Geox

Shoe and clothing brand. It belongs to the Nottington Italia company, established in 1989. Its headquarters is in Biadene di Montebelluna. The brand is famous for its worldwide patent of an extremely “breathable” porous sole. The clothing lines are also planned with the principle of “breathability” kept in mind. The brand is based on this. The annual production of shoes comes to 3.5 million pairs, of which one half are sold in Italy. At the end of the 1900s, there were 250 employees, plus another 3,000 outside workers. The turnover was 280 billion liras, of which 130 billion were in Italy. The brand is distributed in 59 countries.
The company plans to double its points-of-sale within 2003, putting into place a commercial network of 300 single-brand stores, more than 30% of them directly owned, the others franchised. It has just opened the fifth shop in Berlin and plans, in the following months, to open 140 more all over the world. Geox, which started its retail project in 2000, has already opened 130 single-brand stores. The company has ended the 2001 with sales of 286 billion liras, 26% of which comes from export. By the end of 2002 the firm expects to reach €180 million.
Mario Moretti Polegato, the founder and president of Geox, is 2002 winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year award, promoted by Ernst & Young, the Italian Stock Exchange, and Il Sole 24 Ore. In the citation, the company is recognized as “one of the best examples of entrepreneurial success in recent decades and one of the most interesting worldclass businesses.” Polegato, for his part, has insisted that it is important for the industry to commit itself to technologic and scientific research in order to relaunch the Made in Italy movement. That is what happened at Geox, and it is the reason that its new idea, “the breathing shoe,” protected by an international patent, has been able to conquer the market, resulting, according to Mediobanca, in the second best performance in Italy in 2001.
The company ends 2002 with an increase of 22.1%, from €147.6 million to €180.3 million. Profits more than double, to €19.4 million from €7.3 million in 2001. Shoes represent about 96% of the turnover, with 4.7 million pairs sold. The remaining 4% comes from clothing. About 75% of the sales are in Italy, with 25% in the other European countries. During 2002, Geox developed a single-brand distribution network, opening new stores in the most important European cities.