The great story of a great family that began with a small store: the fourth generation is at work. We talked about it with Annalisa Caruso.

Yours is a great family story born from a small store. Is that right?
That’s right. We used to make markets and do shoe repairs, so we were shoe artisans in the Modena area with my great-grandfather. It was a big extended family, with lots of brothers and lots of sons, who all took the path of shoe making. Then my grandfather started with stores and wholesale, moved to Bologna, and in ’78 he was one of the founding members of Centergross, which was innovative at the time.

How has your company changed over time and over four generations?

These four generations have experienced a great period of growth: we had the ability to adapt to market changes quickly. When my grandfather founded his business, he was a distributor for well-known companies, working for large retailers. My father was the first to make ready-to-wear fashion, which in the clothing industry was already active in the ’80s, while in the footwear industry the change came in the ’90s. Making footwear in ready-to-wear fashion is very difficult, there are only a few companies in Italy that do it. In Italy we are the biggest company that make ready-made fashion footwear, our competitors have almost all closed down.The latest change was made in 2007 when we launched our brand. Before, we used third party brands but in 2007 we decided to create our own brand: Ovyè by Cristina Lucchi, my mother. We decided to make a change of image and to propose a more and more fashionable product, for the 25 year old girl to the 50 year old woman who loves to change her look often. 

So innovation and communication are the keywords for your company?

Communication is fundamental, we have focused on large international magazines, and this also means adapting to the standards of the magazines you want to appear in, which require a certain type of image and investment. We also work a lot with social networks, adding updates every hour.

Has your market always been more foreign-oriented?

We started with Russia and Eastern Europe, then China and finally Europe: Germany, Spain, Greece and Austria. For some time now, Centergross, with its entrepreneurial autonomy, has organized itself with distributors abroad and this has also caused a drop in the number of visitors to our center. However, this decrease is also due to the fact that the model that we propose of a large multi-brand Pronto Moda store is disappearing abroad. For many people, buying by seeing a picture of the product is normal, but our product must be tried, seen, touched and appreciated for its quality.

Is there a desire to remain anchored to Made in Italy ?

Certainly, this year we have a 100% Made in Italy product. In the past we have resorted to imports, while maintaining Italian creativity and materials. This year, however, in order to guarantee high quality and a different image, we have decided not to produce abroad.

Let’s look at the future: what are the goals?

For us, the future is to look for other markets, even more distant ones: China, America. Another objective is to increase our customer base. We make ready-to-wear fashion, so maybe today we should also think about a programmed product, with a six-month delivery time.

What is the added value of being at Centergross?

The added value is being together with our competitors, working as a team. For those who buy, the added value is to find everything in one place: shoes, bags, accessories, men’s and women’s clothing. Logistically, it is an added value to be all in one place because in one trip, retailers can find everything.

Is there any advice you would like to give to your colleagues at Centergross?

My advice is to continue to network more and more. Because together we are even stronger.