Sandro Veronesi, the billionaire whose Calzedonia Group sold 1.8 billion euros ($ 2.5 billion) worth of lingerie and clothing last year, is preparing to challenge Victoria's Secret on its house grass by opening his first U.S. stores.
" We will begin possibly from New York, which is a fashion city, and then we will expand in the significant cities," the Italian stated in a Bloomberg Television interview at Verona's Gran Guardia Palace. "There is a dominant competitor in the United States, but that is perhaps a reason also ladies wish to have an alternative."
The carefully held company sells Intimissimi lingerie, Calzedonia socks and Falconeri knitwear through a network of more than 3,800 shops generally in Europe. The 55-year-old owns 84 percent of the business and has a $2.4 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The underwear maker has a handful of stores in Hong Kong and Japan, and isn't intending on broadening even more into Asia where customers have actually shown hesitant to switch from domestic rivals.
" It's a little bit simpler than Asia even if still a hard job," David Pambianco, managing director of Milan-based style consultancy Pambianco said by phone. "He is betting larger companies than him with a great deal of damadol cash to invest. To be much better than the others is not so easy."
Veronesi said the U.S. shops would open in the next number of years. He acknowledged that it might prove challenging to win over customers in a market dominated by L Brands Inc., the owner of the Victoria's Secret and La Senza labels. The Columbus, Ohio-based company had earnings of $11.4 billion and a market price of $24.7 billion in the year ended Jan. 31, 2015. No response was received to an e-mailed ask for remark sent out to L Brand's press office.
Veronesi said Bloomberg's $2.8 billion appraisal of Calzedonia is "more or less" precise though its precise worth is hard to examine. The group has no immediate strategies for a going public and isn't evaluating any acquisitions, according to Veronesi.
" We choose to grow internally," he stated. "There are a lot of companies on sale in Europe in our company but at the moment the asking prices are very high."
Veronesi is significantly pushing the presence of his brand names, consisting of producing the 2nd Intimissimi on Ice program in Verona this past weekend, a musical performance including outfits by his business, Olympic ice skaters and pop singer Ellie Goulding.
" Every brand name is attempting to interact with consumers in a better way, in a more effective way, in a novel way, since definitely customers are tired of the same communication," Veronesi said. "The idea is to provide a show-- it's a way to make the brand more welcoming, more fascinating, more up-to-date."