NEW YORK — A. Testoni SpA, the luxury leather goods firm, is once again a family affair.
Carlo Fini, first-born son of the Fini-Testoni family, which has owned the company since its founding in 1929 by Amedeo Testoni, has been named chief executive officer.
The appointment marks the end of a three-year period in which the leadership of A. Testoni has been in the hands of executives hired from outside the family, including Arrigo Berni, who left Bulgari in 2002 to become ceo and whose contract has expired.
Fini, 50, who began working in marketing at A. Testoni in 1972 and served most recently in an ambassadorial role as vice president, has been working behind the scenes to streamline its five manufacturing facilities located in and around the company headquarters in Bologna, Italy.
“I worked to make sure the old manufacturing system was updated, not in technology but methodology,” Fini said in an interview. “I wanted there to be a system of production in place that would enable us to have more power in production capacity and pricing, with the intention of offering our wholesale distributors better service in terms of delivery time and quantities.”
Fini said boosting A. Testoni’s wholesale presence, especially in the U.S., where it is distributed by Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom, will be his top priority.
“The wholesale business was already quite OK for us, but because of production, even though the desire was there, we were not able to meet it,” Fini said. “Now we are in a totally different position.”
Fini said the firm has four retail boutiques in the U.S. — in New York, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Palm Beach, Fla. The units in New York and Honolulu will close Feb. 1 as the company looks for bigger spaces.
Even with these spaces, Fini said wholesale is a more viable option for the brand in this country because of the high cost of real estate. The firm will be pursuing a similar strategy in South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In Asia, where A. Testoni has 47 boutiques and a strong retail business, it will continue to focus efforts to expand its store network.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
A. Testoni, which has bolstered its presence in the women’s market over the last five years with the introduction of A. Testoni Femme and key products like its signature Turtle bag, had 15 percent growth worldwide in the last year, bringing the company’s revenues up to 36 million euros or about $43 million at current exchange.
“Three years ago when we looked at our competitors, there was no one among our competitors who still had a family company,” said Fini. “Most were owned by luxury conglomerates, so to fight, we were obliged to play the same game. For us, this meant moving from a family concept to an outside management concept. We made the correct choice and now, in fact, the company has a good team that is in place and is working.”