Sixty-year-old men’s luxury company Slowear (Venice, Italy) plans to significantly increase its retail presence under the direction of new chief executive officer Mario Griariotto, who joined the company in May of last year.
The company plans to open 30 new stores during the next three years, focusing on capital cities around the world and including a second Paris location. Slowear currently operates only four stores under the Officina Slowear name: in Paris, Treviso and two in Milan.
“We’re looking for locations for next year,” Griariotto told Women’s Wear Daily. “And we’re also accepting proposals for franchises.”
Slowear, which has operated in the U.S. for 15 years and has a showroom in New York, will begin by adding shops at high-end retail stores such as Nieman Marcus, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue before opening its own store in the U.S.
Griariotto said the company plans to open three or four company-owned stores per year and franchise the rest. The new locations will add new products complimentary to its men’s wear. Slowear’s 2010 sales are expected to go over $79 million and reach $100 million by 2011. Its products are currently sold in more than 1000 stores in 30 countries.