Benvenuti, the footwear retailer created by businessman Dan Pavel in 2004, will launch a new store network in Romania this year, under Enzo Bertini brand. The new concept is set to be the third of its type developed on the domestic market, after Benvenuti and Oxus.
The first two Enzo Bertini stores will open in Bucharest and Constanta during the first months of this year. According to Benvenuti-Equipe group management, the new stores will include footwear products and leather goods from international fashion houses like Christian Lacroix, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Givenchi, Just Cavalli, G.F. Ferre, Pirelli Shoes, Pura Lopez and Laura Biagiotti.
"Enzo Bertini is a concept we've developed and the products sold under this brand are manufactured in Italy, in workshops with largely manual operations, which are carried out especially for us," stated Miruna Dumitrescu, PR manager at Benvenuti.
Benvenuti-Equipe group in the first 10 months of last year generated turnover worth 10.4 million euros and ultimately forecasts around 12.6 million euros for 2007. From turnover derived in the first 10 months, 7.2 million euros accounted for retail, namely by Benvenuti, while distribution, represented by Equipe, posted revenues worth 3.2 million euros.
In 2006, the group posted overall turnover worth 9.7m euros, with around 5.2 million euros derived from retail and the rest from distribution.
Benvenuti network currently includes 25 stores, with the latest stores opened last autumn in Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Alba Iulia, Targu-Mures and Bacau.
Besides expansion, the company's development plans for 2007 also entailed the development of the new brand, Oxus, after the first store of this type was launched in Oradea at the end of 2006. Oxus shops sell leather goods exclusively.
Benvenuti stores are generally located in malls and prime customer locations in major cities with over 100,000 inhabitants.
Eight percent of the products sold in Benvenuti stores are imported from Italy, whilst Italian firms, which manufacture the products in Romania, supply the rest. The best-selling footwear products include Fabi, Enzo Bertini, Solo Donna, Marco Santini.
One of the company's main rivals is Leonardo, which is present with several stores in Hungary and Bulgaria, however Benvenuti's strategy targets only the domestic market at present.
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