At first glance it looks like a lake, but that mirrored expanse is an area of over 160 thousand square meters, equal to 20 rugby fields, of solar panels. This image is useful for understanding the dimensions of the new Kering logistics hub in the countryside of Trecate, a town of 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Novara, presented yesterday in conjunction with the closure of the first phase of its construction: the first of the two buildings, about 60,000 sqm, has been in operation since March 2020, and the second, of over 100 thousand, will be in September. The site will be fully operational by the end of 2022, and today’s 250 employees will rise to around a thousand.
Maxi Kering investment in Italy
“It is the largest investment ever by Kering in Italy,” explains Jean-François Palus, general manager of the group. The extent of this commitment has not been revealed, but the rent must be in proportion to the 200 million with which the German group Dws bought it from Logistics Capital Partners last July, in the area that will become the largest logistics park in Italy. Italy. «Over the last ten years Kering has grown very and very quickly – adds the manager -. With this investment, we lay the foundations for our future development, in a strategic area between Milan, where our headquarters in Italy and many of our stores are located, Malpensa airport and the most important motorway in Northern Italy ».
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The site will have Leed certification, ergonomic workstations, relaxation areas, ventilation systems and optimal humidity maintenance; the surplus of energy produced by the photovoltaic panels, which with a capacity of 12.7 Megawatts form one of the largest solar roofs in Europe, will be fed into the Italian grid.
Deliveries in record time
Up to 80 million parcels will be shipped from Trecate to 80 countries and up to 20 million pieces will be stored. Thanks to intelligent automation systems, order processing times have been cut to less than three hours and delivery times halved, to the benefit of both e-store customers and the boutiques of the group’s brands. In fact, digital sales are also increasingly important for the French group, which in 2020 saw them rise by 67.5% and generate 13% of its revenues. «Even during the lockdown, thanks to very innovative tools, the shops managed to sell. This is the present. For the future I see a great second hand growth, which is why we have invested in the platform of resale Vestiaire Collective (of which Kering holds 5% of the shares, ed) “. The boom in e-commerce has led Kering to completely redesign the map of its logistics.
Also hubs in America, the Middle East, Asia
The Trecate hub has almost entirely replaced the 20 warehouses that the group had in Switzerland, which have become too small and obsolete (but some will remain active, probably dedicated to watches); at the end of 2020, the Wayne, New Jersey office was inaugurated, serving North America; The Dubai hub, dedicated to the Middle East, has been active for a few weeks, while the hub for the crucial Asian area will be located in Singapore. Italy, however, remains a country of primary strategic importance for Kering: «Indeed, it has more importance than any other – continues Palus -. We have invested heavily in manufacturing: this year in Tuscany, in Cerreto Guidi, the one dedicated to Balenciaga leather goods will open, while between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 the Atelier Maroquinerie of Saint Laurent in Scandicci will be inaugurated. So far we have invested in Italian craftsmanship, and in various regions: with the Trecate hub we will also involve other capacities, linked precisely to logistics. In the area we have chosen we will find plenty of them ».