Manuel Juan and Vicente Albiñana are Happyfriday

Born as a response to a search for different methods to renew the home textile sector in the province of Alicante, Happyfriday emerged in 2012 from the hand of Manuel Juan and Vicente Albiñana with their eyes fixed on the online world.

 

 

 

The sector was in decline and needed a breath of fresh air and a push in digitization, and that is where Manuel and Vicente began to bet and put all their efforts and resources.

Their goal was clear, that the Happyfriday brand would reach all of Europe through e-commerce.

Manuel Juan and Vicente Albiñana are neighbors of Cocentaina and both run Happyfriday, a brand made in Spain dedicated to the design, production and marketing of home textiles and decoration.

Back in 2011, the economic crisis hit many sectors, including the home textile and real estate sectors. Wanting to take the opportunity to stop and reflect that any economic crisis poses, Manuel -expert in the home textile and decoration sector- and Vicente -technical architect- decided to bet on their personal project: to create a brand of home textile products with current designs, and do it without any physical barrier and from their town. The sky was the limit.

 

 

Here we leave you with the interview with Manuel and Vicente, they themselves tell us how the idea came up, how were the beginnings and what are their plans for the future. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

 

1. Manuel, Happyfriday is a reflection of your concerns as a professional in the textile sector, isn't it?

Yes, I have been working in this sector for many years and I know it very well. I have traveled the world selling collections that we manufactured here in Cocentaina and in the rest of Spain, I know what I'm talking about. I know what I am talking about. But the sector was in crisis, there was no innovation in design or technology, it was stagnating and it was very difficult to change things from companies that have been doing the same thing for a long time.

The same thing for a long time. I understood that it was possible to manage in a different way, it was necessary to take risks.

And that is how, together with Vicente, we decided to take on a challenge that I had always been very excited about personally, that of having a company that would be able to offer us a new personal illusion, that of having our own brand, recognizable at a European level.

 

 

2. I imagine that there were voices against the idea.

Of course, the sector was bad and when our friends found out that our bet was going to be in the same sector, they threw their hands to their heads.

But we had faith in our idea, we had faith that we could do things differently and that we could succeed in this sector.

Betting on a 100% online brand was the first step, although at that time there were many barriers, for example, the barrier of not being able to touch the product. Even so, we went ahead confident that the proposed articles and designs we were going to offer would work.

 

3. Vicente, even though you came from another sector, you knew where to contribute your grain of sand, didn't you?

Yes, I am a technical architect by profession and I worked for 12 years in the real estate sector. When the great crisis hit, I considered my professional future and that's when I decided to join Manuel.

Right away my role was very defined in the statistical and analysis section, since Manuel has always been more focused on the creative part, market knowledge, concept development and brand evolution.

This is how Happyfriday was born in 2012, an exclusively online brand selling home textile products that moved mainly through partners such as Privalia.

 

 

4. And why did you decide to go 100% online?

Basically because of investment. We discarded retail because to undertake a new project, the physical store was a much more expensive investment than the online channel.

That's how we were born hand in hand with Privalia. The first year we moved around Spain with them very well, and in our second year of life we reached practically all European countries.

Thanks to this strategy we have had a very fast growth in the first years and now we are in a stable growth, but maintaining certain levels.

We are even grateful that the crazy growth of those early years has been regulated.We are now at a very good consolidated pace and with many future projects in mind.

 

 

5. Manuel, I understand that for you it was a big paradigm shift to go from old school to Happyfriday.

 

Of course, we knew the main differences and we wanted to do things differently, offering an innovative product, design and with a lot of emotional charge behind it.

Of course, the first barrier is that you can't touch the product, but the feedback we get from customers is that the reality exceeds the image. That is to say, when they receive the product it is of higher quality than expected, both in terms of fabric and design printing.

Gone are the years when you used to travel around cities with your suitcases full of samples.

 

 

6. Entering the online world was easy because you knew how to do it, right Vicente?

We knew what we had to do and how to do it. Among other things, the visual part, the image, the photography was the one we had to take care of the most. The online world is very visual, since you can't touch it, you have to like it to the eye. Of course, the quality has to be correct and we have several product qualities adapted to each public.

We have put a lot of effort into the quality of our products and their design, as well as the visual quality of our images. We study the composition, the design and how the image is worked.

This visual part is very important. In the end, the photograph must show the quality of the definition of the prints on the duvet covers or cushions, or the small details that the drawings ...

 

 

7. What makes Happyfriday 2012 different from the rest, Manuel?

Our initial commitment was to design. We wanted products with a lot of creativity, and in this aspect we have never skimped on resources. In fact, one of the strongest departments of the company has been the design department, where we have always bet on having a young team of professionals.

For us it is very important what we are going to sell, how we are going to sell it and what our differentiation proposal is. In our beginnings, the sector was saturated with traditional brands that made fabrics with small designs in red, blue or beige.... They repeated that pattern in various shades and we understood that something different could be done.

We were inspired by English or Australian brands that decorated a bedroom with printed duvet covers, plaids, cushions of different sizes? It was a spectacular richness and they motivated us.

Those prints combined with different cushions, and each cushion with a different print but at the same time everything was harmonious? It was marvelous. We ended up capturing what we liked so much in our collections and with our own style.

At that time duvet covers were already a reality in Spanish homes and that is and has been our star product.

 

 

8. Design is guided by specific trends and others that are perhaps more stable. How does Happyfriday continue to hit the nail on the head in this respect?

Yes, we know that design is very variable and that is why we have always been very open to trends, constantly collaborating with external teams or freelancers..

