Remember when the generic word for a pair of suede shoes was Hush Puppies, in the same way that a vacuum flask was known as a Thermos?

Perhaps those days have gone and, although the brand is still around, it no longer enjoys the degree of common currency that it once had. At the Diagonal Mar mall in Barcelona – Catalonia’s largest shopping centre – the brand faithful can still find a store that is a homage to Hush Puppies. This recently opened small shop has everything about it that first gave the brand its character when it first appeared out of the US in 1958.

From the backwall graphic featuring an image of a basset hound, to the no-nonsense, what-you-see-is-what-you-get appearance of the stock, this is an attempt to rekindle a brand that seemed to have disappeared from the popular consciousness. It is a relatively small offer and the shopfit is not high budget – even the logo on the in-mall fascia isn’t fancy, but it does succeed in capturing the Hush Puppies ethos.

In terms of the offer, the brand has moved beyond its soft-shoe-shuffle origins and now comprises a range of casual options – even displaying felt slippers with the Hush Puppies logo emblazoned across them.

Spanish shoppers may not be overly familiar with the name and it is curious that it has been thought worthwhile to open a shop that trades in a single brand of this kind, but this shop may represent the first stirrings of a renaissance for a footwear icon.