira, who is from Paris and has worked for Veja, Maison Margiela and Maison Kitsuné. In addition to Officine Générale, Barena Venezia and By Malene Birger, the shop also sells the Mews Clothing line, founded by La Principal.

Though in its infancy, Colom is already finding an audience, many of whom have a base on the island. “People are coming in and saying, ‘We really needed this,’” says Cerqueira. She is clear, however, that there’s lots of work ahead as they develop a store that’s short on pretension and high on design – a place that shows what the city could be like with fewer trinket shops.
Carrer de Colom 9, Palma