Santoni, first half year +10.5 %: 'Our prices respect customers'.

In this era of uncertainty for the entire industry, a company that closes a six-month period with a positive sign is rare, but one capable of doing so with a two-digit increase is almost a mirage. And yet, it is +10.5% the percentage of growth recorded in the first half of the year by Santoni, the footwear company of Corridonia, in the heart of the Marche district: an important milestone in the year of its 50th anniversary, which expects to close at 133 million, up from 120 in 2024.

With an understatement that leads him to minimise, though not concealing his satisfaction, Executive Chairman Giuseppe Santoni, son of the company's founder, notes that 'a turnover can grow by 10%, 8%, 5%, but these are figures that arise from situations, market contingencies. Our results, on the other hand, come from afar, from work that has lasted 50 years. We do not have a magic formula, but a precise commitment: not to fool customers, to offer them an intelligent product with an intelligent price, with intelligent manufacturing, I would also say intelligent quality. With these values, we also ultimately express respect for the customer, who feels he has to pay not for the brand, but for the product'.

Even when using the term 'luxury', even though it is the universe to which his company belongs, Giuseppe Santoni is more than a little reserved: 'I find it a discriminatory word. We create beauty, that's different. Beauty is probably a question of culture, because to create beauty you need culture, and you don't buy culture, you have to prepare for it, you have to have worked for it, you have to have believed in it, you have to start from afar, as I was saying'.

In its half-century of life, the company has also come a long way: today exports reach 82%, with the United States the leading market with a 20% share. It is there that Santoni has invested with the relocation of the New York boutique on Madison Avenue last spring, which in the first six months of the year recorded a 45% increase in turnover. But on these figures, as on the +48% increase of the Miami shop, the shadow of tariffs hangs: 'If we continue with tariffs I am not sure we will be able to maintain this growth until the end of the year. Then there is another element that is weighing on us, namely the weakness of the dollar, which makes European products even more expensive. In short, the price differential risks reaching 30%. Making forecasts, I repeat, is difficult, but of one thing I am certain: we have worked well and are working well, to continue to do well and grow'. Like many other companies, Santoni is also looking around: 'All over the world you start with your feet, so for us the opportunities are everywhere,' he notes with a smile. 'We are present in Asia, from Japan to the south-eastern countries, less so in China. In the Middle East we are working very well. We are opening shops in Qatar, in Cairo, but also in Almaty and Tbilisi. And we are also looking with interest at Mexico and Turkey'.

Supporting the Santoni formula is also the new concept of its shops, places where the colours and sensations of the Marche are recreated, in an intimate atmosphere where the customer feels known and followed: the revenues of Santoni's direct network have grown by 46%, "but we do not leave the B2B channel," the entrepreneur emphasises. "However, even in our corners and franchises we insert people who are in contact with the customer to explain the product, creating an authentic bond with the company.