For Blauer new openings in Bari, Naples and Sicily. For Fgf group revenues in line with 2023

"In the last months of 2024 we performed above expectations: we will close with revenues in line with last year, at around EUR 89 million, including footwear licences. We have always responded to difficult economic times by increasing investments and thinking about new opportunities'. The moment is complicated, but Enzo Fusco, president and patron of Fgf Industry, the Montegalda (Vicenza) group to which the Blauer (worth about 75% of revenues), Blauer Junior and Ten C brands belong, does not hide his satisfaction.

Also linked to the fact that the company has never stopped investing: in retail, with two shops opened in Verona and Turin, for example. "They are giving us positive, almost unexpected results. Despite the complex economic period, despite the fact that there are two wars going on very close to us, the retail formula continues to make a difference and confirms to us that we have followed the right path, with a view not only to increasing sales but also to strengthening our brand identity: some customers in the cities where we have opened did not even know that we make a total look".

There are currently eight Blauer shops in Italy (Milan, Rome, Genoa Cortina d'Ampezzo, Turin, Verona, Olbia, Puntaldia), in addition to the factory outlet in Montegalda, and two in the Czech Republic. There are new openings already on the calendar: 'Between June and July we will open in Bari, while we are in negotiations for a space in Naples and to open a shop in Sicily, probably in Palermo'.

What counts, according to Fusco, who is supported in the company by his daughter Federica, who is head of marketing, 'is the product. We have managed to maintain a very good price/quality ratio, despite the increase in costs both of materials - feather has increased by 20 per cent - and of transport: since the cargo passage in the Red Sea has been blocked, delivery times and costs have increased. However, we have decided to give up part of our profit for the benefit of our customers, the retailers (the brand has 1,500 multi-brand shops between Italy and Europe, ed.), and the end consumers'.

While most of Blauer's sales (about 65%) are concentrated in Italy, abroad is a horizon on which the company is increasingly focusing: 'We are currently doing well in Germany, Spain and Portugal. We have recently started selling in the United Kingdom, where the results are encouraging, and the same goes for Eastern Europe: we have positive feedback from Poland and the Czech Republic,' comments Fusco. 'We have hired new sales managers, with a view to progressively increasing the export share of turnover over the next few years'. In our sights, the Middle Eastern markets - which are also performing well in the luxury sector at the moment - and South Korea, where Fgf Industry is already present with Ten C.