A 360-degree chat about the market, projects and future of the hardware sector with Francesco Franzini, the new president of Ferritalia: the group recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with a convention held on October 5th in Rome, in the presence of all members and over 300 agents of the sales force.

Francesco Franzini, CEO of the Emilian wholesaler Franzini Annibale, is the new President of Ferritalia, succeeding Andrea Fabrizio of Ferrunion: the official appointment was announced during the convention for the 50th anniversary of the Group, on Saturday, October 5th in Rome.

Our editorial staff attended the event, during which the key stages of Ferritalia’s history from 1974 to today were recalled, in the presence of the staff of the Padua office, led by the director Paolo Lain, of all the members of the Group and their respective sales forces.

During the day there was also space for an important product focus: for the first time, in fact, in a 400 square meter room, the entire range of Ferritalia’s private brands, namely Maurer, Papillon and Yamato, was exhibited, which increasingly represent a pillar of the Group’s present and future.

We interviewed the new president Francesco Franzini, who appeared proud and excited about this prestigious appointment.

MondoPratico: Francesco, first of all congratulations on this important appointment: what do you expect from this new experience?

Francesco Franzini: This appointment is a source of pride and satisfaction. In 50 years, Ferritalia has grown and reached these levels of excellence thanks to the work of its members: if we are so brilliant today it is thanks to them and to those who have held the position of President and Councilor in these 50 years.

Today the Board of Directors and I will work hard and do everything to live up to those who came before us.

MondoPratico: During the convention for Ferritalia’s 50th anniversary, I was truly impressed by the sense of “team” and the bond between your members and your sellers: is this your strength?

Francesco Franzini: The internal staff is an essential element to bring the Ferritalia “machine” to life. But then this machine has to be driven by our men on the field, our sales force.

Today Ferritalia can count on the most important sales force in our sector, over 300 professionals covering the entire Italian territory, without forgetting the area of competence of our Spanish member.

We have created a winning group and the results obtained give us more and more confidence and self-esteem. The Ferritalia staff is fundamental for the growth and results of our project: we are talking about competent, passionate and deeply attached to the company guys: their role has been and will be central to the past and future successes of Ferritalia.

MondoPratico: What could be the development of the Ferritalia project? How can it be exploited even better?

Francesco Franzini: Ferritalia has long since made a choice, identifying the traditional retailer as our only customer. I am convinced that the Ferritalia project has an almost infinite potential. We not only offer an extremely deep range of products, over 8 thousand codes, but we also develop support activities for the retailer to maximize the investment.

We organize brand visibility activities in the press, online, on social media: to increasingly involve our target customer, we have made an important investment in the world of motorcycling, where we are alongside important international brands.

In addition to a very organized sell-out, we previously developed an equally “pushed” sell-in with vans that travel around the points of sale, events directly inside the store: ours is a structure that creates activities for the retailer, protected and helped in his daily work.

MondoPratico: In a global market where the hardware store has to defend itself more and more from physical and online competitors, in your opinion, what is the main competitor that puts the future of the traditional shopkeeper at risk today?

Francesco Franzini: I will answer you with a provocation: in my opinion, the hardware store owner should not fear any competitor on the market, but only himself, when he remains still without doing anything to evolve.

As the world volleyball champion Pasquale Gravina declared during our convention for the 50th anniversary of Ferritalia, “a team that wins and does not change anything, is preparing the conditions for future defeats”: I agree 100% with this maxim, the first fear that our shopkeeper customer must have is to remain tied to the past, without doing anything to remain attractive to the consumer.

A shop can close for various reasons, it happens in any sector, but when it happens to a hardware store and a gap is created in that territory, we inevitably witness the opening of a new shop, because unlike other product sectors, the neighborhood hardware store has always existed and will continue to do so.

The hardware store owner is indispensable in the territory, but he must set himself the goal of finding the time to innovate: Ferritalia gives him this support and the weapons to remain competitive.

MondoPratico: Traditional retail and large-scale distribution remain two different worlds, but the shopkeeper can learn the best from the competition and make it their own…

Francesco Franzini: I agree, large-scale distribution in recent years has taught us that the consumer is looking for a certain type of store, with self-service and a pleasant atmosphere.

We not only help the shopkeeper to make the display inside the point of sale interesting and attractive, but we also provide support in sell-out activities. Basically, however, we must continue to cultivate what keeps us distant from large-scale distribution and which represents a unicum in the sector, namely competence, problem-solving skills, and the human relationship.

In this regard, we have created a Training Academy with the aim of bringing out and developing these increasingly fundamental characteristics in modern commerce.

Let me say that this is an extraordinary project, creating a training academy to support the sales network and traditional retailers: in my opinion, we are facing a unique activity in our sector, born with the aim of supporting the knowledge and culture of the entire supply chain.

MondoPratico: Ferritalia fully covers the Italian territory, with specific areas of expertise for its members. Outside the national borders, you are only present in Spain with the member A FORGED TOOL: can foreign countries represent an area of expansion for your group?

Francesco Franzini: This is an issue that the Board is reflecting on. The Ferritalia project is calibrated on the Italian market, but the presence of the Spanish wholesaler within our group shows an opening towards foreign countries. However, each country has its own peculiarities and it is not easy to adapt a business model and apply it in a new context, without forgetting that all our sell-out initiatives are planned for the Italian market.

In short, it is a potentially very interesting area of development, but it needs to be studied in depth before being implemented.

MondoPratico: How do you imagine the future of the hardware market and specifically of Ferritalia and what do you think you can give to the Group in the next three years?

Francesco Franzini: Being part of Ferritalia is like belonging to a team: I feel immense gratitude towards the outgoing Board, starting with Andrea Fabrizio, and I can guarantee that we will work in a perspective of continuity to give more and more added value to the Group.

How do I imagine the future of our market? I see a future of balance between the three hardware channels, large-scale distribution and online, because the consumer is multi-channel: everyone must be ready for market developments, giving value to their attitudes and peculiarities.

I see excellent foundations for Ferritalia, which will continue to maximize its project, with increasingly strong synergies between members not only in the purchasing phase, but also in the sales and services provided in the territory: Ferritalia is ready to confirm itself as a leader in the market, always alongside our shopkeeper customer.