As many luxurious customers can attest, the worlds of trend and hospitality aren’t to date aside contemplating how designer forces like Prada, Dior, Ralph Lauren and Maison Kitsuné are recognized to additionally supply espressos as an added enticement.
As an indication of the overlap between meals and trend, the SA Hospitality Group has tapped Federico Turconi, a former Gucci govt, as chief govt officer. The corporate consists of 14 Sant Ambroeus places, 12 extra for Felice and one Casa Lever restaurant. In an interview, Turconi mentioned he was wanting to dive into a brand new business that he loves. A lot so, that he exited as president and CEO of Gucci Americas on Oct. 4, and began his new submit Oct. 7. Earlier than touchdown that top-shelf job at Gucci Americas, Turconi had beforehand served as govt vice chairman and chief working officer.
Representatives at Gucci declined to remark.
Gucci’s chief business officer Cayetao Fabry is alleged to be overseeing his former president and CEO tasks at Gucci Americas. Additional bulletins are anticipated sooner or later.
Switching profession tracks, nevertheless, was not a rash determination for Turconi, however one which he mentioned he had first mulled over at the start of the 12 months. He determined to take action though Gucci had been his “house” and his “household” for a few years, he mentioned. Describing that “unbelievable journey,” Turconi mentioned that after becoming a member of Gucci in 2011, its gross sales had quintupled by 2022 — exceeding 10.48 billion euros.
Raised in Como, Italy, Turconi mentioned that hospitality has at all times been his ardour, attributable to how his household prioritized meals and spending time collectively. There was additionally at all times meals on the heart of the desk for celebrations, holidays and different important moments in his life, he mentioned. Sport for a profession problem, Turconi mentioned he sought one thing that was “very a lot” linked to him as an individual and what he loves. As a lot as he enjoys the hospitable facet of his new business, he additionally loves that Sant Ambroeus is a constant, heritage model that also resonates at present.
He first skilled Sant Ambroeus throughout procuring journeys to Milan together with his guardian as a baby. Impressed by Saint Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan, the primary location bowed in 1936. His fondness for the Italian restaurant strengthened after he moved to New York and began frequenting Sant Ambroeus — typically with shoppers. “Being Italian and coming to New York, it’s a place the place the outdated European world blends with the brand new American world. Sant Ambroeus turned a house away of houses. It was a type of issues that you just did on the very starting and you continue to keep in mind the primary conversations,” Turconi mentioned.
As a lot as he enjoys leisurely lunches open air on the Madison Avenue location, he singled out the SoHo outpost as his favourite due to the neighborhood’s miche mache of structure and billboards. Trying forward, a brand new Sant Ambroeus will bow in Miami’s South Seashore subsequent 12 months, and an Aspen outpost is anticipated to be unveiled by the top of the 12 months. Shoppers’ familiarity and experiences with Sant Ambroeus performs into growth plans. “The model has large alternative to develop nationally and internationally,” mentioned Turconi, including that California, Texas, elements of Europe and the U.Ok. are different prospects for brand spanking new outposts.
Simply as customers search the perfect expertise when selecting a purse, they use related discretion when eating, in keeping with Turconi. From his viewpoint, the hospitality sector is a little bit harking back to the style world within the Nineteen Nineties, when many manufacturers have been on the point of scale internationally. As well as, luxurious homes like Prada Café, Ralph Lauren’s Ralph’s Espresso and Dior Café have entered the hospitality sector with cafés.
And customers in main cities like Manhattan haven’t any qualms about ready in strains for bespoke bakeries, as they’d for sneaker drops or luxurious purse launches. (When Jacquemus unveiled its SoHo flagship in New York Metropolis Friday, staffers supplied croissants and orange juice to customers in line.)
Turconi mentioned, “There shall be extra crossover. For the time being, each model is preventing for market share and attempting to develop one thing that may allow them to drive the site visitors into their shops. It’s humorous that by some means the product will not be a bag or a pair of footwear any extra, however a espresso. For a few of these manufacturers, the element of hospitality turned extra related than the product itself.”
With that in thoughts, SA Hospitality plans to open extra Sant Ambroeus Gelateria and Espresso Bars, however solely after a lot consideration and with an emphasis on consistency. “If you happen to comply with the traits, by the point you catch the pattern, the pattern is in a declining section. That’s one thing we’d by no means do. We don’t need to be a classy model — we need to be a related model,” he mentioned.