Welcome to Okaïdi Riva del Garda! For the opening of our newest Italian store on 1 June, Lucia and Stefano, our new partners, took part in a Q&A with Anna, our Retail Coordinator.
Where is the store located?
This new store, in the Blue Garden shopping centre, opened in the small town of Riva del Garda in a superb tourist area between the Garda lake and the Dolomites.
This is the 119th Okaïdi store in Italy and the 15th franchise.
We were completely charmed and immediately decided to become partners!
How and why did you choose to become an Okaïdi partner?
We were looking for a brand we identified with.
We’ve worked together, as a couple, for a long time and are used to visiting shopping centres to discover brands.
Through to a contact, we were able to see the Okaïdi store in Bolzano and we loved it right away:
the colour, a broad offer, fantastic merchandising, affordable products and a warm welcome… That was all it took: We were completely charmed and immediately decided to become partners!
Do you already have other stores? Why invest in the children’s market?
We have a women’s clothing store and we wanted to develop a new project in Riva del Garda.
We thought that a children’s clothing store would be a good investment for our tourist town, where tourists and parents need something different for their children than the athletic clothing or swimsuits offered by the other stores.
Our women’s offer already gave us access to a clientele of mums: the ideal target for a range of children’s brands.
Believing in your brands encouraged us and gave us the confidence to go forward.
You wanted to open based on the original schedule, despite recent events: What motivated you? Why were you confident?
Choosing to open after the confinement and a difficult period for everyone was an emotional decision: we wanted to do something to send an encouraging message for the future. We wanted to share this wonderful project with all our customers, who thanked us and were happy that we continued with the plan.
We have also created jobs: our aim is to build the future together.
How did the first customers react?
Many customers already knew the brands, and those who didn’t loved the colour, the bright atmosphere and the fact that we welcomed them with a smile – even if they could only see our eyes because of the masks we have to wear.
Their reaction was, “We needed a store like this!”
Kids are our future, and Okaïdi-Obaïbi reflects this beautiful idea of the future, of optimism. Customers can feel that we’re working to support growing children.
Did you get the help you needed during the opening, even with the lockdown?
Yes, and a huge thanks to the teams who were there for us throughout.
Thanks to Valentina and the entire Bolzano Okaïdi team for helping us, despite the temporary closure and the difficult time we’ve all just gone through.
We’re also grateful to the Pedagogy Coordinator Monia, the Merate Okaïdi store manager who would have liked to open her store to us but who was able to adapt the training into a virtual version.
And thanks to Margherita, the regional pilot, for her incredible patience!
And what do you hope for in the future?
Our team – Antonella, Katia, Laura, Stefano (my husband) and I – are enthusiastic about this new adventure.
We have just one desire: to share these beautiful brands with as many customers as possible and to open more Okaïdi-Obaïbi stores!
And one final word for Giuseppe Scatigna, Director for Italy:
The franchises are entrepreneurs who contact us because they admire our We Act For Kids project. They provide a real opportunity to broaden the ÏDKIDS community.
We need franchises to grow and develop our brand awareness.
It’s impressive to see how many entrepreneurs are interested in our brands: that shows the company’s enormous potential in terms of growth!
