Tenda Cas Cotxer

Today, on the same corner as always, you can still find the Tenda Cas Cotxer, a unique establishment in Sa Pobla, which offers a wide variety of products. The traditional establishment sells knitwear and haberdashery items, from needles, sewing or embroidery threads to buttons, as well as fabrics for clothing and other accessories.

The business is currently run by Martí Mestre Cantarellas, who in 2005 took over from his parents, Toni Mestre Villalonga and Joana Cantarellas Mir. The Tenda Cas Cotxer is now in the hands of the third generation of a family saga that took root in Sa Pobla, coming from Alcúdia and descending from Felanitx. The first coachman present in Sa Pobla was Jaume Mestre Maura, around 1870, when he arrived with his family to work on the draining works of S’Albufera.

The grandfather of the current owner and founder of the business was Martí Mestre Crespí, grandson of the first coachman. He worked in the textile trade, first as a clerk in the well-known shop in San José, which no longer exists, and then opened his business in Calle de La Goleta in 1934. Years later, he moved to the ground floor of the building now occupied by the Casa Miss bar, in the Plaça de la Constitució.

In 1939, he opened the establishment where it is today, on the corner of Plaça de la Constitució and Carrer de El Mercat. These were difficult years, as they coincided with the times of the Civil War and the post-war period.

With the help of his wife Leonor, the volume of business and clientele grew considerably, as Cas Cotxer became a wholesaler in the sector and distributed its articles under the name La Imperial to the small shops in the town and other establishments in the villages of the region.

It was around 1986 when Martí, the current owner of Tenda Cas Cotxer, decided to continue with the family business together with his parents, at the time of his grandfather’s death. Nowadays, his daughter Joana Maria, who, after finishing her studies in fashion design, runs the clothes shop and the front dressmaking shop, collaborates with him.

The façade of the building, the structure and some elements of the interior of the shop, such as the counters and the cash desk, have been preserved.