Stone Island’s Gross sales Are Up 10%, Even Exceeding Its Chairman’s Expectations
“We were told that we were not international sufficient and we'd have to affix a large group. But at the beginning of the yr I don’t know if I'd have guess on a ten% enhance in turnovers to €87.1 million and on a 20% development in orders of the P-E 2016,” stated Stone Island Chairman Carlo Rivetti. “Furthermore, even profitability improves, with an EBITDA going from thirteen% in 2014 to 15% this year”.
Rivetti begins with the novelty of retail when discussing the brand’s most necessary milestones of 2015. Once again the outcomes have exceeded expectations, with higher growth charges than those of most casualwear manufacturers.
“The United States and New York in particular have been revenue accelerators of the model and of its picture: because of this, we decided to spend money on the primary American flagship store beginning with New York, but we are also looking at Los Angeles,” he mentioned. One other sign of optimism comes from Italy, which absorbs 35% of turnovers and where orders for the next Summer season season have gone up by 11%.
“Two and a half years in the past we were very near selling the company, but after two long negotiations we determined to go ahead alone. From that second nonetheless, we've got accelerated each on retail in addition to on international development,” he mentioned. “We had been instructed that we weren't world sufficient and we would have to affix a large group. Our response can be measured within the targets we achieved in 2015, which included five Stone Island Jackets Online retailer openings, 4 of which abroad: Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp and New York, and a plan for expansion in the European nations wherein we have already got a powerful presence, just like the UK, Germany, and Benelux, and an additional investment within the US. In 2016 we are going to open in Los Angeles, with a format that may be a midway level between a retailer and an exhibition space, with a purpose to introduce our greater than 30 years of history”.
The divide between the Fall-Winter catalogue (fifty eight% of revenues) and the Spring-Summer catalogue is increasingly balanced and the function of direct retail is more and more essential. “In Italy in 2015 we opened in Turin and went at full capacity in Rome, where we inaugurated at the tip of 2014. We're continuing to look for a bigger location in Milan: the store in Corso Venezia, which has existed since 2000, continues to have an important promote-out and is in a great location, but we'd like extra space, partially to be in a position to apply the concept used for the flagship store abroad. However, despite the crisis lately, rent costs haven't gone down, and on this regard we actually can't compete with the big groups of fashion and luxury”.
On a comparable basis, the gross sales in flagship shops, in comparison with 2014, have increased by 12%, but the percentage goes up to 21% with the five openings in 2015 and e-commerce went well (+26%), absorbing 3% of sales. Moreover, the American challenge might help to open up a street towards Asia and particularly China, the place Stone Island still just isn't present.
