Despite rumors, the newborn company Sixty Distribution, founded by Sixty Group’s new owner Crescent Hyde Park Panasiatic fund, has officially confirmed its soon-to-start relaunch plan in Italy and Europe. As Paolo Bodo, CEO Sixty Distribution, explained, the group is ready for a relaunch, which shall include an overall upgrading of the brands, new store openings and the restart of wholesale and retail operations.

The new plan focuses on a €50 million investment for the next three years - in addition to the €100 million that have already been invested by its new owner for saving Sixty Spa (now facing a phase of agreements with creditors) from Chapter 11. “There was much confusion about our operations,” commented Paolo Bodo, CEO of Sixty Distribution: “Companies did not provide us raw materials, clients didn’t buy and banks did not finance us. Although we kept alive the old Sixty Spa and presented a relaunch plan that the unions and that the Italian Economy and Development Minister accepted.”

The newborn Sixty Division has actually hired more than 200 people from the old Sixty Spa. Sixty Distribution is now employing 52 people at their Chieti (Italy) headquarters that manage retail and wholesale operations in EMEA, take care of design, product and sample collections. It also hires 186 people working for the company’s monobrand stores in Italy and 75 people working for the European sales network. Furthermore, they founded a new satellite company - “+39” - that will be employing 10 people by end of 2014.

The relaunch will start with Miss Sixty, major brand of the group, and will focus on monobrand stores that sell a single brand. “Miss Sixty will change,” commented Bodo. “We are working on an upgrading of the brand in a more fashion and premium direction. And the first results will be visible from s/s 2016. A retail project has just started: the existing 12 monobrands will become 22 and will be designed according to a new concept that will be revealed at the beginning of December in Rome, in the central Via del Corso historical flagship store. In the first three months of 2015 Miss Sixty will open in London and Florence, while we are looking for the right locations in Milan and Paris. At this point, once this new course will be started we will also be ready for wholesale distribution activities - which were temporarily suspended because of the new design course expected to start – and on a series of openings of franchising stores.” 

The company expects to close 2014 registering €25 million sales and to reach €100 million sales by the end of 2017. Much of these revenues are expected from international markets - 70% will come from Europe and the remaining 30% from Italy.

The German market will also play a significant role in this relaunch since the already existing Miss Sixty store in Munich will soon be redesigned in the new concept. In addition a new Miss Sixty flagship store is due to open in Berlin in 2016. 

For other brands - Murphy & Nye, Energie and Refrigiwear - a stronger focus will be set on wholesale distribution starting f/w 2015/2016 and s/s 2016. Murphy & Nye and Energie will be redesigned toward a higher positioning and will be involved in a new retail plan that by the end of 2017 will increase the present 31 European stores to 49. Refrigewear, also part of Sixty’s portfolio, will be destined to the wholesale market only.