After the lockdown, the Pango women's clothing company of Bassano Bresciano, in the province of Brescia, an area particularly marked by the Covid-19, embarks on the relaunch with the road of retail 3.0, that is, planning the increase of new sales channels and the arrival on new markets.
The family business, led by the sole director Gianfranco Scotuzzi, closed on 27 March, the same day on which – ironically – the opening of the first flagship store in the center of Sofia, in Bulgaria, and reopened its doors to 80% on May 4, after the sanitization of the premises and the preparation of all the principals indicated in the protocol for the start of production activities. “Since the reopening – Scotuzzi told FIRSTonline – through a targeted rotation of the staff, we have been trying to partially exploit the social safety nets to give our employees, despite the difficulties, the certainty of a decent salary to maintain an adequate lifestyle.
The manager also recalls how Pango (acronym for trousers/skirts, which for many years represented almost all of the production), since its foundation, has always been managed with a great sense of family and respect for people before work as an end in itself. In fact, the large number of women who work in the company have the possibility, even in this emergency situation, to better manage family needs. “Unfortunately – continues Scotuzzi – the situation of blocking of retail in general and related activities has generated an almost immediate freeze of the economy and of the cash flow of many, in reality almost all, customers”.
According to the sole administrator of Pango, the company which started from a project by his father Gino in 1974, the problem is the lack of vision and clarity on the part of the central government: "In my opinion, it has issued so many decrees without worrying too much about their actual implementation, has put numerous companies in crisis which are now in financial difficulty: companies like ours which are customers of other companies and at the same time suppliers of the retail chain. We fear that this prolonged blockage will generate a definitive paralysis of consumption and that it will therefore affect the entire supply chain backwards. On balance, there are three seasons at risk in our sector and the hope in the short term is in any case to be able to be 100% operational again with the effective complete reopening of the shops, which will also allow us to start the store in Bulgaria ready to open " .
How to react to this situation? The strength of Italian SMEs often lies in not wanting to give up, in always inventing a way out, even with creativity, which is one of the ingredients of the success of Made in Italy itself. “We are very determined in the recovery and we are certain that great opportunities can also be created in times of great difficulty. In fact we want to focus more and more on foreign markets also through new sales channels, which will represent the natural evolution of the market for a retail 3.0".
Over time the range of action of the company it has expanded with total look collections and an international distribution network and today the main owned brands are Gaia Life which produces curvy fashion, Ten Ways To Be, a regular size line and Extesa, a clothing line distributed through the international television channel QVC. Characteristic of the company is the capillary organization of the structures necessary for the manufacturing of each model which is also the secret of the quality obtained at affordable prices. In fact, the entire production process takes place within a radius of a few kilometres from the Bassano headquarters, the so-called short supply chain, in order to guarantee full support to the laboratories employed, sharing the best solutions and working methods, for a Made in Italy product at zero km.
