Serbian tradition and Italian design - Ateks at the top of the textile industry

- Ateks, the company that deals with wholesale and retail trade in clothing and is 100% owned by Italian company Fibest from Padova, celebrates its 57th birthday and the seventh anniversary of successful privatization in 2010. For nearly six decades the company from Belgrade is one of the leaders in Serbian textile market. Ateks, which has 44 stores in Serbia, plans to rationalize its retail network this year, as well as expand the offer in the existing outlets - Aleksandar Đorđević, the Manager of Wholesale Sector in Ateks, announced in an interview for eKapija.

- In the following period, we will open the first retail facility in the center of Novi Sad and Outlet center on Banovo Brdo in Belgrade, while three or four unprofitable stores in Serbia will, most probably, be closed - said Đorđević.

Trademarks

- Over 90% of goods in Ateks' stores are made in Italy and we offer them through three fashion lines - Spaces, which includes apparel for teenagers, Studio IT, which is characterized by business elegance and "casual" clothing for businessmen, and Moda MI, which offers fashion classics for older and overweight people. We plan to expand the offer in each of these fashion lines - Đorđević explained and pointed out that all Ateks stores are multibrand outlets.

That means that the customers are offered several trademarks of Italian Fibest - Ekle, Prani, Toujours Famme, as well as Revor, Lorenco Bruneli and Cliver Jeans. Ateks also offers aforementioned brands within the wholesale system that gathers over 300 buyers from all around Serbia.

- Dominant brands in Spaces stores are Ekle and Cliver Jeans, the main brands in Studio IT are Lorenco Bruneli and Prani, while the brands that can be bought in Moda MI are Toujours Famme, Revor and Cheitt. In addition to its own brands, Fibest also offers the customers other brands, the most famous of which are Ascot, Malagrida and Navigare - said Đorđević.

In addition to Italian brands, the Moda MI concept also includes Mirjana Marić's creations, that is, a small series for older ladies who are faithful to her brand for more than 30 years.

According to Đorđević, the best results are achieved by Moda MI, which has the biggest number of outlets and the largest assortment of models and colors, as well as sizes. The target group are the employed customers between 30 and 50 years old whose incomes are above the average.

- The segment for youth - Spaces, registers good sales, but the competition in that domain is the strongest. The customers are the most demanding and the most influenced by advertisements, they easily change trends and are used to big season discounts. Youth brands Ekle and Cliver Jeans, intended for both boys and girls, are present in the north of Italy as mono brands in over 40 stores in the regions of Veneto, Tuscany and Lombardia.

Retail network

According to Đorđević, Ateks will, most probably, close three or four outlets in Serbia in 2010 because they are not making profit, but the company also intends to open Outlet department store in Požeska Street on Banovo Brdo, as well as the first retail facility in Novi Sad's downtown.

- Ateks owns about 40 facilities, while the rest are rented. So far, the best sales are registered by the stores in Belgrade, especially the outlets in the primary shopping zone - Knez Mihajlova Street, Srpskih Vladara Street and Kralja Aleksandra Boulevard.

- Ateks' long-term plans certainly include the expansion of the network of stores in Belgrade. We now have 24 outlets in the capital city, while our other stores are situated in Kragujevac, Valjevo, Smederevska Palanka, Požarevac, Paraćin, Bor, Negotin, Niš, Leskovac and Čačak.

After it took over Ateks in 2003, Italian Fibest renewed the whole retail network of that company and set aside significant funds in 2009 for complete reconstruction of the business center in Belgrade, as well as the wholesale warehouse.

- Everything from electricity installations, air conditioning and lighting systems to the tiniest details in the interior was changed. We finished the first investment cycle in 2009 and we plan to start the second round this or next year if the market conditions allow. Revitalization of facilities, works on interior, replacement of mannequins and lighting system and refreshment of concepts are in the pipeline - says Đorđević.

Đorđević points out that the Italian owner also thinks about producing the goods in Serbia, but he says it is still too early to speak about concrete partnerships because Serbian textile companies have, so far, been unable to adequately respond to the standards requested by the Italian corporation.

Italian group Fibest also operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina where it owns Sarajevo Tekstil, the company similar to Ateks. The group is also present in Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro through its partner companies.

T.S.