Elèctrica Nicolau

Antoni Nicolau Colom, the current owner of Elèctrica Nicolau, after studying and obtaining a degree in electronics, decided to follow in the footsteps of his parents and grandparents in running the business, which they had built up and maintained with so much effort.

His grandfather, Antoni Nicolau Julià, born in Ses Salines and son of a blacksmith from Porreres, was an enterprising man who first tried his luck with different businesses.

One day in 1958, he was strolling around Palma with his wife Francisca Truyol Ventayol and they entered Radio Borne, in Sant Miquel street. They approached the manager of the establishment about the opportunity to open a branch of his shop in Alcúdia. They immediately reached an agreement and renovated the Truyol family house in Carrer de En Serra, which is already recorded in the Alcúdia Town Hall archives as having belonged to the family since 1847. The refurbishment consisted in building a large counter on the main façade, with a modern aesthetic, and the shop was equipped with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Eléctrica Nicolau was inaugurated on Sant Antoni’s day in 1959 and the whole town attended. His grandmother Francisca became involved from the very first moment and she dispatched every day behind the counter. At that time, what was sold in the shop were iceboxes, petrol cookers, lanterns, batteries, lamps, wall lights, light bulbs, electrical equipment, radios, vinyl records, record players, prams… and many other items that today’s youngsters have probably never seen.

The father, Nicolau Truyol, who was 14 years old at the time, turned the shop into a space for experimenting and learning with electrical appliances. It was a time when all kinds of new products were being launched on the market, in addition to the revolutionary television. Those were the best years of the business.

 In 1969 Nicolau married Maria Victòria Colom Bibiloni, who, while raising three children, began to work in the shop. The couple became so integrated that they have dedicated their whole working life to the business.

In the mid-70s, they decided to move to larger premises in the Plaza de la Constitució, and after about 15 years, for reasons of mobility and space, they transferred the shop to its current location in Calle de Es Moll. Although the current economic situation, the constant changes and the unknown challenges do not make it easy, at Elèctrica Nicolau they open their doors every day, and they hope to continue doing so for many years to come.