In 2021, Jesus Arevalo brought Aritco to the Spanish market. His father and, eventually, brother joined him in this exciting new venture. We spoke with Jesus as he reflected on the value of running a family business and what’s next for the Iberian market.
November 29th, 2023
Aritco Spain: A Family Affair
Aritco Spain is a family-run business with a father and two sons guiding its success in Spain and beyond.
What motivated you to start Aritco Spain?
I have been working in the home lift industry since 2012. I had always been on the commercial side both nationally and internationally for various home lift manufacturers. In 2021, I decided to change, set up my own company and bring the Aritco brand to Spain.
In Spain, the commercial sector is very well established. With lots of tall buildings, we have one of the highest rates of lifts per capita in the world. But now, the domestic sector in general is an incipient market. People are getting older, and my parents’ generation (born in the 50s and 60s) is starting to consider putting an elevator in their homes.
What I saw with previous companies is that people were spending a lot of money on products that weren’t that good. And I knew that Aritco had the same price level but a much better product
Aritco has always been a benchmark in the market for its innovative products. But in Spain, Aritco had little presence. There was clearly a gap in the market for a designer, high-quality product that really delivered what it promised. A versatile product with a careful design, and low noise that was safe and reliable.
And how did Aritco Spain become a family business?
My father was always a businessman. He had a small business – an appliance store that also provides home renovation, kitchen and bathroom furniture. Since I was little, I always wanted to be like my father and have my own company.
When I started working in the world of elevators, I regularly consulted him about what commercial strategies to develop and asked for his advice. He has always been a wise advisor in my life, both personal and professional.
I was tired of my old job and wanted to do something for myself. At that moment, we started to work to develop the Aritco brand in Spain.
At first, it was my father and I who started the business in mid-2021. In November 2022, my youngest brother Javier officially joined, although he was in the shadows from the beginning helping with the business plan. Right now, my father is on the board, and my brother Javier is Chief Operating Officer, which includes technical support, training, logistics and one of the most important departments – installations. I am in charge of the management of the company. We are still a small company, around 14 people right now, and we all often have to wear different hats.
What are the advantages of working with family for you and your customers?
The main advantage of working with family is the confidence that they will give 1000%, and that in the end translates into better service for our clients. Even though my brother and my father are there, the entire team we have at Aritco Spain is like a family. Their level of involvement is well above average, and many treat the company as if it were their own.
There is a real family feeling.
And now the other side of the coin… what are the challenges when working with family?
The biggest disadvantage is that we never disconnect. Even if we are on holiday together, we are always talking about lifts. Our wives, my mother, they all now know a lot about lifts. More than they want to.
Aritco has recently expanded into Portugal, can you tell us more about this new venture?
The first two years in Spain have been extraordinary, so Aritco Sweden asked us if we also wanted to address the Portuguese market where we saw a lot of potential. The Portuguese market is very close, so we decided to approach it with the structure we used and the experience acquired in Spain.
Our company is in the capital, Lisbon, and we already have partners in major cities such as Lisbon and Porto.
What new projects are on the horizon for Aritco Spain and Portugal?
Our growth is very fast. This forces us to be in constant movement, evolving, improving our processes, and training the team. In the last year, we have doubled our employees from seven to fourteen.
Our goal this year is to establish ourselves as the market leader in home elevators in Spain. To achieve this, we have reinforced our sales team, and we have opened four new showrooms during 2023 in Barcelona, Mallorca and two in Marbella.
In addition to our first showroom in Lisbon, in 2024, we want to open offices in the Algarve and Porto so that we have a presence in every part of the country. We have a lot of work left to do.
