Marchon investing 3 million euros in Italy

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Oct 29, 2014

Italy is confirmed as still being the most strategic country for Marchon, not as a market but as a production centre with a real know-how in eyewear. The American eyewear manufacturer and retailer, owned by VSP Global since 2008, has indeed just announced a new significant investment in Italy in 2015 to fortify its production structure there.

The investment consists of 3 million euros and will make it possible to complete the reorganisation of Marchon in Europe launched in 2011. It notably plans to extend the offices at its Italian headquarters with the creation of a showroom, and the reorganisation of its Puos d’Alpago production site, in Veneto.

Thanks to this restructuring, this production site "will offer a potential increase in its production volume abilities of around 30%," the group pointed out in a press release.

This investment in Italy, in particular in the Belluno eyewear district, in Veneto, where the American group opened a subsidiary in 1995 to diversify itself in the high-end eyewear market, is in line with a reorganisation process of its activities in Europe, all while reflecting the evolution of the markets.

"Italy sets itself apart by its know-how in terms of production and creativity, and for its manufacturing competitiveness. On the eve of the group's 20th anniversary of being present in Italy, we decided to develop an investment plan oriented towards gathering opportunities that are currently popping up on the market," explained Marchon Eyewear's CEO Claudio Gottardi.

In fact, with the hike in labour costs in China, manufacturing in Italy has once again become an appealing option. Not to mention that it is easier to organise efficient quality control. So, since this year, the Italian site, which was traditionally focused on development and the collections of luxury houses, has extended its range of activity by also manufacturing Made in Italy lines for Nike, Lacoste and Calvin Klein, whose collections were all previously made in Asia.

In the framework of its new European organisation, Marchon has centralised its logistics in Amsterdam with a storage platform and warehouses, from which all orders for the EMEA zone are managed, while Treviso was chosen as the head office site for Marchon MB (Marketing & Brand), the company created at the end of 2011 by the American group to concentrate marketing operations in Europe.

These changes led to the closing of the Italian site of Fortogna, where Marchon Italy started twenty years ago and which was relaunched in 2011. The Italian subsidiary now has a single headquarters in Puos d’Alpago.

Marchon Eyewear manufactures and distributes sunglasses and prescription glasses for numerous brands, including G-Star, Jil Sander, Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino and Etro, a brand recently acquired under license.