Vittorio Tabacchi : "Billings of One Billion Euros at Year End"

In an interview in today's Il Sole 24 Ore, Vittorio Tabacchi spoke extensively about the past and future of Safilo: he denies being interested in acquiring De Rigo («Why should I?'), he declares that at the end of the year he'll be celebrating a turnover of a billion euros compared to the 894 million of the 2002 financial year, he guarantees that within two or three years he'll be knocking on the door of the stock exchange again («An unavoidable choice: I didn't rob a bank in order to pay off the family... »), he minimizes, but doesn't underestimate, what he calls the sector's yellow fever («The Chinese aim for quantity, we aim for research, innovation and quality»).

But it's not all numbers and strategies that make up the past-present-future of Vittorio Tabacchi, president of the Sàfilo group, the elite brand in the eyewear field. The newly-knighted president doesn't hesitate to delve into his private life, talk about the passions that have linked him to contemporary art since 1950 (but his splendid collections also include no amount of antiques), his maniacal collection of spectacles and ancient artifacts, or to go over a surprising past in sports («I think I was a good driver, but I got a lot of satisfaction out of other sports as well»). He then lowers his guard about his two children, Massimiliano (mechanical engineer) and Samantha (a degree in marketing and international communication), to whom he has transferred the shares he acquired from his brothers («My wife and I hold the majority and that's enough for us»), the designated successors of Safilo empire, already operational after some experiences outside the group.

Today the company has seven production facilities (at Longarone, Santa Maria di Sala, Pieve di Cadore, Martignacco, Precenicco, Linz in Austria and Ormoz in Slovenia), 26 subsidiaries in 26 countries, 6,700 employees, 24 million pairs of glasses produced, exports at 85% to130 different countries, an advertising budget of 9% of billings, a portfolio of labels of the caliber of Gucci and Dior, Valentino and Max Mara, Yves Saint Laurent and Diesel, Bottega Veneta and Carrera, not to mention the new entry, Armani, a 225 million-euro liaison following the divorce from Luxottica. And then there's the new centralized warehouse "incorporated" within the headquarters at Padua, and according to the Germans, a real gem at European level.

That's the present, but what about the past? «On March 15, 1878, Angelo Frescura, an enterprising trader who ran a small store in Padua, decided to make glasses. This small company changed hands, grew, but then went bankrupt in the hands of Ulisse Cargitel. At that point my father, Guglielmo, came on the scene. He was born on January 15, 1900, at Solvay (New York) where grandfather Vittorio had emigrated to from Cadore. He returned to Italy in 1910 and went into the car hire business. My father helped him with that, but then he himself emigrated to Poland to open up some ice cream stores».A restless and enterprising spirit, Guglielmo very quickly realized that glasses represented the future. So he decided to sell the premises in Warsaw and, together with a few partners, to take over what remained of the old Cargriel facility. It was March 17, 1934, and two days later the Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Lavorazione Occhiali, in other words, Sàfilo, came into being («now it's obviously a shareholding»).

By working 15 hours a day, Tabacchi senior was able to gain market share despite the ups and downs of the period. He miraculously transformed that little facility into one of the biggest on the marketplace and in 1941 he had 300 employees. Once the wartime obstacles had been overcome, at the end of the Fifties «father paid off the partners; the last of these was a certain Giavi together with whom he owned a store in Germany - because even his adult heart beat faster in an ice cream store».In the meantime, on October 26,1939, in Belluno, «because that's where the hospital was», Vittorio was born, the second of four children: Giuliano the eldest, Erminia (but Nuccia to everyone) the third, and Dino the youngest. Looking after the nest was their mother, Zoc De Curtà Fumei, «who signed Sàfilo's very first financial statement and who is now over 97 years old».

But Vittorio's real passion was sport. He was a skier («I also took part in the European championships»), he played ice hockey («I played for the second division»), he rode bob («I was a front-runner for the Olympics when I decided to stop»), but he was really crazy about cars, so much so that he even became the official driver for Porsche. In 1964 his father opened the facility at Santa Maria di Sala near Venice («I was already working there as the technical head of production») and it was at this point that he was given an ultimatum: «either you stop or you're out, think about it carefully. That was the longest night of my life; I thought over what I should do and called the person who would become my wife a few months later, Tatiana Amboni, for her advice - needless to say, she agreed with my father».

So on January 2, 1970, Vittorio entered the company as a middle-manager, even though he'd already been working in the technical office in fits and starts after getting his diploma. Although he was reluctant at the start, the enterprise of the man who one day would receive a knighthood was rewarded four years later when he was nominated to the board of directors. From 1974 to 1992 he was vice president and managing director of a profitable production business.The 90s. «At the end of 1992, Giuliano was tired and he decided to resign as president of the company and handed the role over to me as he intended to retire. These were the first symptoms of a change that would not be painless, just as I was about to launch the subsidiaries abroad».

«Once I'd taken over the reins of the company I decided to aim at sunglasses which in my opinion represented the future. Until then, 90% of our efforts were in fact concentrated on "eyeglasses". So in 1996 another strategic decision was made: to enter the world of sport where we were either weak or completely absent. A step which translated into the acquisition in April of the American Smith Sport Optics (which was doing well) and, in July, of the Austrian Carrera (which went bankrupt). A stroke that allowed us to enter the sports segment as a world leader with three and a half million "wraparound models"».Even though business was going well, it was not an easy period for the president and he found himself having to cope with the reluctance of his brothers, whose share exceeded his own. 'Towards the end of 1999 we were at loggerheads because I was not supported in what I did, and I resigned my role as president. It was a bad time for everyone. The directors were on my side, however. So Giuliano and Dino, who aimed at direct action ('The company is ours', they said), took the hint and two months later 'they left'. At this point I took over a good part of their shares in the family holding, Fimit (only the youngest was left on the board of directors), and to simplify the ownership arrangement I decided to annul the listing on the stock exchange'.