Part 14: Pronovias - UK - Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia & France

Pronovias was successfully launched in the UK in January 1984 and sales grew rapidly, but with Spain about to enter the EU, Alberto Palatchi wanted to launch the product range in the rest of Europe. I was up for the adventure and started to plan my diary around essential Franchise Concepts work and forthcoming events such as the European and UK Franchise shows, the two seasonal Pronovias wedding gown presentations (November and May), visits to UK dealers to get feedback on the marketplace. Other Pronovias duties included visiting the Brides magazine head office to inspect & approve the advertisement “proofs” - I was never comfortable with this role - a slight unnoticed blemish or scratch would magnify up horrendously in the actual magazine.

I also had a foot in the door of being a speaker at Franchise Events in the UK and Europe since back in December 1982 when I assisted Ken Franklin (USA) at a three day conference in Brussels. www.dhirubhai.net/in/kennethfranklin

A Chance Encounter

In April 1985, Alberto was in London to visit the Churchill Hotel in Portman Square to view the facilities for the May - Winter Collection show.

As we were sitting reviewing our plans in a quite corner - who should walk by (with an attractive young lady on his arm), Barry Schiller. This was absolutely a fluke, a chance in a Million. Barry was unknown to Alberto at that time. Barry and I exchanged a few pleasantries, and he and the young lady were gone. So “who was that ?” Alberto wanted to know. He was obviously charmed by this exuberant young man who I clearly had a business relationship with. A few weeks later, Alberto asked me to approach Barry regarding a visit to Barcelona to discuss a possible role for him with the opening the German market. In the meantime I had a job to do.

The first obvious target for Pronovias after the UK was the island of Ireland. In April 1985 I flew over, hired a car and visited the major population centres. Unfortunately we had not identified a Specialist Bridal Magazines in Ireland at that time (although one or two retailers advertised in UK magazines), so we were not able to plan a trip as efficiently as Gaye and the team had done for the UK.

I toured through Dublin, Carlow, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Thurles, Ballybofey etc. seeking extremely “elusive” specialist shops.

In Galway for example, I arrived at midday and walked the main shopping areas of the town. Unlike (I guess) today, there was no sign of any wedding gowns at all, let alone a specialist. After checking into my hotel, I went out looking for somewhere to eat. Then I spotted in a brightly lit upper floor window - a wedding dress, and there was clearly some activity going on. I rang the appropriate door bell and went up to find a “fitting” in progress. This was actually a designer / seamstress who offered her own range of handmade dresses. Whilst not what we were ideally looking for, nor what she was used to, we agreed to meet the following morning. Happily she was sufficiently intrigued to consider putting our range next to her own.

Note: This was not the only time a designer was our route to market. Sally Bee (a delightful lady) in Hall Green, Birmingham, became an excellent customer for Pronovias and provided fantastic feedback on the trends of the market.

Note: The November 1985 London conference saw six new stockists appointed across Ireland.

In the middle of May 1985, I flew to Barcelona to formally introduce Barry Schiller to Alberto Palatchi. Everything was going well until Alberto explained exactly what he expected of Barry. For example he required that Barry should visit “every” potential dealer in Germany PERSONALLY, as I had done in the UK.

Barry was a delegator, happy to lead by example, but could not see that his “personal presence” was essential to appointing every dealer for the project. These differences led to a real clash of personalities. Both individuals were used to having the final word, and doing things their own way. With neither willing to “give an inch” . The project seemed doomed before it had begun.

That night, I spent hours with Barry in his hotel room going over every aspect of this “debate”. In the end Barry did “come around”. I think the deciding factors were that Barry did appreciate that Alberto would be investing a lot of money to get the project off the ground, and Barry had a real interest in fashion and saw this could take his business interests in a whole new direction.

There was no time to lose as the German launch conference was to be in late October - just 5 months later. Brochures introducing the Pronovias project had to be printed and posted, potential dealers identified, visits conducted and the conference prepared.

It was arranged that I would spend a few days travelling in Germany with Barry in a supporting role - it proved unnecessary, but was one of Alberto’s “better safe than sorry” measures that had proven their worth in the past.

Note: Bureaucracy in Europe has always been a problem. I remember we had some complex issues when I arrived in Germany with a “pre-prepared” mail out for the German potential stockists. I fell foul of a law about was the letter inside “signed” or not - or some such nonsense.

We also had to have a customs carnet if we were travelling with sample dresses from one country to another. I was “detained” (until Alberto rescued me) at Barcelona airport, because I was entering Spain with two Pronovias dresses that had faults in them. Alberto had wanted to see these problems with his own eyes. I did not realize I had to go through the RED channel and got caught smuggling products back into their country of origin!

I am digressing. Back to Germany - In any event, I could not spare more time in Germany because I was embarking on a recruitment of dealers in France. My French is virtually non existant, but of course my wife Martine is a French citizen and had been involved in the Pronovias project from the outset - assisting behind the scenes at the catwalk shows, and in numerous other ways - so she was more than competent, and again I was there for support.

My short German tour with Barry was uneventful, except in one particular dealer. I could not help but observe in the owner’s office some extremely “right wing” political posters.

