Coin restarts from Excelsior

A new chapter opens for Coin. After recording a 2022 with rising results and aborting the negotiations begun last june with Ovs for a possible sale of 100% of the capital, last month brought a flurry of changes at the top management level of the Italian department store chain. With the appointment first of Marco Marchi as president and then a few weeks later of Ugo Turi as ceo, the time seems to have come for the company to reorganize. «We aim to strengthen ourselves in historic centers and to get into some urban areas where we are not yet present with smaller square footage», ceo Turi explained to MFF. «We would like to cover the entire Italian territory and strengthen our Coincasa standalone network, a very successful brand. However, above all, we are organizing the relaunch of Excelsior in Milan». Confirming what MFF anticipated in recent months, in fact, the group announced that it has on its agenda the opening of the new flagship of its format dedicated to high-end brands for february 2024. The store will be located inside The Medelan, the shopping mall that will come to life from the renovation of Palazzo Broggi in Milan’s Piazza Cordusio, and will offer a selection of high-end fashion, beauty and homeware brands, filling the void left by the closure of the previous store in Galleria del Corso, which lowered its shutters in 2019 to make way for Victoria’s Secret’s first Italian flagship. «Coin’s financial situation is currently positive. We closed the year with sales of 300 million euros, an improvement compared with 288 million in 2021, and a total turnover of about 440 million gross», Turi continued. «The ebitda is in line with that recorded in 2021, amounting to 18.7 million euros, and we expect a profit of about 20 million euros, a significant increase».

How is the group positioned in the beginning of the year?

Coin is coming out of a difficult period. We went through a pandemic, plus a series of issues such as the crisis brought by the war in Ukraine, rising energy costs, inflation, and other related social phenomena. There is an ongoing social and economic crisis that is unfortunately affecting millions of families in Italy who are struggling right now. Consumption has generally taken a very negative direction, but we can play an important role in this scenario.

How so?

Over the past decade there has been an erosion of retail that has desertified the historic centers. It is difficult to find stores that sell multiple categories of products in the province, and it is precisely here that the offer can be expanded. So, our role is crucial in the redesign of commerce.

What are the goals of the new business plan?

First of all, we aim to strengthen in historic centers with Coin. We want to be present throughout the country. There are several opportunities, and we will carefully decide which projects need our investments. In addition, we will further increase our Coincasa standalone network, the brand dedicated to homeware, which is performing very well even in the wake of the crisis in local commerce.

How will you develop it?

Coincasa is successful because it is a format with fundamentally safe performance that, at the same time, does not require much investment. That is why the number of requests we receive is high, and many entrepreneurs make their facilities available to us. Last year, we opened 20 stores, and we are going to increase our capillary action.

Will you expand internationally too?

We already have 60 stores in France, Spain, Greece, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe, and some in Mongolia. We have found a big contact in the United Arab Emirates. In general, we expect that this trend of Coincasa’s strength will continue, and we intend to continue our investments. We recently decided to increase the space at Coin in Roma Termini, which had experienced a 70% drop in revenues in the Covid-19 years, but now, with the upswing in travel, it has been increasing in double digits for several months. We made an investment to expand the space by buying 700 square meters, where we will open Coincasa this April.

What plans do you have for your main brand?

In december, we opened the Coin store in the center of Florence, at Loggia del Grano. It was a really important investment in which we wanted to launch a premium format with more activities and services to make the store a landmark in the city. In fact, the Loggia was transformed into a lounge designed to host cultural and artistic activities, debates, and other moments of discussion. At Coin in Roma San Giovanni, we have also launched new initiatives. On the top floor we opened the restaurant, while on the underground floor we organized a format dedicated to the design of domestic spaces that will soon be inaugurated in partnership with a well-known international furniture company.

MFF understood that the space you have taken over in Milan’s Piazza Cordusio will be used for the new Excelsior flagship. Is it true?

Yes, it will be a major destination where we will reopen Excelsior in Milan. After closing a few years ago in Galleria del Corso, we have been waiting to find the right location for a prestigious format, and this is really an opportunity. The premises are already at our disposal, and we are sorting out ideas. In particular, we are making assessments on how to exploit the vault area. The works will start in September, and we will open around February 2024.

Do you have other openings planned for this format?

For now, we will consolidate this one, then it is not out of the question that we will take the format to other contexts, such as Rome, but for now we want to see how it will go with this reopening. We are currently working on the renovation of Coin in Verona, which is a store with incredible potential, as it is located next to Juliet’s house, and many people pass by. We expect sales to increase by 50-60%.

Will you also open an Excelsior there as well?

Yes, it will become a Coin Excelsior. Construction will start in May and the store will be opened at the end of september. There will be no structural work, but the facade will completely change and be replaced by a glass structure. We are planning to work toward this direction also in our store in Como. (all rights reserved)