The company's team relies on inspiration that we find by traveling, visiting fairs and collaborating continuously with specialized design freelancers, and this gives us a much broader perspective.

Not only do we stick to what our team knows how to do, but we always have the window open to other inspirations that come in handy for everyone. At Happyfriday we think that collaboration with partners is absolutely enriching and necessary.

 

 

9. Manuel, and why the name Happyfriday?

Well, for several reasons, the first one is because our main objective is to make people smile, and this combination of words achieves it. From the beginning we were clear that we did not want to be a national brand, we wanted all the effort to be internationally recognized.

So we started looking for names with that vision, we wanted something simple, that had a hook, that was easy to remember and was associated with good vibes.

"Happy" evokes happiness and is internationally recognized. "Friday" gives us the beginning of the weekend, time to relax, to rest, you've finished working and it's time to take care of yourself and enjoy.

It is a very powerful brand in terms of semantics and conveys good vibes.

 

 

10. It is a brand that transmits a lot of optimism.

That's it, and that's what we want people to keep. We want to transmit happiness, the enjoyment of life and a certain aesthetic sensibility for everything we have in our home.

We would like to help turn houses into homes. It seems simple, but it is complex because turning a house into a home involves a lot of emotion and optimism.

We intend to be a source of inspiration, to create pleasant atmospheres in spaces as personal as your bedroom.

 

 

11. Vicente, you reach a lot of people, what team do you have?

Throughout these years we have been adapting to what the situation and growth has required.

Manuel and I started with the project, but in a few months we had to hire staff to shape the different departments. We were growing at a good pace.

Months and years went by and our facilities were expanding, especially in the logistics and warehousing area. This area was a challenge and we began to realize that it was taking up a lot of our time and prevented us from focusing on our true differentiation: design and customer experience.

In the end, logistics and shipping was not our field of expertise and we were wasting resources trying to improve here internally. We needed to focus on our core differentiator.

We grew to 22 employees and a 2,500-square-meter facility. For some time we have been progressively outsourcing the logistics part for what I mentioned before. There are very specialized companies in this part of the chain that do an impeccable job, very professional and totally adapted to our needs.

Today we have managed to outsource all the logistics, so we no longer have our own warehouse. This has been a great challenge from the beginning and we are very satisfied because now we can focus on what really brings us value.

 

 

12. It is important to know what differentiates us and what we need to focus on, isn't it, Manuel?

Of course, we needed to dedicate ourselves to our core business, which was designing and focusing on customer service. What differentiates us as a company is the passion with which we do things. We are a young team committed to creativity, ingenuity, the capacity for reinvention and a taste for things well done.

We work on each collection with great care and attention to detail, because we understand that our product is going to be part of your home and we want the product to be here to stay.

We want to strengthen the community of "happylovers" and for this we are on top of the whole process, from the creative proposal, to the packaging with which we present ourselves in your home, without forgetting the dedicated attention to the people who have let us into their homes. We do everything with great care.

We have more than 6000 trend references on our website and we usually have everything in stock, which allows us to deliver in less than 48 hours in Spain and in 5-7 days throughout Europe.

 

 

13. Manuel, as far as I can see, Happyfriday is a Made in Spain brand that has managed to surround itself with the necessary support to focus on the strong point that you two represent: the taste for design, knowledge of the sector and care in customer service...

Exactly.From the beginning we were clear about several points, the first was to collaborate with other partners at the production level. At that time digital printing was bursting and was much more expensive than traditional printing, and yet we knew that this was the way we had to go because our designs needed to be expressed with that richness of detail and with that vibrant tone that only digital printing could give.

We were also clear that our suppliers had to be made in Spain, I already had many contacts with printing and clothing companies in the sector and the quality of our fabrics is very good, we wanted to bet on what is ours and what is close to us.

In addition at this point the company gained in sustainability by not having to bring the goods from faraway places.

As you mentioned in Happyfriday, we carry out the process from start to finish, but always relying on our trusted suppliers.We believe that the new way of being a company is to support each other and create synergies so that everyone can focus on what they are really good at and what makes the difference.

We control the process from start to finish, relying on experts in those areas in which we should not be so present.

 

 

14. You mentioned the word sustainability. Was this aspect present in Happyfriday from the very beginning, Vicente?

Yes, from the very beginning our aim was to be as sustainable as possible.

Ninety percent of our textile collections are made in Spain, so from the beginning we were clear about it: to work locally. To support the made in Spain and contribute to sustainability.

We only use natural fibers 100% cotton and digital printing, which offers many advantages compared to traditional printing techniques, among them, a saving of water which translates into a care for the planet.

In addition, we are constantly reducing the use of plastic materials.We hope to be able to eliminate them completely very soon.

On the other hand, on the production side, we recycle the leftover scraps from the manufacturing process. We also recycle failed samples or products that have had errors. We re-knit those scraps so that we can make recycled yarn that can be reused. We try to have real nods to sustainability.

 

 

15. And to finish Vicente: proposals for the futur.

We want to become a reference brand in Home Textiles in Europe, strengthen our e-commerce and move from online to offline, distributing our product in retail, or even open our first physical store.

Happyfriday is already a brand recognized by people, especially online. It's time to go the other way around, moving from online to offline with optimism and reality.

We are very excited about this new challenge.

Happyfriday has been nominated for two MIA Alicante Brands Awards from the Mediterranean Marketing Club in the category of Digital Branding and Customer Experience. From Ocio Magazine we wish them the best of luck.

 

Reference: Ocio Magazine, https://www.ociomagazine.es/es/blog/protagonistas/manuel-juan-y-vicente-albinana-son-happy-friday