The first conventions in each country were really special, Alberto speaks fluent French and a special gown was shown in Paris in the colours of the French flag. In Germany, although reading from prepared notes, his address to the attendees in German was greatly appreciated. Germany was to have its own office under Barry’s supervision, whilst stockists in France would deal with a new team in Barcelona regarding placing orders.

You can be there to hear Alberto’s introduction (in German), and with Barry fielding questions in this Youtube video - lots of English: https://youtu.be/IU1F8GskWbM????

Over the next couple of years Germany outshone the UK and France in terms of orders.

A few aspects of these various markets was becoming clear. Firstly the majority of UK dealers were small shops with very little in the way of alteration and repair facilities. In Europe and particularly in Germany, many dealers were much more substantial, being better financed, holding larger stocks, and having internal facilities for adapting the dress to the customer.

There was also a difference in approach. UK dealers liked familiar designs and once they had a “good seller” they saw no reason to give it up at the end of the season. They also liked to ask for extra “little frills” on the sleeves or around the neck etc and the factory was not set up for this type of “special order”. In mainland Europe, if they needed these things, they did it themselves.

There was another problem developing in the UK. The dealers did not seem to grasp the importance of phasing out all stock except the very best sellers by each season end. Instead they would order a new dress for each sale, and neither build a “back up stock” for best sellers, nor get rid of the slower models. The use of the same dresses for multiple girls to “try on” led to a build up of “make-up” and other stains that rendered the dress unsaleable. Consequently after a few seasons, they were left with “out of date” slow sellers, and turning away girls who wanted to try (and buy) the “NEW” best sellers.

In Spain and other markets, factory production was always approximately 50% initial dealer orders & 50% repeats. In the UK we were heading towards 40% initial orders and 60% repeats. This put a lot of pressure on the factory and was clearly costing dealers sales.

At each UK convention, Alberto would explain how this “stock dynamic” worked, and that in due course Pronovias would offer access to its internal stock control methods as a part of the “voluntary” and “optional” route to becoming a “Fully Branded” Pronovias dealer. Dealers hardly ever raised concerns about this with Alberto directly, but made it clear to me that whilst the advertising had worked wonders for their business, they felt “overstocking” in their stores was caused by the two seasons a year. I felt the real problem was that, although Alberto was completely sincere about respecting their independence, the dealers were growing alarmed at placing more of their sales with a manufacturer who would control the range, design, availability and branding of the store. Alberto tried to diminish this concern by suggesting a new separate store could be set up with financial assistance from the group. Unfortunately this seemed to just reinforce the UK dealers determination that their independence was worth far more than extra sales and market share. They were torn however, because the marketing and PR was so good (and effective) and was increasing every year.

In 1984, we had had no option but to miss the key issue of the January Brides Magazine as this was prepared weeks ahead, and we had no dealers at that time. In total in 1984, we had just 7 pages in Brides Magazine only. Yet it had generated thousands of dress sales. In 1985, Pronovias took 27 pages! We were now advertising in four specialist magazines, and instead of dealers using their stock of brochures to send out to “responders coupons” to the adverts, this would be done at my office. Also, a full set of 40 gowns would be held in the UK for dealers to use in their own fashion shows. This last innovation was particularly appreciated.

In 1986, a full Pronovias brochure was inserted in the key Jan / Feb issue of the main BRIDES magazine. This distribution of 80,000 brochures was unheard of, and tremendously expensive. Video cassettes were also made available showing the full Pronovias range that dealers could loan to potential clients - another first! Alberto loved to lead the market, and continued to do so for decades to come.

Time to head further afield. During the summer of 1986, I asked Jeff Frankling (see earlier editions of this newsletter) to do a quick trip to Norway for me to visit an exhibition that I hoped might provide me with a list of Bridal dealers in Scandinavia. Unfortunately this did not yield much information, but it helped me prepare for what needed to be done. In late November 1986, I set off for Scandinavia with the objective of covering the most major cites. This was far from an ideal time of year for a road trip this far north, so I upgraded my car to a Ford Scorpio four wheel drive with a heated windscreen!

This trip took me via Denmark across by ferry from Hirtshals to Kristiansand in Norway. I had hoped to drive “inland” over the mountains to Bergen but it was too late in the season, snow had closed the road, and so I had no option but to go via the coastal route. This took me via Stavanger then island hopping on some very rough ferry crossings to Bergen.

The journey both ways was visually spectacular. This trip included Oslo, G?teborg, Stockholm, Malmo, Copenhagen, and Aarhus. On a later occasion, I took the journey up the west coast of Sweden, then crossing from Sundsvall to Trondheim (Norway) via Ostersund. If you ever have the opportunity to travel this route, I highly recommend it. Hopefully you will not have the burst tyre when it is -10c in the dark that I experienced, but that is all part of travelling! Finland was left until June 1988, although we already had one dealer there by then who had made contact directly.

Note: The first German Conference was held in Dusseldorf on the 20th October 1985. Barry Schiller did a fine job, having to cover many of the aspects Alberto would normally have addressed, and then acting as “simultaneous” translator for the questions and answers session. Dresses were first delivered to Germany in January 1985 and by April over 5,000 orders had been received. Roughly 50% of the total full year sales in the UK.

