Nowadays, people are less in love with the actual products, as their wardrobes are already full. Rather, what they want today is an experience, and what experience can be better than a big-store experience, asks Vittorio Radice, vice-chairman of Rinascente.
The luxury department store brand under Central Group is committed to creating new experiences for customers, he said, adding there are growing threats from new channels, especially online, at home and abroad.
In response, the group officially opened the new, €250 million (9.7 billion baht) luxury department store in Rome under the Rinascente brand last month after a soft opening in October. It is the company's second flagship store in Italy.
Central Group acquired the building in 2005, although it took the company 12 years to design and open the store. Mr Radice said the delays resulted from having to deal with planning permission because of people living in the area.
But perhaps the biggest delay occurred after the original building on site was torn down, revealing ancient Roman ruins beneath.
Those ruins proved to be a very literal hidden treasure for the company, said Mr Radice, adding the building incorporates the Aqua Virgo aqueduct, dating back to 19 BC, into the design.
He thus described the eight-storey mall, located in Via del Tritone on the corner of Via dei Due Macelli, as a series of buildings within buildings, as it also encapsulates a 20th-century structure called the Palazzetto.
The store has retail space of 14,000 square metres, offering a selection of the luxury products ranging from fashion and accessories to cosmetics and home decor.
The shopping mall also has a rooftop terrace, complete with a food court, restaurants and lounge bars, offering a panoramic view of the Roman skyline.
Mr Radice says Rome has never seen a department store quite like Rincescente.
The department store employs 650 people.
Mr Radice said that the opening of Rinascente in Rome is a real milestone, as the city has never seen a department store quite like it.
"Rome was one of the last important capitals in the world without a department store,'' he said.
The mall is located a stone's throw from the Trevi fountain and Piazza di Spagna.
"We were proud to open the doors of Rinascente in Rome, even if it was a year-and-a-half later than expected," said Suthitham Chirathivat, chairman of the Advisory Board of Central Group.
He said that members of the Chirathivat family have agreed to open its store in Italy in an effort to strengthen its drive to be one of the global leaders in the luxury department store.
Rome is very ancient city and full of tourists, which is part of the group's criteria to set up new stores overseas, he said.
"It was difficult to find a building for a department store. We looked at five buildings. But some of them were too historic -- beautiful staircases, beautiful ceilings, beautiful floors -- which we could not change.
"So, this was the only one where, while there were lots of constraints, we could demolish and rebuild it,'' said Mr Radice.
Pierluigi Cocchini, chief executive of Rinascente, said shoppers in Rome normally buy luxury brands from small shops, not from big department stores.
"People here did not understand what the company was doing before opening the store. A lot of residents, the municipality and politicians thought that Rinascente would be a supermarket. They didn't know anything about the theme of the store. But, when the store opened, they understood," he said.
About 30% of shoppers at Rinascente's Rome branch, are locals, while the rest are tourists, both from within and outside of Italy.
"Despite the years'-long economic slowdown, we've been a bit surprised by the spending power of people in Rome. The performance of Rinascente in Rome has been close to that of the Milan branch," said Mr Cocchini. "But for the retail sector, only discount shops and luxury stores are doing well. Retail outlets targeting the middle market have taken a big dip.''
He said the company expects to make money from the first year of operations.
"We are already turning a profit. In the second month our performance will be in the black,'' he said.
Apart from the offline channel, Rinascente in Rome has launched several digital channels, offering on-demand service via WhatsApp.
He said online shopping in Italy does not even constitute 1% of total retail business.
"Online business in Italy is the smallest when compared with other countries in Europe,'' said Mr Radice.
Apart from Rome, the company also plans to open a new Rinascente in Turin.
Central Group currently operates 15 luxury department stores under five brands abroad: La Rinascente in Italy (11 branches), Illum in Denmark (one branch), Alsterhaus in Germany (one branch), KaDeWe in Germany (one branch) and Oberpollinger in Germany (one branch).
Luxury department stores in Europe are expected to contribute €1.4 billion this year, a 5% increase from last year.
Of the total, €650 million each is expected to come from La Rinascente in Italy and Germany, with the rest from its businesses in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Central Group predicts its overall sales will rise by 14.9% this year to 382 billion baht.
