Atanasio is back at La Estafeta: it reopens temporarily to liquidate the stock

The mythical sports store Deportes Atanasio located on calle Estafeta in Pamplona is back after more than two years. It does so provisionally, to end the stock of all the products that were still inside the premises despite the great value of many of them.

There, all kinds of articles of all ages, genres and times are available in the purest "flea market" style in which Javier Manero, a great friend of Atanasio Echarri, has decided to take the reins at the age of 56 after a closure that saddened the most nostalgic.

The goal? 'clean' the remaining items at a good price giving the customer the chance to negotiate 'head'.

"Atanasio, who was retired at the time, and his niece, who was in charge of the store for the last few months, decided to lower the blind more than two years ago, still having a large number of unsold items in the store", explains Manero, to whom Atanasio offered to reopen the establishment due to his experience in the world of commerce to end the stock.

Business returned this week with the idea of ​​continuing on an unlimited basis. "I do not know if it will be two, three or four months, but we do not plan to bring more products or renew the stock. Of course, I cannot get into Atanasio's head, who is the owner of all this, and I do not know what he wants to do in the future with the business", he details regarding a store that opened in 1974 and brought brands that had never been seen in Navarra such as Nike, Adidas or Asics.

"I have always known Atanasio because of our connection to the confinement, for coming to buy him shoes and because he is a phenomenon, and when he proposed to reopen, I felt great. It was an incredible moment since he had also just left work ", he admits in relation to a store that he 'lost' and was passionate about when he was young.

And it is that at his age, he has been dedicated to the sale of sneakers, sportswear, hunting and technical winter clothing in sports stores for 30 years, but the empowerment of the internet and online sales have been a problem for physical premises that few have been able to cope with and many have ended up 'eating'.

TRANSVERSAL OFFER

The great variety of products is managing to attract all kinds of audiences, who come "in search of a bargain" although they sometimes have difficulties finding the right sizes. Of course, older people, not just young people, are the ones who come the most.

"Many people come who know the place because as kids we have all bought here. In the end, by selling a lot of vintage and retro clothes from the 80s and 90s and the most nostalgic adults love it," says Javier Manero, saddened by the lack of size that many people face in what they consider 'a matter of luck'.

As if it were the merchant of Venice, he runs into people who prepare packs of branded clothing with good products and negotiate with him to reach understandings and so that no one loses too much, always trying to make it easier for the customer to sell at very cheap prices.

"In the end, when you go to sports stores looking for running shoes, if you stay with the latest you will have something spectacular at 150 euros, being able to purchase the previous model, which will do the same service for 80 euros more The same thing happens here, we have high-quality things at a very good price," he says of his products.

This variety that they offer is the one that has surprised Manero, who is very experienced in the sector, the most. "By having so many garments from such different eras, I am discovering many different tastes in people. Things that I expected not to sell, like a raincoat, have vanished very quickly and others that I thought would fly are still with me at the counter," he says, pointing to some T-shirts. old football.

RETRO AND VINTAGE FOOTBALL SHIRTS

Are you nostalgic for the Spain of three decades ago? Do you want the shirt with which Luis Enrique bled after Tassotti's elbow? And what about the robbery in South Korea eight years later? Would you like to wear the albiceleste with which Maradona was proclaimed world champion in 1986? And the one from Germany with which Lothar Matthaus was voted best footballer of the year? Are you younger and did you fall in love with Guardiola's Barça football? All these collection shirts and many more can be found at the store with a base and negotiable price of 80 euros.

"These shirts are the most expensive we have. We have seen that many are auctioned and sell for hundreds of euros, so, considering that they are new and immaculate, we believe that the price is adequate for those who value these historical pieces", he comments while showing other more recent ones at a reduced price such as the shirt of the Ferrari alliance and Fernando Alonso ten years ago for lovers of Formula 1.

Looking to the future, Atanasio, the owner of the store, is not considering finding a partner with whom to continue the business, since there are people interested in the store and he is "requetely retired".

For his part, Javier Manero is looking forward to continuing to be linked to the world of business and commerce, something he has done all his life. "Now everything is like a chain in which the clerk only has to pretend, there is no one who sells you a pair of shoes anymore because he really knows every last detail and convinces you," he comments, referring to a Leo Harlem monologue that stages this new reality.

"In the store, what we are selling the best are shoes, specifically those for running. I hope that in mid-August football boots will also disappear with the start of the preseason", he concludes encouraging those who want to go to go in search of bargains and take advantage of this 'last reopening'.