Having successfully launched and grown Pronovias in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Barry Schiller left the company in October 1987 and went on to demonstrate his versatility and originality in many business ventures, including the founding of the ITRE (Institute of Telecom Resellers Europe), bringing senior executives in the International Telecom World together to form this association. ITRE promoted competitive telecommunications in Europe, and was the first European association of national and international telecom carriers.

Back in the UK several developments were taking place.

Pronuptia

Pronuptia had the option to continue the legal proceedings started in 1983 with a full “trial of the issues”, and publicly maintained it intended to do this. Behind the scenes however, Edward Young & Victor Young had contacted me seeking a secret meeting with Alberto. They were offering to SELL all or part of the Pronuptia business. In January 1985, they proposed a sale of 60% for ￡1 million pounds and in June 15% for ￡250,000. Alberto allowed the “negotiations” to meander along - as clearly court action was unlikely as long as talks continued. Pronuptia obviously had a need for cash, so we felt increasingly confident they would not continue the legal action. The fact is Alberto had never “grown his business” by acquisition, and was very unlikely to change that policy at this point. Pronuptia was charging a 10% royalty on sales which contributed 600,000 profit to the group. This was an alien practice to Pronovias that made all its profit from manufacturing and retailing, and charged no royalties to the dealers.

Berkertex

I was contacted by Alan Devine of Berkertex Bride in March 1985 regarding stocking Pronovias. This was impossible due to the locations of their branches. However I took Alan to visit Alberto in Barcelona and a solution was found. Alberto opened an Italian business directory and selected a few names at random. After 10 minutes a new brand was born, Gianni Ballenti. This brand was later used by Berkertex on many other types of garments.

2,000 bridal gowns were supplied to Berkertex in 1985 as part of the 10,000 gowns sold in total that year in the UK.

Note: Pronovias was originally just one of several brands in the St. Patrick SA stable alongside La Sposa & Belnovia. The Gianni Ballanti range was largely borrowed from the Belnovia collection. Note: Alan Devine will re-appear in a future issue, not connected to Berkertex.

Moss Bros

Alberto had always wanted a Pronovias “flagship” store in central London. Moss Bros (founded in 1859) specialised in suit hire for the groom. In 1986 David Moss indicated the company was interested in opening dedicated Pronovias stores. A project was soon agreed and 21-26 Bedford Street, Covent Garden was selected for the First Pronovias London Store to open in February 1988. A store in Tunbridge Wells would open earlier in October 1987. A total conversion of these stores was undertaken to a design by Conran Design who Alberto had been using for a revamp in the Spanish Shops. All the fittings were shipped in from Spain.

In both cases, a charity Catwalk show was held as a grand opening. The Covent Garden event was co-hosted by Peter Moss and Alberto Palatchi. Alberto (as always) devoted meticulous attention to every detail, including the exact choice and sequence of the music for the show. He never tired of trying for a higher level of perfection in all areas.

The opening of the Pronovias - Moss London store did not go down well with Berkertex, and caused some concern in the UK dealer network.

The Conventions:

Of the two range presentations each year, the November “Spring Collection” was by far the most important. In the UK, we always used “quality” London hotels for these events hiring the largest rooms (usually the ballroom) that they had. The Winter collection was a much calmer affair, usually no speeches or question & answer sessions , just the modelling of the gowns, and order taking. These were held at smaller locations, the first one being the Spanish Club which at that time was located at 5 Cavendish Square London, (near John Lewis store), now a high end restaurant / club.

The Convention Circus

Dresses were always accompanied when moving from one country to another. Usually Alberto, Luis Garcia, or I, acted as the Carnet holder. In the UK, the 25 plus “enormous cases” would fill at least 3 taxis. 45 dresses, plus can-cans, headdresses, shoes, stockings, veils, tiaras, gloves, capes, etc. You could only hope the customs officer would stamp the form without wanting to “stocktake” the lot!

Once the international group of dealers started to grow, we decided that instead of multiple spring shows in the UK, Germany, France etc, we would try out a “grand convention” in Barcelona bringing the dealers together with their Spanish counterparts . The logistics were immense - with flights, hotels, and a massive location required for the actual show. So in 1987, my entire UK office team and the majority of dealers appointed in Europe flew to Spain for this event.

You can join the experience on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sVSB1QOMJ9g This includes “two” showings of the dresses - the second (around a square stage) for order placing. As a bonus you will get a serious flamenco show, a visit to a Pronovias bridal store, get hungry watching us all eat a feast, and finally a look around the factory - ENJOY…..

Note: I have had the privilege and pleasure of working closely with many motivated entrepreneurs, and admire and respect them all. I must say however that Alberto Palatchi was in a special league. A real force of nature, dynamic, diligent - yet always charming, courteous and a pleasure to spend time with.

Next Issue: I will catch up on all that had been happening at Franchise Concepts Ltd. between 1983 and 1988 - New Clients, another extraordinary proposal and saying goodbye to the Pronovias project.