MILAN, May 30 (Class Editori) --The forecast is to open another 60 stores this year which will be added to the existing 180 stores at the end of last year. Camicissima, the Milanese company of the Candido brothers, third generation of the clothing factory created in the 30s in Palermo by their grandfather Giovanni, is riding the wave in the Chinese market in an unexpected way. In fact it took two years of grueling negotiations, between 2012 and 2013, with the Chinese partner Zhejiang Baoxiniao Garment, a giant with over 1,400 shops in China, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, to get to the closing of the contract distribution in 2014.
"But it was useful to get to know each other thoroughly," said president of Camicissima Fabio Candido. The company has more than 300 stores worldwide and reached almost 50 million in turnover in 2018 and an ebitda of 15.3%. Growth has been double-digit for some years now and the goal is to double the last turnover to 100 million euros, also with the help of the Chinese market, which now is the fastest growing market for the company.
The success in China was made possible by the virtuous combination of at least three factors: the possibility of leveraging the partner's experience to choose the Camicissima store openings, which are single-brand and marked with the name written in Italian characters; the quality of the ready-to-wear product of medium-high range and with an unmistakable Italian style; and a global supply chain that mainly exploits synergies with the markets of Southeast Asia.
With regards to the openings, the collaboration with Baoxiniaio Garment was, in addition to the first and second level cities, essential above all to identify the third and fourth tier cities, which today represent the most unexplored market by western brands and also the one with potential customers who are more careful and attracted by new brands. The data, as always in China, is staggering. The population of Chinese cities reaches 793 million people and it is estimated that by 2030 there will be 350 million people moving to urban centers.
In 2018 the cities with 1 million inhabitants were 260. 36.5% of internet users come from 130 cities of third and fourth tier, out of a population of around 160 million inhabitants. The percentage is consistently growing thanks to mobile internet connections.
"But all this would not have been enough if we had not decided to invest directly in one of our 100% subsidiary companies in the Chinese jv that manages the logistics and all the post-sales activities, including the in-store training of the sales assistants and the close monitoring of the quality of the service," explained Candido, who has so far financed the expansion in China with the resources generated by the company, where the shirt is sold at a price higher than in Italy and the rest of Europe, around 50-60 euros, against 90 euros.
To make the dimensional leap necessary also to hypothesize an opening of the capital to the stock exchange market, Candido, whose specialization is in the commercial activities, focuses on a double strategy: on the one hand the expansion to foreign markets, which can replicate in size the Chinese experience, on the other hand the attempt to aggregate smaller domestic operators who are unable to have enough financial strength to push their product onto international markets.
Among the large target countries, Candido has chosen India and Russia as his coveted markets. On the aggregations for the moment he doesn't want to commit himself, but it is quite clear that the names of the possible acquisitions have already been identified.
To make the dimensional leap necessary also to hypothesize an opening of the capital to the stock exchange market, Candido, whose specialization is in the commercial activities, focuses on a double strategy: on the one hand the expansion to foreign markets, which can replicate in size the Chinese experience, on the other hand the attempt to aggregate smaller domestic operators who are unable to have enough financial strength to push their product onto international markets.
Among the large target countries, Candido has chosen India and Russia as his coveted markets. On the aggregations for the moment he doesn't want to commit himself, but it is quite clear that the names of the possible acquisitions have already been identified.
(Source:Class Editori)
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