SAN FRANCISCO — Henry Beguelin, the Milan luxury leather accessories purveyor, last month launched its sixth U.S. store here.
The opening of the 1,000-square-foot unit on Sept. 22 was a homecoming for Henry Beguelin designer and owner Tullio Marani. In the Eighties, Marani spent six months in San Francisco learning about the Esprit business, which was then based here, to prepare for his job operating its European arm. He also spent time camping and kayaking with Esprit co-founder and environmentalist Doug Tompkins. During these treks, Marani, who designed for Fiorucci in the late Seventies, said Tompkins talked about the beauty of minimalist design and the role nature plays in that aesthetic.
“I now realize how important that time was,” said Marani, standing in the new Henry Beguelin store, a former artist’s studio on the first floor of a Victorian row house on quiet, tree-lined Sacramento Street in the Pacific Heights district. “Doug is really the person who taught me the importance of natural beauty and how, time after time, we undervalue its importance.”
Marani designs the Henry Beguelin line with his wife, Claudia. The company, which produces handmade purses, shoes, jackets and home furnishings, was started by its namesake 20 years ago on the island of Elba off the coast of Italy.
The Maranis bought the company in 1997. Expansion beyond its Milan boutique and high-end specialty stores in Europe and the U.S. has been gradual. There are six stores in the U.S., including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Aspen and Malibu, Calif., and five in Japan. A store is to open in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Oct. 13.
In the U.S., the Maranis in 1999 partnered with Aspen residents Paul and Cristina Nicoletti to open stores and oversee wholesale business to accounts such as Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus.
Paul Nicoletti said the choice to open a store in San Francisco was driven largely by having 25 customers from the city who shop at the Aspen store.
“We don’t require a lot of customers,” said Nicoletti. “We require a handful of good customers.”
Nicoletti, a former real estate developer and broker, said he expects the San Francisco store to generate annual sales of about $800 a square foot. The 500-square-foot unit in Manhattan generates $2,000 a square foot.