The contracts for the two stores have already been signed.
“Casadei is the best selling brand within the Distinto store and as was the case of Moschino we decided it deserved a boutique of its own,” says Carmen Seitan, 42, who already has 16 years’ experience in the Romanian fashion world. Casadei is a luxury brand that sells shoes. Kiton is a brand that sells 80% men’s clothing and 20% women’s clothing, while Brunello Cucinelli, the latest brand in the Seitan family’s portfolio, sells 80% women’s clothing and 20% men’s wear.
Carmen and Sorin Seitan opened their fourth luxury store on Bucharest’s Calea Dorobantilor luxury street, where the company’s other businesses are also located.
After around 16 years in the local fashion industry, the two have plans to expand on the luxury market, where they still see growth potential. All future plans target Calea Dorobanti, which was the two Romanians’ bet from the very beginning. “The future stores will definitely be opened here, as well,” say the two entrepreneurs, who in fact helped create Calea Dorobantilor as a luxury shopping street.
The Seitans first operated in mass-market fashion for six years, and in 2002 entered the luxury market with a Distinto multibrand store, where they used to sell the Canali and Corneliani brands. Five years later the store became the current Canali boutique. The shift from mass-market to luxury fashion was made because of increasing competition and although business was going well at the time, the spouses realized they did not have the financial force to battle on equal footing the multinationals which were then taking their first steps on the market.
From the very first moment when they decided to enter the luxury segment, the Seitans opted for Calea Dorobantilor, where residents are above-average earners and potential customers of their planned stores.
After opening Distinto, the Seitans expanded with three monobrands – Canali, Moschino and Brunello Cucinelli, the latest to open a few weeks ago. “We wanted to have them all close at hand, to be able to follow them closely,” says Carmen Seitan.
The latest bet
The Brunello Cucinelli store, one of the world’s most expensive brands, covers 140 sq m, the two floors of a historic building. The investment in reconditioning the building and setting up the space amounted to around half a million euros. The Brunello Cucinelli store in New York is the fifth most expensive store in the American city after Oscar de la Renta, Giorgio Armani, Akris and Chanel, but ahead of other famous names such as Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford and Lanvin.
“I had the first contact with the Brunello Cucinelli brand three years ago and I was fascinated with the fabrics they use. We didn’t bring it then onto the market (our priority was Moschino, with who we had already been working for 4 years) although I am sure there were people who knew the brand even back then,” says Carmen Seitan.
Looking at the current evolution, she believes she chose the right time because there are enough customers now for the boutique to last and says Brunello Cucinelli is different from the company’s other businesses.
“Here you can do alright even with two customers a day. For a complete outfit a customer can spend between EUR5,000 and EUR10,000.” In terms of consumer behavior, the brand is similar to Canali. “There too, when a customer walks into the store, they are looking for a complete outfit.” Carmen Seitan recalls there was once a customer who spent EUR20,000 during a shopping session. The company’s customers are mainly Romanians, with very few being foreigners doing shopping in Romania. “Most of customers – 80%-85% are entrepreneurs. There are also top managers, but fewer.”
Each of the four stores held by the Seitans – Canali (monobrand), Distinto (multibrand), Moschino (monobrand) and Brunello Cucinelli (monobrand) – have a different clientele.
“Only a part of Moschino and Canali customers come to Brunello. But we have a lot of new customers, whom we have not seen in the other stores.” For this year the four stores are set to have a turnover of around EUR4.5 million VAT less, from EUR3.65 million VAT less last year. The rise comes both from the opening of Brunello Cucinelli, which will have had three months of operating, as well as from a sales rise for existing stores. “In the middle of the year Distinto and Moschino sales were on the rise, while at Canali we had a year-on-year stagnation.”
At present the Seitans’ best-selling store is Canali and its second-best selling is Distinto, which sells products with a wider range of prices.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)