ISO Incentive Tour, Italy 2006 and Shop Project, Milan.

 

The annual ISO Incentive Tour is the International Shopfitting Organisation’s contribution to the young members’ education and widening of horizons.

This year it took place in Northern Italy, a region well known for its’ high manufacturing and design qualities, not only in the shopfitting industry, but also the plant and machinery to make the industry competitive.   

 

The group met in Milano Malpensa Airport Wednesday evening 18^th October, checked into a Hotel near the Central Station and had a real, Italian evening meal around the corner. Delicious!

 

From Europe’s largest Factory Outlet Centre to the oldest “Modern” Mall.

Early Thursday, in spite of an apparently thorough check of the young nightlife in Milan, the minibus hired for the purpose, took the party ca. 100 km. towards Genoa, to the Serravalle Scrivia, the largest Designer Factory Outlet in Europe with 170 brand name stores. A great place to study the “basic” fixtures and interior design of the most well known brands in the fashion trade ( www.mcarthurglen.it ).

 

Back towards Milan, the new Cesano Boscone, Auchan Shopping Mall (www.auchan.it), the Hypermarket being fitted with Cefla System. It is located in the retail area concentration at the western “Tangenziale” Motorway junctions of Milan. Lunch at a 4-storey fast-food mall of its’ own.

The culmination of the day was logically the city with the “Galleria” being Europe’s oldest shopping mall of modern concept. The fantastic, glass covered street-crossing, next to the Cathedral and containing and neighbouring the flagships stores of the fashion we already saw most of in the Factory Outlet. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari, D&C, Calvin Klein, etc. etc. A beer here is not just a beer, cheese, olives, chips, you name it, comes without saying.

 

And dinner at the Ticinese Area, the old harbour of Milan, where until only last century, almost all  goods were shipped in and out of Milan, on the canals and waterways. Today a unique restaurant and entertainment quarter. Unbelievable. Another late evening.

 

Ferrari, Cefla and ancient Bologna

Another early morning departure out of Milan’s crazy Friday morning traffic. Two hours drive south to the famous city of Maranello, dominated by the Ferrari factory, stores, museum,” and red colour. After admiring this top car-technology, design and technique, at the “Galleria Ferrari” and the store and bar, we “humped” South on the Autostrada del Sole another hour in our Fiat minibus (Family after all, because Fiat owns Ferrari) to Imola.

 

Cefla is ISO member, and looks like among the top five shop fixture manufacturers in Europe today. Cefla dominates Imola with 2 large factories, an impressive, highly automatic production, a smaller (but still large) shopfitting company and a huge warehouse. The party admired the basic production plant, checkouts, and not the least, the paint plant for water-based wet painting of wood furniture. An environmental (non-pollution), cutting-edge technology, of the very highest interest to our industry. The warm welcome to the Incentive tour participants by export manager Attila Baldini of Cefla, and a good lunch in high-quality joinery surroundings, made the visit unforgettable. Italian products at their best (www.ceflaarredamenti.com).

 

 

Late, because it was difficult to not being captured by that interesting visit, we drove North again to Bologna, and checked into another good hotel just in time for some late speed-power-shopping in this beautiful city’s historic downtown. A special experience is the Library (open till 11 p.m.) with a painted vaulted ceiling, so many floors above the glass floor, where under, 3 meters down, you see the ancient Bologna’s foundation in ruins. There was no doubt among the tour participants, that Bologna, being the oldest University city in Europe, and one of the largest towns in the Middle Age, was far more attractive to visit, than the industrialised, huge city of Milan. The evening meal of Pizza Bolognese (in restaurant Bella Napoli!) could not have been more Italian, nor better!

(And the young team’s report confirms the nightlife to match).

 

Shop Project, high quality Italian shopfitting exhibition at the Fiera Milano

ISO Incentive Tours are not for the lazy. Saturday morning (OK, not until 9 this time) the bus took us via our Milan Hotel to the Fiera Milano Shop Project exhibition. The Shop Project is a new show established by the ExpoCTS exhibition organizers (www.shoproject.expocts.it) in cooperation with ISO’s Italian shopfitting member association: Assarredo Federlegn-Arredo (www.assarredo.it).

As a first, they did very well. The young ISO team was excited about the quality of the booths, the fixtures, design and ideas! And the hearty welcome by the organizers, VIP check-in, catalogues, refreshments, guidance, was overwhelming. Another great example of Italian hospitality at its’ best. Those who chose the easy door-to-door Metro back to town, had time for another look at the Centre of Milano, but without mentioning, we had already in the previous days passed by the Cathedral, the Castello, Triumph Arch, Cimetero Monumentale (Imagine the inspiration by monuments and fantastic creative architecture in a cemetery? You must see to believe) etc.

 

Bridging the generation gap

Saturday evening, the last night of the Incentive Tour, and the first of the incoming ISO Management Committee members, for the semi-annual meeting Monday, was celebrated as a “Meet the Next Generation” dinner in a very special restaurant interior at the Naviglio Grande, the former great canal, but at this occasion very little water in it. Fun however to see, that an good number of Africans, at the quay-side, is selling the same brands as downtown, Gucci, D&C, Luis Vuitton etc. at prices that you won’t believe (if you believe the brands?). A great evening for “shop talk” across the table and the generations. For obvious reasons, the Incentive Tour participants were not set on the nightlife this time. The Metro home was 15 minutes, and a sound sleep before shuttle to the airport next morning, was what we all needed.

 

Goodbye, was it worth while?

Sunday morning 22^nd October, good-bye Milan, good-bye Malpensa Airport, see you next year in Poland? (Late November 2007 out of Warsaw – Lodz – Catowice - Krakow and more).

 

It was nice to have the participant’s confirmation of the successful tour, by their top scores on ISO’s evaluation forms. The goal of ISO: Education and Incentive to the next generation of shopfitters, the price/quality (this year in Hotels instead of last year’s Hostels) and the relevance of the programme was highly appreciated. “More time” is what we all want, but that’s life, ehh?

 

Preben Bailey, ISO secretary general and tour guide.