Winter boom period in Bracchi's fashion transport, with tailoring services, deliveries to high mountain boutiques and chalets for ski schools. Bracchi handles (and irons) millions of items of clothing from major brands. The CEO, Umberto Ferretti: “Growing sector, we take special care of customer needs”. The strategy of new investments: Venetian hubs dedicated to cosmetics and bubbles, with ad hoc services.
Two million euros invested in fashion in the last year, a three-year investment plan that exceeds five million and a very clear development model: Veneto becomes the hub dedicated to Bracchi's fashion and lifestyle. This is the strategy decided by management and which will be developed over the next few years. The company, which in December 2023 was acquired by the Argos Climate Action fund which placed the chairmanship of the board of directors Paolo scaroni, has decided to specialize in Veneto for all activities related to the world of lifestyle, for example cosmetics and the distribution of Prosecco bubbles. During the year, two million euros were invested in various projects; new means of transport, including those of the last mile, shelves to optimize workflows, software and IT processes for warehouse management.
Today Bracchi's Fashion department works with the most famous Italian excellences, collections that must be protected from safety to quality, up to secrecy and the protection of creativity. At the same time, the outsourced logistics model that Bracchi proposes guarantees independence and provides a tailor-made service, capable of following the fashion season and its needs from the initial ironing and reconditioning phase up to delivery to individual retailers at a European level.
There are four fashion centers in Bracchi, the two spaces completely dedicated to the fashion world are those of Tombolo, in the Padua area, and Oppeano, in the Veronese area. But there are also the hubs of Castrezzato, in the Brescia area, and Bassano del Grappa, in the Vicenza area, which have a substantial part of their activities in the fashion and lifestyle sector.
“The big fashion brands are looking for staff specialized in garment reconditioning activities and demand is now greater than supply,” he explains Matthew Vaccari, Courier Business Unit Director of Bracchi. “The winter season is approaching where we will deliver packages and clothes hung directly on the ski slopes. There is a growing demand for deliveries of hanging garments, especially abroad where there are very high waste disposal taxes (in particular packaging connected to cardboard and packaging). Everything is done with green logic, therefore. The activity carried out to manage specialized deliveries for the big players in the e-commerce sector is particularly interesting, with a total of 1.200.000 shipments managed during the year".
In particular, deliveries in historic centers with a precise time slot are important, as well as deliveries with tail lifts and porterage. Particularly at this time of year, deliveries to high mountain boutiques and ski school chalets should be mentioned (we mention, among others, the spectacular winter mountain boutiques of Megève, Chamonix, La Vallè, Val D'Isere, Courchevel) , sometimes you arrive directly in the middle of the ski slopes, where luxury clothing boutiques are also open. As regards exclusive locations, the activities in the outlets are interesting, such as in Noventa di Piave or at Mcarthurglen Douains in France (for the latter, for example, pallet trucks with "white wheels" are required, the wheels that leave no trace to transport inside boutiques and shops), but there are others: in Germany (Neumünster, metzinger, wertheim. Ingolstadt), Austria (Pandorf), Holland (Roermond) and Switzerland (Mendrisio). But the challenge of moving around airports is also enormous. For example, in France, Charles De Gaulle requires a license and suitable insurance to cross the runway for duty free loads.
