Immaculate Martinez | Valencia (EFE) .- More than half a century ago, she began selling baskets and hats from Gata de Gorgos, her hometown; Twenty years later it changed to household items, decoration, gifts and management of wedding, baptism and communion lists, and at the beginning of this century it diversified its range of products with a brand known for its welcome cow, today with 6,000 references to the sale.
Vicente Grimalt is the founder of Ale-Hop and at the age of 73 he works every day in the company’s office because he does not contemplate retirement, and he helps his children to move forward in a company based in Bellreguard (Valencia) that invoices 170 million euros (in 2022), has 1,800 workers (“HOPers”, as they are called) and continues to grow with the recent opening of two own stores in Italy (Ravenna and Cesenatico).
More than 280 points of sale
With these, it will have more than 280 points of sale in Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Mexico and Italy, and a total of three logistics centers in Pedreguer, Ondara and Bellreguard, to which another one in Oliva will be added at the end of the year.
The impact of the pandemic was “a hard blow” due to the closure of the stores “from one day to the next”, which gave way to months of “a lot of work, little sleep, many meetings and very complicated decision-making”, according to to EFE Darío Grimalt, one of the founder’s sons.
The employees asked about the company’s short-term future plans, something “impossible to answer with so much uncertainty”, an unstable situation worldwide that has lasted until 2022, in which Ale-Hop has not yet been able to recover the 2019 sales at constant area.
A turnover of 170 million
Last year it closed with a turnover of 170 million euros, an increase that has been the result of increasing the number of points of sale. Since 2020, it has opened stores in Spain focused on local customers and national tourism, within a “cautious and gradual” strategy.
Among the formulas to overcome these difficult years, the company has developed new products, adjusted prices, sought process efficiency (greater digitization and cost analysis) and increased customer service training.
Grimalt, the company’s director, hopes that this year will not be worse than 2022 and assures: “Whatever comes, we will adapt and fight so that there are more and more cows spread all over the world, we are more HOPers, we have more customers and Let’s grow with our suppliers. We are very excited and eager to make a bigger and better Ale-Hop”.
From party supplies to electronics
Of the products with which he started, there are none left, and if there are, they have evolved over the seasons. Today, more than 50% of the products it sold two years ago are no longer for sale.
It invests resources in innovation, research, study of trends and application tests, applied to designs and brand identity. In the last two years, the purchasing and design department team has been strengthened, and it has an R&D room, a 2,000 m2 space dedicated to studying product implementation, the “Talent-HOP” project in collaboration with the University of Valencia or the creation of the prescription department.
It has seven product categories: parties and entertainment, children’s, stationery, fashion, home, sports and well-being, and electronics, which incorporate new items every week, up to a total of 6,000 items for sale.
Offering news and applying trends is a priority for Ale-Hop. With two large campaigns (summer and winter), there are product additions and withdrawals every week, always of the brand’s own and exclusive design.
And what is your buyer profile? A broad audience that goes to the store to look for “the perfect gift” or to enjoy the experience and that associates the brand with fun and entertainment moments, whether they are international tourists or local customers.
The customer spends on average between 8 and 13 euros, depending on the type of product offered, sales force and location of each store.
His story
In 1968, when he was very young, Grimalt started selling products typical of Gata de Gorgos (Alicante) such as baskets and hats; In 1990 he founded with two workers Clave Dénia SA, dedicated to wholesale, and shortly after the first Clave store was born for the retail sale of household items and decoration.
In 2001 he decided to change focus and created the Ale-Hop brand with the cow as a differentiating symbol, with his first store on La Paz de València street.
Today it maintains the family structure and character, and has a business council, a family council and a committee that includes the father and his sons Darío, Sergi and Raul.
Ale-Hop, a word that refers to jumping or acrobatics, is easily pronounced in any language and is an expression used internationally.
The cow was “love at first sight” for the founder, when on one of his trips he came across a display with life-size animals, including the black and white cow, which represents the brand’s colors and positive values. “We take great care of the cow and we want it to continue giving us milk!” Darío adds. EFE