As you’d expect from the owner of a designer store, famous for being the place to visit for premium quality shoes for the last 40 years, Pierluigi Brugnoli arrives to work in style. He parks his cream Vespa outside his equally stylish store and begins another day of work selling high quality shoes and clothing to the beautiful people of Rome.
Brugnoli comes from a family immersed in retail, with his two sisters also owning stores in the city. However it was his father, Carlo, who opened the initial Brugnoli store in 1969. Originally selling only formal shoes, a lot has changed since Carlo retired and handed the business over, which Pierluigi Brugnoli now runs with his girlfriend Danila Lenzi.
“Two years ago my father decided he didn’t want to work anymore, he gave me the shop and some money to start work. With it, we did this kind of revolution where we now sell clothing which we didn’t before, and a range of accessories and things for the home” says Brugnoli.
It sounds simple, but this revolution consists of more than just changing the product selection. Browse the rails at Brugnoli and you’ll notice every item displayed to it’s maximum potential. The shop is fitted in that contemporary style which takes the best of design whether old or new. The furnishings range from a solid but weathered ladder used as a display case to industrial metal crates shelving accessories. Adjacent to a pleasingly tactile brown leather studded couch, sits a vintage barbers’ chair. Designed with the customer experience in mind, the layout of the shop encourages you to investigate each item further.
“It’s also another way to show and display the shoes. Before they were all in a line but now you can touch them, you can see them more clearly. It’s more like home. The experience here is very important for us, we asked an architect friend to help with this kind of design and we try to put inside the shop many things but all of the same style.”
Talking about the garb is when you’ll see Brugnoli get really excited, he runs me through a few items on the table in front of us and emphasizes the characteristics of each; hundred percent linen shirts, shoes handmade in Italy, and a clothing brand you won’t find anywhere else in Rome, La Panoplie.
“We create the choice from three criteria. The first is the price, because it’s very important at the moment in Italy. Before the economic crisis we sold a lot of shoes from €500-900. There are always people that can spend this kind of money but now these people are not really our average customer” he explains. Now, shoe prices range from €150-600, with a Brugnoli brand shoe costing around €200.
The second criteria to consider when stocking the shop is quality, something that many big chains are missing, according to Brugnoli. “Now, there are a lot of shops that sell basic clothes at €40 and after two weeks your jeans or T shirt are broken. Here we have the brand Denim & Supply, a line of Ralph Lauren,” he explains, taking a pair of thick inky blue jeans off the hanger. “They are made in the USA so are good quality and they come out at €95. A T-shirt, basic, all white; €35 but the quality is higher.”
Exclusivity, the third criteria, demonstrates how Brugnoli wants to be different from the big chain stores and stay away from the fashions he hates. “We know that we could choose to do something like this and we’d sell more, we’d sell everything, but we don’t want to. If you make a shop like the others, you become just like them. All the products we have are by our own taste. For me in this shop, I could buy everything.”
So if quality shoes and clothing are to your taste, visit the Brugnoli shop where you can browse their range of carefully considered products in surroundings that it’s a pleasure to find yourself in. For more visual treats, or a preview of what you’ll find in store, head to their social media pages.
