DF Sport Specialist, after Lissone starts

Three new projects for Sergio Longoni, founder and president of DF Sport Specialist, a chain with a network of 18 shops selling sports articles, technical-sports clothing and bicycles concentrated in Lombardy. After the inauguration of the mega-store in Lissone, the Brianza entrepreneur has decided to launch an investment plan to renovate a number of shops. Work will be carried out on the historic shop in Bevera, on the border with Barzanò, in the province of Lecco, the reopening by the end of August of the Desenzano shop, which was seriously damaged by a fire in 2023, and the opening of a new shop in Cesano Boscone by October, which will have a surface area of 2,500 square metres.

"Stores quickly become obsolete and require frequent renovations. At the moment, we are already working on the renovation of the existing shops, with particular attention to the Bevera shop, where it all began," says Longoni, who leads a group that had a turnover of around one hundred million in 2023. We have a project for an initial intervention and hope to expand it further, because the shop deserves to be renovated. The plan is to add a hall of over 1,200 square metres'.

The most important operation in recent years concerns the 'Palazzo dello Sport' project, which was realised after a major renovation in what was once the Palazzo del Mobile in Lissone, Brianza. Mid-April saw the inauguration of the megastore, the result of an investment initially estimated at a dozen million. The building, which at the time had been abandoned for some five years, was visited by Sergio Longoni together with his daughter Daniela in 2019. On this occasion the embryo of the project was born because the area "considering the potential already demonstrated by the commercial results of the existing shop deserved more," the founder recounts. Despite the expected challenges, we thus decided to proceed with the purchase, motivated also by the desire to have a larger sales area, 3,500 square metres, which none of our shops had ever had before'. Once the real estate deal worth around 4.2 million was completed, renovation work began, which involved a radical relocation of the interior space in which 54 employees now work, while around 100,000 articles are sold in the sales area.

"In the sports sector, we are considered a true benchmark for sporting goods, engaged in the authentic sale of products for physical activity,' Longoni continues. 'This is a source of great pride for us, but it also brings with it challenges, as the sale of sporting goods is a demanding business. Consequently, we have developed a distinctive visibility to differentiate ourselves from others in the market. With the opening of this new shop, we have thus gained unique visibility for our products.

As for 2024, the company expects a significant increase in revenues also thanks to new openings, while the daughters Daniela and Francesca, whose initials were used for the chain's name, are respectively DF Sport Specialist general manager and manager as well as founder of Blufrida, a brand and shop that is part of the group. "Courage and recklessness: these are the two words that have guided our path in this adventure, especially in such uncertain times," the founder continues. "But you know, every great goal has to overcome difficulties and obstacles. This makes us realise that dreaming is always a good thing, but working hard to realise dreams is the true salt of life'.