THE HISTORY OF BRACCHI
Bracchi was founded in 1928 as a local transport company. Over the years it has expanded its presence, establishing itself as an important reality first at a national level and then, with the expansion of its logistics network, in Europe and around the world. The expansion of its fleet of vehicles and integrated and outsourced logistics projects have allowed the company to establish itself in highly strategic niche sectors, in which it has been a European leader for over 40 years. Bracchi's regional offices based in Lublin in Poland, Levice and Kostolné Kračany in Slovakia were soon added to the headquarters in Fara Gera d'Adda (in the province of Bergamo), where all operations are coordinated at a national and European level. , dedicated to the logistics and distribution of lifts and consumer goods in Eastern Europe, and Ettenheim in Germany: a logistics hub of 30.000 square meters of covered surface, equipped with the most advanced technologies and in a strategic position for the management of European traffic . 2018 marks a new important acquisition of Bas Group, a historic company from Bassano del Grappa, in the Vicenza area, made up of four transport and logistics companies specialized in the most varied sectors, from food to beverage, from fashion to e-commerce. In 2020 it is the turn of Peterlini, a company based in the province of Parma specialized in exceptional technical transport of up to 100 tonnes. Thanks to these acquisitions, Bracchi consolidates its leadership by expanding its offering to new strategic businesses and geographical areas, operating in the industrial, agricultural, elevator, cosmetics, fashion, food & beverage, e-commerce and retail sectors. Today Bracchi works in 11 logistics hubs and seven regional offices for a total of 350.000 square meters of overall warehouses, there are over 650 employees present in the various factories, 35% are women. The shipments managed per year are over 1,5 million. The CEO from 2021 is Umberto Ferretti. In December 2023 Argos Climate Action, the first European "Grey to Green" buyout fund, entered Bracchi, leader in freight transport and logistics, with a majority stake, appointing Paolo Scaroni as president and confirming Umberto Ferretti at the helm of the company . In 2022 the group closed with sales above 189 million euros, up 19% on 2021. For further information: www.bracchi.it.
BASSANO DEL GRAPPA – VICENZA
The regional office for Veneto is based in the Bassano logistics quadrant, specializing in the lifestyle and tech innovation sector: fashion, cosmetics, food products including sparkling wines, e-commerce.
Bracchi acquired Bas Group in Bassano del Grappa in 2018, a historic company in the Vicenza area, founded in 1977 and made up of four transport and logistics companies specialized in the most varied sectors, from food to beverage, from fashion to e-commerce. The operational part of the transport is also located in Bassano. A cutting-edge pallet shuttle system is operational here for the management of food & beverage logistics, it is a block of intensive storage shelving, with a capacity of over 3.000 pallet spaces. A system that requires minimal intervention from the operators since it is the automatic shuttle that carries out the movements within the shelving channels, guided via wi fi and tablet.
Also in Bassano del Grappa is the innovative start-up "Truckpooling", an online shipping portal. Bracchi's digital project is an innovative service that allows individuals and companies to compare courier offers and purchase shipments online in just a few clicks and at unbeatable prices. The strong points are the additional services available such as: delivery to the floor, cash on delivery, collection and delivery points, insurance of the goods, triangulation management and return's management, security in the management of data and payments, performance in the comparison of couriers and in the checkout, possibility to customize shipping with additional services. In 2023 Bracchi released Truckpooling Pro, the advanced version of the platform dedicated to companies with mass loading of shipments, e-commerce integrations, tracking dashboards and personalized rates.
TOMBOLO – PADUA
The Bracchi structure in Tombolo (in the Padua area) is specialized in ironing activities (iron, mannequin, topper and tunnel), quality control and reconditioning (made by hand). In this logistics hub the company has decided to invest more and more in cutting-edge equipment for industrial ironing. Today the factory has the capacity to handle over 30.000 garments per day in an area of over 15.000 square metres. Over the course of the year, around two million garments are ironed here; between quality control and logistics we reach approximately 5,5 million items per year. Every phase of the logistical process is managed on the site: from quality control to the restoration of damaged or stained garments, from labeling to ironing and bagging. Thanks to a special 4-chamber Veit tunnel, the garments are ironed and reconditioned with a sanitizing and deodorant treatment. For particular needs, a hand ironing and bagging service is also offered to ensure maximum care of the product. The fashion sector is subject to strong seasonality, on average the site employs around a hundred people.
OPPEANO – VERONA
Technology is also at the center of interest of the Oppeano logistics hub, in the province of Verona, dedicated to the world of fashion and furniture, with specific activities aimed at the world of e-commerce. The numbers are impressive: there are over 12 million pieces processed and over forty thousand references managed. On 25.000 square meters Bracchi manages the integrated logistics of important Made in Italy design brands, almost a hundred people work here. Delivery times to shops across Europe are reduced to a minimum to respect the "just in time" logic. In Oppeano Bracchi has installed an innovative automatic and electronic "pallet scan" system to speed up package measurement operations: outgoing pallets are monitored by special cameras that detect the size of the packages and compare it with declared weights and measurements.
Subscribe to our newsletter!