Les Mercedes, a cooperative of civic, sustainable and inclusive delivery service for the neighborhoods of Barcelona
Coinciding with the Sustainable Mobility Week, we are very happy to present our new collaboration with Les Mercedes a cooperative of civic, sustainable and inclusive delivery service for the neighborhoods of Barcelona.
Covid-19 has forced many businesses, especially in the tourism sector, to reinvent themselves, adapt and face these times of pandemic. This is how Les Mercedes was born: a group of women who were able to reinvent a bicycle tour company in Barcelona into a cooperative of sustainable, civic and inclusive delivery service.
We have talked with Ariadna Serra, co-founder member and spokesperson of Les Mercedes Barcelona.
What do you want the residents of Barcelona neighborhoods to see when they notice a Mercedes passing by on a bike?
A: A different kind of delivery service, where the human touch is the most important thing. We understand the logistics of this kind of service from a very personal approach. We don’t just carry packages from one side to the other, but we are messengers in the broadest sense. We make deliveries and shipments completely personalized as for example surprise gifts, shop purchases or administrative tasks. We support and look for collaborations with neighborhood businesses and local producers that promote social and ecological values. We want to be part of the change and make together a greener and more livable city.
After this first year on wheels, what do Les Mercedes need? More “Mercedes”? More neighbors using your services? More bikes? Ask us!
A: We need everything! Very soon we will need to hire another Mercedes to the team and also to buy and electrify a new cargo bike. It has been a project that has started without funding and now thanks to the help of Barcelona Activa and the city council we will have more resources both technological and vehicles. Even so, we need to make the project better known to the neighborhoods and companies which want to be part of a mission like ours.
By the way, why Les Mercedes?!
A: We were looking for a name of a strong and courageous woman, a reference. The grandmother of one of us was a woman from Girona who in the 50’s was already riding her bicycle to work in the countryside.
On the other hand, the patroness of Mercedes (Mercè) gives the name to the main celebration of our city of Barcelona… and “mercè” also means “thank you” in Catalan!
And we like to put the Les at the beginning of the name to emphasize that we are a local company, although we have a team of Catalan, French and Argentinean members. Also with the Les, femine article, we want to highlight the inclusive language because we are a project open to anyone and we seek to break gender stereotypes in a sector as masculinized as that of delivery service.
Here at yök we encourage you to use this messaging/delivery service! For a greener city, to promote the local social fabric and local companies and to generate inclusive jobs.
We already use them, as we buy bulk and organic cleaning products from El Safareig and let it be delivered by Les Mercedes!
In addition, we have some more news for you! Now yök guests will be able to rent bikes from Les Mercedes to discover Barcelona pedaling at their own pace, or also in the company of Barcelona Plan·it, biking or walking, guided by Sandro, who is also our Front of House.
For much more bike pedalling to come!