Promos relaunches Barberino Outlet. Target 4 million visitors

New management, new brand and new goals for the Barberino del Mugello outlet, along the A1 between Bologna and Florence, since 1 July entrusted to the care of the Promos company owned by the Maffioli family from Brescia, leader in the Italian market with 25% of outlet surfaces and six structures, for a total of 750 shops (in addition to Barberino: Valmontone, Brugnato 5Terre, Città Sant'Angelo, Mondovicino, Center Brenner).

Promos has won a European tender called by the owner - the real estate fund of the asset manager Dws - and succeeds McArthurGlen, which has managed the Barberino outlet since its inception (in 2006), covering an area of 27 thousand square metres, with 130 fashion shops, almost 1,000 employees, and 2.5 million visitors a year. Now the Brescian company is aiming at re-launching it: "Our approach is family-oriented," explained Filippo Maffioli, CEO of Promos, presenting the operation, "and focuses on respect for people and the territory. We want to grow the Barberino outlet starting from these values'.

The development project, thanks to which Promos outbid a dozen competitors, envisages the creation of an area dedicated to catering (a food court of 2,000 square metres, which will host a dozen signs); a 2,000 square metre events area, dedicated to concerts and events; and a 3,000 square metre extension of the shops, which will add some thirty fashion brands in the premium segment to the offer, plus a multi-storey car park with 200 parking spaces. "The Dws fund will invest about twenty million euro," Maffioli explained, "to enlarge the 7,000 m2 outlet on land it already owns, just as it already owns the business licence. For the rest, we will have to start the dialogue with the municipality'.

Promos is convinced that the Barberino outlet has untapped potential: 'We want to attract more customers from Florence and Bologna and more tourists,' added the CEO, 'thanks to the improvement of the offer, with more premium brands, the opening of restaurants, and the strengthening of concerts. Today's outlets need to change: no longer just fashion shops, but places with spaces for socialising, services, synergies with the territory. In this way, and if we work well, I believe that the Barberino outlet can reach between 3.5 and 4 million visitors'.

As a first move, Promos made the rebranding (it will simply be called Barberino outlet) and, together with Dws, met with outlet operators, store managers and shop assistants, to explain the plans. The Brescia-based company, which in addition to its six outlets in Italy also manages six shopping centres covering over 290,000 square metres and 900 shops, had a turnover of 18 million euro with 130 employees in 2023, and plans to exceed 20 million this year. The next goal, to be realised in 2025, is to land abroad, in Europe, with the acquisition of an outlet.