Meet Gordoboy, a former Carnival street vendor who opened a nightclub in Barra Funda, in SP

Every weekend seems more festive on Rua Vitorino Carmilo, in Barra Funda, since this year’s pre-Carnival in São Paulo. The block, which concentrates the busiest bars in the western region —such as Trago, Bandeira Bandeira and Dali Daqui— gained, in March, a ballad that brings together hundreds of people inside and outside it.

What’s new is Ponto G, which occupies a shed without frills, as they tend to be part of the spaces that have become a sensation in São Paulo, such as Funilaria and Mercadinho do Lasanha, for example. The address is decorated with graffiti on the side walls and mirrors on the back wall — it is in front of them that samba circles and DJs play, from Friday to Sunday, for groups of up to 300 people.

At the front of the house is a character who became known selling drinks at Carnival blocks and street parties. One of the ways Anderson Ferreira, 38, differentiated himself from other professionals was an improvised uniform that ended up becoming a trademark — a black apron with no shirt underneath, a bow tie and sunglasses. Since 2014, the nickname he chose to accompany this costume was Gordoboy, the name by which the G Spot is also called.

“When Carnival ended and I went back to selling at Praça Roosevelt and Rua Maria Antônia, people kept asking about Gordoboy. At first I didn’t like working in costume, but without that I would be just one more with the same products as everyone else. From then on, I promised that I would only go out to work that way”, says Ferreira.

Ferreira, who was born in Cangaíba, on the east side of São Paulo, moved to the center ten years ago with a background that included cooking and entrepreneurship courses that helped him in his endeavors. Until the inauguration of Ponto G, he even sold barbecue, opened a bar and created an Arab food spot. The experiences have always intersected with work as a street vendor, which he started to supplement his income.

“My differential has always been to identify places that were about to grow. I was one of the first to sell in the new Roosevelt, then in front of Mackenzie, and in Parque Augusta. In Maria Antônia I started alone and, in the end, I already had four carts of people who worked with me”, he says.

Ferreira expanded his clientele by betting on promotions, issuing badges, sanitizing products and helping to reduce damage — it was common to see him giving bottles of water to customers who passed the point.

All of this, he recalls, was enhanced by an expansion of street culture that intensified around ten years ago in the city. “The figure of Gordoboy was born together with collectives that became big, such as Pilantrangi, Festa Mel, Blum. This helped me to strengthen the relationship with bar owners and street parties”.

The partnership with producers and customers made him earn between R$ 5 and R$ 10 thousand reais on some nights and employ around 30 other street vendors over the years.

A month before the start of the pandemic in 2020, however, Ferreira had styrofoam, carts, card machine and umbrella stolen. At this time, he claims to have spent ten months without being able to pay rent, received eviction notices and had to ask for loans. When the pandemic ended its critical phase, he went back to work with a small Styrofoam. That’s when he remembered that, once, a friend suggested that he open a bar.

“I made my business plan, spent four more months without paying rent to save the money, took what I got from sales in the election and put it all together. , buying construction material on credit. It was crazy,” he says.

On February 11, the Charanga block from França inaugurated the new Gordoboy point with the musicians dressed in aprons and bow ties. The following day, Ponto G served as a dispersion for the Bloco Feminista and from then on became the “after” of the blocks in the central region of the city. Today, it still receives people who gather in the bars of the disputed Sousa Lima, which is on the corner, and who are looking for a place to dance.

But Gordoboy intends to transform the house into more than a ballad and give the space free of charge for interventions, workshops and lectures. “I want to give DJ classes to the kids, have a presentation by Charanguinha do França with a ball pool. I want it to be a cultural space to educate and insert as well”, he says.