Discover the new Rinascente Firenze with Pierluigi Cocchini

On the occasion of Pitti Uomo 104, the CEO of Rinascente tells us about the Be Florentine event and the restyling of the famous store

Rinascente embraces Florence on the occasion of Pitti Uomo 104 with the double event Be Florentine, to celebrate the new face of the famous store in Piazza della Repubblica after the restyling. On this occasion, we met Pierluigi Cocchini, CEO of Rinascente, to talk about the beautiful architectural renovation and the bond between Rinascente and Florence.

Pierluigi Cocchini

What links Rinascente and Florence?

We could no longer stay in the previous Rinascente store, it had been too long since we had done a major renovation. We took courage and started this change from the pillars of the city: brand, food and architectural materials. We finished the renovation in 2020 and after refining everything over these years we thought of doing this launch event, Be Florentine, imagining it as a chapter of Pitti Immagine, with which we have been collaborating for some time. An event in two chapters: an exclusive evening tonight at the Salone dei 500 where we have invited our customers, and tomorrow evening with the Purple Gallery in Piazza della Repubblica, in front of the shop, for an aperitif in the shop followed by a standing dinner inside the Gallery with musical performances.

Can you tell us more about the restyling of the shop? You have changed many things, including the first floor dedicated to leather and jewellery, two Florentine icons...

There are a lot of experiments in this shop, starting with the sequence of floors: for the first time we put the perfumery on the basement floor and opened the zero floor with accessories. It was not an easy choice, but it was very well received and we are happy with it. Not only that, we doubled the area dedicated to men's, we focused on men's and women's shoes with an increasingly interesting assortment. There is more and more focus on men's brand mix and also on food, no longer thought of as a food area but as an extra shopping experience.

Terzo piano Rinascente, scarpe donnaSecondo piano Rinascente, scarpe uomoToscaNino in Rinascente Firenze

Rinascente is home to many important brands, how are they chosen?

Our purchasing department works almost exclusively on brand research and the development of collaboration with these brands. In our market we have to be very attentive to the history of the brand. A brand's season is divided into 3 moments: the pre, the full season and then maybe the end. Added to this are the capsules, the brand takeovers. It's no longer just a question of selling the product, it's more a question of the brand standing with us as if we were a TV, a media company that allows them to have the hardware to encapsulate their whole story.

What is the performance and development of your e-commerce experience?

E-commerce for us is divided into two tests: 7 or 8 years ago we opened a service called On demand, developed mainly on whatsapp. It is not a catalogue but a way of selling products, of continuing the experience for those who cannot physically be in the shop. There we have all the assortment that you can also find in the shop, which can be purchased with a payment with a link on whatsapp, very simple, we ship all over the world and we make more than 20 million euros this way. Then in 2020 we opened the classic e-commerce, with the catalogue, which last year was worth about the same as On Demand, so about twenty million. We would like to go around 100 million on On-line, between On-demand and catalogue, for us it is always a part of the business, a new door to keep the story alive.