A lot of great businesses had a fair lick of luck thrown into their path. There is a tangible and veritable amount of sheer luck that is absolutely necessary to the building of empires. Luck, however, favours the strong. And the Gaucis never shied away from old fashioned hard work.
Eugenio Gauci is affectionately called Gigi by those close to him. He comes from a family of 15 siblings who are today still contributing substantially to Malta’s economy. This famed, almost fabled, line of Maltese entrepreneurship started off in the 1950s, from a 16m2 shop in Main Street, Birkirkara.
Design & Build has interviewed Eugenio Gauci to present to its readers the glorious history behind the Big Ben Interiors name.
Growth for the Gauci family continued in various directions over the coming years, including setting up the “Abbanderado” factory; also a family venture. Originally known as “Ta l-Ewropa”, up to that point, all their business ventures were, in one way of another, a collective family businesses, involving everyone. Yet in the late Eighties, Gigi and his other brothers felt that as the family was swiftly expanding, with their own children becoming involved in the business too, it was time to leverage this renewed familial vigour, and take the step to branch out into their different ventures; always supported by their own direct family.
Their father the late Carmelo Gauci was a regular traveller to the UK, both for medical reasons to support his family, as well as for business purposes. The Big Ben tower was clearly visible from his staying points and as these experiences formed such an integral part of his being, he was inspired to so name the business. That was over 60 years ago! Their father passed away 47 years ago, but not before having organised, and foreseen, the groundings beneath the family’s businesses.
After their father had passed away, the original family business was guided by one of the elder brothers “until we dispersed into various companies, as we are today. On my part we decided to concentrate on the textile side of the business and that is how Big Ben Interiors came into being.” Eugenio and his brother Clement had thus started expanding into textiles by taking on a second outlet nearby; with his brother mainly concentrating on school uniforms and similar apparel. “Big Ben” quickly became well-known all-over Malta, for its specialisation in supplying all sorts of textiles, and other home furnishings too.
He recalls that in the early sixties there was already quite a demand from everyone for their products and textiles. “Our outlets were very much in demand,” he proudly recalled. One such example is that when they had opened their first outlet in Gozo, “on the first day we had already had long queues of customers waiting outside!”
we would jump on the opportunity and go for the sale even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn
THE EARLY DAYS
“When we originally started up, as a family business, meaning all of us brothers together, we would do all the work required ourselves. We had no employees at that time. So, if there was an enquiry for a bale of cloth we would jump on the opportunity and go for the sale even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn! And luckily for us we had many such calls, even at, say, 2.30 in the morning! And oh, despite the early calls we had to continue working till about 9pm too!” Eugenio added, with nostalgia and pride clearly welling in his eyes.
The veteran entrepreneur continued his memories adding that he was about 15 years old in those early days and therefore full of energy and could take this kind of pressure. “They were difficult days but we managed.”
“Some 30 years ago we became well known for also supplying materials for women’s clothing. In those days seamstresses were very popular so we had many female clients who made their own clothes or had them made for them.
The process was simple – find a picture in a magazine of a dress one liked, purchase enough material to make it and then off you go to the dress maker to have it done to size!” he explained.
The market absolutely loved it, and the rest is history
As times changed, they started to concentrate more and more on curtaining and carpeting; and particularly so on fitted carpeting. At that point, Big Ben Interiors was compelled to expand its premises “in order to be able to accommodate our growing staff and to be able to properly exhibit our engorged portfolio of products and service provisions.”
Thus, in 1986, the present centre in Naxxar Road, Birkirkara became the company’s main operational outlet centre. This move was crucial to their further expansion into other cities and towns, such as their showroom in Valley Road, Msida, which was specifically for carpet exhibits and sales.
“The local adage “kull deni hudu b’gid” (meaning ‘Regard all bad things positively’) rings true for our start in carpeting,” Eugenio mischievously said. “We had made a sample purchase from overseas to try things out. And when this order of carpeting arrived, it was entirely in the same colour – bright violet!” Not sure how to proceed, Eugenio called their suppliers who subsequently apologised for a mix up in their order processing, giving it for free. The market absolutely loved it, and the rest is history.
Eugenio readily admits that they were also lucky in having had excellent employees for this new branch of their work from their get-go. “Our people were very precise, always erring on the side of caution and favouring our customers; constantly caring for client and company alike.” Sales shot up immediately and kept doing so constantly. This necessitated Big Ben Interiors having to enhance their logistical capabilities and expertise.
we have our own in-house interior designers who meet with the clients on site
MADE TO MEASURE CURTAINS
Big Ben Interiors then set up their own curtaining cut-to-fit services. Customers would visit the Showroom to choose the materials and colours from the copious and diverse ranges they held in stock, This would be followed with an on-site visit for precision measurements and subsequent finishing and installation as per the request. “Today we have our own in-house interior designers who meet with the clients on site and are available to guide both our residential and commercial clients on how to best make properties into homes, offices, welcoming hotel rooms, and so forth. This includes all the materials, sewing, and the supply and installation of the necessary rails.” A full service indeed.
As society’s tastes changed, so did Big Ben Interiors. As carpeting lost its glamour, the company strode ahead with parquet flooring and loose rugs. “And we always gave the same personal attention – decade after decade- as we did when we had first opened our doors.”
Their appetite to serve and grow led to the introduction of furniture and furnishings as well as to the supply of kitchens. This gave birth to “Idea Casa” which eventually was taken over by Clement in 1999 and Eugenio continued running Big Ben on his own. This came after a number of meetings and putting their heads together to decide on a formula. But he always believed in being fair in his business dealings such that “we didn’t look at the balance sheet but at where our hearts lay.” Thus, the Clement-Eugenio tandem parted ways and Eugenio is the pillar sustaining the Big Ben Interiors institution we now know.
SHUTTERS, ROLLER, AND ZEBRA BLINDS
Their latest, and surely not last, addition to their product portfolio is the manufacture, supply, and installation of blinds. “Our blinds are of the highest quality, with great prices, as is our mantra of serving our clients. They’re tailored to suit Malta’s very own climatic and design needs,” Eugenio proudly tells us.
This Showroom presents its clients with a vast range of made-to-measure Blinds such as Zebra blinds, roller blinds and Roman blinds. As Eugenio explains, Big Ben Interior’s Showroom has a vast range of beautiful and modern light-blocking elements, which come in a wide selection of materials, sizes, styles and types. They are good for all manners and types of installations.”
Big Ben Interiors also supply custom fittings and tailor-made blinds depending on the size of the apertures in question, and the nature of the
design and environment. This makes them ideal to embellish any room in any home, office, hotel alike.
Our blinds are of the highest quality, with great prices, as is our mantra of serving our clients
Eugenio Gauci, the pillar sustaining the Big Ben Interiors institution we now know, has ascertained that the familial mantra of offering great products at great prices, accompanied by highly experienced and professional installations remained true. It is evident that Big Ben Interiors’ seamless passage of decades stems from a fair dose of luck, sheer grit, a will to work hard, a finely tuned sixth sense for market change, and the boldness to succumb willingly to it.
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