Quico

(born 1942)

Still a small kid, Quico already helped in renting rooms. Like his mother - Irene – he also addressed the tourists, so he could bring home some extra income.

Only 16 years old, Quico opened his grocery store at number 19 of Avenida Nova da Nazaré - today called Avenida de Olivença. Quico started working some years earlier, as an apprentice in the shop of Mr. Júlio Estrelinha. Grandmother Irene soon decided he would not go to sea, to save him from the great hardness and unpredictability of the fishermen’s life.

The store that Quico opened in 1958 thrived over the years. Simultaneously, Quico also worked as a driver for the local cooperative of retailers. In the few free time he had left, Quico served as a volunteer in the local fire department, also as a driver.

Then, Quico gets to know Carolina, a young girl from the neighbouring village of Pederneira. They married in 1971 and a year later the first son is born - Nelson. Fourteen months later, here comes the second child: Celia. Fifteen years later it will be Vanessa, the third and last child.

Throughout the 1970s, Quico cherished the dream of having a larger store with self-service, as the supermarkets that were opening in major cities. Quico saved and made concrete plans to build a small supermarket. In the early 1980, Quico builds his house and his new shop, with all the family savings. In 1984, the dream becomes reality and Quico opens the doors of his small supermarket at number 13 of Avenida Olivença, next to his grocery store

In the 1980s and 1990s, supermercado Quico was one of the leading retail stores in Nazaré. The whole family helped in the store: from the older to the youngest. These were years of hard work, but also very happy ones.

With the decrease of the retail business was necessary to look for other alternatives. Investment in local accommodation was the next step. So in 2000, the Apartmentos Quico were inaugurated, in the same place where more than 40 years ago Quico had opened his small grocery store.

Ten years later would be the time to recover another building in the possession of the family, located at one of the main streets of Nazaré, more precisely Rua Adrião Batalha - also known as Rua Augusta. This building now goes by the name of Casa Irene (before Augusta Apartments 109), in tribute to our grandmother Irene. In 2012 , the reconstruction of the old family home in Bairro dos Pescadores was completed: this house keeps the name by which it was known - Casa do Joaquim da Praia.

Having begun his business almost 60 years ago, Quico is already enthusiastic for his next projects...