♦ “Initially, the opportunity arose to be an agent for a very large company, Sanpellegrino, an Italian manufacturer of socks. That’s how I started to get to know the market and I discovered that a women’s stocking is not such a simple accessory. Then I founded my own brand.”
The entrepreneur Laura Baldini, originally from Timisoara, created more than two decades ago the women’s hosiery brand that bears her name and which consumers have associated for a long time with a “made in Italy” brand.
“Initially, I wasn’t convinced that it was good to put my name on the product”, said Laura Baldini during the ZF show 15 minutes with an entrepreneur, a Ziarul Financiar and Alpha Bank project. What’s more, at first she only used the first name, Laura, but the same brand was also used on the chocolate market (it still exists), so the entrepreneur decided to add Baldini, which gave the Italian sound.
In reality, Laura Baldini is a Romanian hosiery brand, which, however, has the production part outsourced to Italy, a country with extensive experience in the field.
The story of the entrepreneur began to be written in the 90s, when she initially worked as a distributor for several companies in Western Europe.
“The opportunity arose to be an agent for a very large company, Sanpellegrino, an Italian hosiery manufacturer. That’s how I started to get to know the market and I discovered that a women’s stocking is not such a simple accessory. At that moment, there was someone who saw how I was working as an agent for this company and asked why I wasn’t doing the same thing on my own,” she says.
This is how the story of the Laura Baldini brand actually began.
The entrepreneur chose to outsource the production in Italy, this being a country with a long tradition in the manufacture of women’s stockings and tights. “At the time of the launch of the brand, the place of manufacture of the products, namely Italy, mattered to the customers.” They even thought that it was a brand originating from Cizma.
But, today, the production in China is gaining more and more ground, as we are talking about very large volumes of goods coming from this country. The quality is nowhere near the same level. That is precisely why the entrepreneur continues to produce in Europe, in Italy.
“We had an attempt to make some socks at a factory in Romania, but, unfortunately, the quality level is not the same. Technology does not allow them to reach the quality that our products have”, she says.
Currently, after more than two decades of history, the Laura Baldini brand has six product categories totaling 60 items. They can be found in the large retail chains and in several other stores, but also on the own website. The entrepreneur wants to grow the online store, which currently represents a small part of the current business.
The Logitrade company, which owns the Laura Baldini brand, ended last year with a turnover of around 8 million euros, but this year’s uncertainty does not allow a clear estimate for 2023 until now.
Despite the economic situation, Laura Baldini expanded her portfolio and recently launched a range of cosmetic products under the same brand. The entrepreneur says that this development came naturally, being in fact inspired by a range of special stockings – with aloe vera for hydration, with coffee to reduce cellulite or with green tea for an antioxidant effect.
“We already had a special line of tights that are cosmetotextiles, that is, they are stockings impregnated with microparticles with certain cosmetic products. We have anti-mosquito treatment, we have articles for cellulite, for slimming. This is where I got the idea to develop the cosmetics part as well, but also as a result of the fact that I became more and more attentive to which care products I use. Plus, organic products were found especially in specialized stores and at quite high prices”, said Laura Baldini.
The range of cosmetics includes 37 products covering the face, body and hair care segments. The production is carried out in Turkey.
“Initially, we wanted to start with products that make high volumes of sales, relying on the same pattern as with socks. But as I got into the details, I realized that, at least at this point, those who search organically are looking for niches, specialties, they are not looking for the basic products. So, we decided that we must have these as well (and the volume ones – ed.), explains the entrepreneur.
2023-08-09 21:10:32
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