Barça open first store abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia

Barcelona inaugurated their first store abroad at the weekend in Georgia's capital Tbilisi as part of their business expansion.

The 'Barça Store Georgia,' located in the historic centre, opened its doors on Saturday and will be operated under license.

"We are delighted to open 'Barça Store Georgia' in Tbilisi and offer Georgian fans a unique opportunity to feel even closer to the club they passionately support," Georgian businessman David Zakariadze, the driving force of the project, said.

"Our goal is to create a special environment where every fan can truly experience the 'Blaugrana spirit.'"

Zakariadze, a big fan of Barça since childhood, worked on this project for three years.

"The most difficult thing was to convince FC Barcelona of how attractive the Georgian market is," Zakariadze told EFE as reported in Infobae.

"Fortunately, they believed me. We conducted a market study, and now we can be proud of the implementation of the idea."

The Catalan club will open two further stores this week in Spain, one in Malaga and one at Palma de Mallorca airport, thus, owning 15 shops outright with six others operated under license.