Rocca (Damiani) takes over the majority of the Parati jewellers. And lands in the Middle East

The Damiani group is accelerating in multi-brand retail with a new company between Rocca and Damiano Parati, a family-owned company that owns ten single- and multi-brand jewellery stores in Tuscany, Umbria and Sardinia. The transaction, the value of which is not disclosed, envisages that the majority of the company will be held by the Damiani group and that the Parati family will maintain a "significant" minority stake. The Parati boutiques - located in Florence, Porto Cervo, Perugia, Siena and Arezzo - will become part of the Rocca network, bringing the total number of jewellers with this sign from 30 to 40. "We believe in local retailers," Guido Grassi Damiani, president of the group, told Il Sole 24 Ore, "and in family businesses like Damiano Parati that, over the years, have not stopped investing to improve their offerings. Our intention is to support them in the back office, with a centralised and more structured management than a retailer can have, from training to marketing'. The operation with Damiano Parati is the fourth that sees Rocca allying itself with jewellery store chains that are well rooted in a given territory: Scintille in Calabria, where a new Rocca jewellery store was opened a few days ago in Reggio Calabria; Bruno Maria Zimmitti 1858 in Sicily and Floris Coroneo in Sardinia. "Underlying all these operations is the desire to give a future to family businesses where the owners want to remain an active part of the business," says Damiani. Who portrays the group as an alternative "to the large groups and private equity funds that often want to impose their management or see economic results quickly: we do not have this interest, on the contrary. We have twenty-year joint ventures of this type'.

Retail drives growth towards 500 million revenue

Retail is one of the drivers that has enabled the Damiani Group to grow even in this critical year. After having closed the 2023/24 fiscal year in March with revenues of €340 million, in the eight months of this fiscal year that will end in March 2025 the group is registering "growth, perhaps lower than we would have liked but nonetheless important given the very critical context for luxury," says Damiani, who confirms the goal of reaching €500 million in revenues in 2027. Shops, as already mentioned, represent an important asset: "Retail is posting double-digit increases; wholesale, on the other hand, is suffering: many retailers in times of difficulty are tempted to pull the oars in the boat: they invest less, order fewer goods. The regression, then, is often accentuated by generational change. That is why we have chosen to invest in realities like ours and Damiano Parati's where the generational change has given a boost to the business'.

Between March 2024 and March 2025, Rocca has planned some 20 openings - including the Rocca Rolex boutiques in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan; Rocca Cartier at Rome Fiumicino airport; Rocca Panerai and Rocca Venini in Bologna, all recently opened - and is now looking abroad: 'Rocca is a leader in Italy and now we want to export the business. We started in Lugano and Tirana, but we will open in Saudi Arabia and South Korea. We want to grow and that is why we have never stopped with investments'. Investments that could include new deals with local retailers but also producers: 'We have several options on the table, even at an advanced stage. We are also looking at producers and brands'.