In the year 2020 marked by the pandemic, one of the most difficult things for a fashion company struggling with the need to adapt its business to anti-Covid regulations, to reduce costs, to protect employees and suppliers, was to looking at development trying to capture new customers.
Amish: the complementary emergent
Roy Roger’s, historic denim brand that has long evolved into a total look, did so by acquiring a small emerging brand, the Venetian Amish, also focused on denim but with a more streetwear cut, which has a young target and is distributed in Italy in high-end stores. The bet of the Bacci-Biondi family, owner of Manifatture 7 Bell in Campi Bisenzio (Florence) which controls Roy Roger’s, is that a brand like Amish could “pay for itself” in a few months, thanks to the potential for growth. And the first results prove you right: the sales of the autumn-winter 2021-2022 (the third season of the brand’s life) have reached 700 thousand euros, against the 250 thousand euros of the previous winter collection. Spring-summer 2021, on the other hand, reached 400 thousand euros. “This year the Amish brand will reach 1.1 million in turnover but within two to three years we think it will reach 5 million”, predicts Niccolò Biondi, CEO of Manifatture 7 Bell, defining it as a “complementary” brand to those in portfolio (Roy Roger’s and President).
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The casualwear style held up
Driven by the Amish, and by the recovery started in the first months of 2021, the Florentine group expects to close the year with a growth of 8-12% on 2019 (which, net of extraordinary transactions, had reached close to 19 million of turnover), even if the forecasts are difficult to make because the variables related to Covid are still many. In any case, the goal is to overcome pre-Covid levels.
“2020 was a year of contraction for everyone – underlines Biondi – we have contained the reduction in turnover to -19% thanks to the rebound in sales that took place in the summer months, and we were able to close the balance in balance due to the strong reduction. of the costs operated (-30% fixed costs) ». Roy Roger’s casualwear style held up better than other brands’ formal collections.
The crux of internationalization
Today the reference market is the Italian one, and to develop abroad the new strategy of Roy Roger’s and Amish will focus on specialized showrooms in European target countries. In Italy, on the other hand, distribution remains entrusted to 800 multi-brand stores and a dozen single-brand stores for Roy Roger’s, managed by Gallery Holding, located in Florence, Bologna, Forte dei Marmi, Arese-shopping center and, soon to open, in Padua, plus those in the outlet. Ecommerce is growing and this year will triple its revenues in 2019 and will acquire a weight of about 8% on sales.