Tagliamonte: On the Up and Up in 2022

A decidedly far-sighted forerunner of the times. After "chatting" with Nino Tagliamonte, this is the only way to describe him, supported by figures that clearly show how, more than twenty years ago, he was right on the mark. Yes, because when the web was "World Wide" only in definition but still not in fact, he decided to place all his bets on online and shift sales more onto the virtual than in the physical store. «Without neglecting the retailer, I’d never do that, but by investing in what seemed to me, even then, an enormous opportunity brewing in the pipeline. Some colleagues even said to me: "Why do you have an e-mail if you have no recipients to write to?". In fact, I remember that, at the beginning, it was only me, the Marzotto Group and a few others who had an e-mail…» Foresight, definitely, as well as an instinct to always look beyond the present. Nino began to master this 'art' at a young age when the company was still based in Torre del Greco and his father was at the helm. «At the time, there were about a hundred companies working with cameos and coral in that area and Tagliamonte was one of them. So I convinced my father to focus on other market segments and we began to study carving on semi-precious stones and to produce glass paste with subjects inspired by Greek-Roman mythology and history.» This yet-to-be explored segment was immediately successful, so much so that, thirty years ago, Nino decided to take another "risky" step and open an office in New York to conquer America. A decision that soon proved to be a winning one in a US market that has always loved everything that is well-made and Italian style, and that, even during the pandemic, has borne abundant fruit. «Since we've been in the States, our customers are mostly web retailers and cataloguers who sell both physically and digitally. During the pandemic, the US online market numbers were just crazy and we also had to adapt to this race by increasing our presence on TV shopping shows. Before the pandemic we were doing about three a year, now we're doing one a month, which is a big commitment for us because in an hour we can sell from $50,000 to $100,000 worth of merchandise live, which we have to be able to follow up quickly. We can therefore say that, at the moment, not only are we not feeling the crisis, we have actually increased our business, which now stands at around 95% in online business, including TV Shows. Vicenzaoro was also an incredible exploit, far beyond our expectations, and the outlook for the January edition is excellent. While we can certainly speak of a post-pandemic rebound, there is also real interest in this sector which, even in lockdown, has represented a way of self-gratification. All the most important US buyers have already confirmed their presence. The only cloud on the horizon is the lack of generational change in the artisan workforce. Covid has undoubtedly dealt a further blow to the sector and we are now faced with a void. But in the meantime, we are preparing for next year, which promises to be a good one for all concerned.»