This emblematic country shop selling groceries and produce has become not only a must-visit shopping spot, but also a fundamental part of the social fabric of Santa Eulària des Riu.
As early as 10 a.m., Can Andreuet is a hive of people who stop to buy fresh ‘zero-kilometre’ fruit and vegetables, typical Ibizan food for mid-morning lunch with a drink, eggs and vegetables from the family garden, daily groceries or farm produce, but also people who come to pick up their mail at the post office box at the entrance or to pick up some butane.
The first thing you notice when you arrive is the beautiful Ibizan farmhouse that has been the home of the business since 1965, as well as the friendliness and warmth of the Ferrer family, its owners.
Throughout the morning, Mariano Ferrer Joan and Lydia Ferrer Marí, founders of this business, move back and forth, attending and lending a hand to their customers. José Antonio Ferrer Ferrer, one of the couple’s sons, does the same. He is now the second generation of the family to take over the baton of this unique business.
A country shop
Can Andreuet is one of five emblematic shops in the Ibizan municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu. It serves as a good ambassador for the island’s traditional products. Mariano Ferrer explains that they have been in the same business since the summer of 1965, when he first opened the doors of Can Andreuet together with Lydia. “This is a country shop. It is very different from the big supermarkets because we sell typical products, but also butane and animal feed”.
While we chat, the rest of the family goes about their business in the shop, but we can’t help but feel the magnetism of Lydia’s personality. She is always active, follows the interview eagerly, organises the group photo and expresses herself in a firm and affable manner.
Mariano knows that the survival of the business has been possible thanks to the work of the whole family: “If it weren’t for the family, we wouldn’t have been able to keep this business going for so long. I wouldn’t have been able to cope on my own,” he says.
“We all know each other here”
For an establishment of this kind, the clientele is just as important as the service and the products on offer. Can Andreuet is frequented almost every day by its lifelong neighbours, but it also attracts shoppers from all over Ibiza. “We add a personal touch. We provide a good service and we try to treat people well”, explains Mariano, adding: “We have customers of all kinds: lifelong neighbours, people from outside Santa Eulària, foreigners who have come to live next door. Our customers come to do their weekly shopping and we all know each other”.
We asked a customer, who was quietly observing the interview, what she liked most about Can Andreuet and she replied that she liked the family atmosphere of the Ferrer family. “I’ve had my mailbox here for ten years and the Ferrer family is always willing to help me with anything, even offering me all kinds of information about things that sometimes don’t even have to do with the shop”, she says.
We take a stroll around the shop and are fascinated by the diversity of products in Can Andreuet, as Mariano tells us that among the most popular items are Ibicencan fruit and vegetables. “We stock as many local products as we can,” he explains, as we walk past packets of handmade orelletes and flaones, spices, baskets and local beverages.
Time is ticking and Can Andreuet keeps up a steady pace. Mariano ends the interview with an optimistic phrase: “We must always look ahead and look to the future in the best possible way”.
Comerços Emblemàtics de les Illes Balears is a recognition of these traditional stores that contribute to the uniqueness of urban spaces and, ultimately, of municipalities. This project, promoted by the Directorate General for Trade of the Balearic Islands Government and the Institute for Business Innovation (IDI), is a tool for the promotion of emblematic shops, whose identification and exposure favours the rest of the local commercial sector.