june 21, 2021 - Florentia Village

Florentia Village celebrates its 10th anniversary in China

Florentia Village, the leading Italian luxury designer outlet Malls project, started 10 years ago in Tianjin/Bejing. Within a decade, the project has grown and to date can include 7 malls in 7 cities in China.

Many events to celebrate the first Luxury outlet opened in 2011 and important investments to continue growing in the Chinese market.

Florence-Beijing, 21 June 2021 - The Florentia Village Luxury Mall located between Beijing and Tianjin - a district with a population of over 30 million, strategically set just 20 minutes from Beijing and 15 minutes from #tianjin - celebrated its 10^th anniversary. Last week several events were organized in the mall to liven up stores, streets, galleries and plazas of the Chinese luxury citadel in the name of Made in Italy.

Florentia Village is the main Italian Luxury Designer Outlet Malls in the Asia region, owned by Silk Road, a shareholding company formed by Fingen, its management (Jacopo Mazzei, Maurizio Lupi e Jacopo De Vena) and some international investors. The entrepreneurial project was born 10 years ago thanks to the expertise of RDM – real estate branch of Fingen Group – and its top management who now operate 7 malls in China, with assets of 2.5 billion dollars.

Within 10 years, the project has grown to include 7 luxury malls in 7 cities (Tianjin/Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hong Kong and the one opened last February in Chongqing). The mall network has a turnover of about 2 billion dollars, contains over 300,000 square meters of shopping retail and boasts more than 1,100 shops which attract 21 million visitors each year.

Jacopo Mazzei, President of RDM Asia says: “We chose to celebrate this important milestone where our project began, I mean in our first Luxury Outlet, with several events throughout the week, with music and the authentic Italian atmosphere. At the beginning, on 12^th June 2011, we started with 80 shops and by the end of 2021 we will have more than 1,200”.

The distinctive design and architectural features of each Florentia Village incorporate a strong Italian identity by combining plazas, fountains, streets, monumental buildings and charming galleries to experience Italy and deliver a unique destination for Chinese consumers to buy renowned brands, entertain, and relax.

“Each #florentia Village is conceived and designed with a new shopping approach and all the shops are set in an unparalleled architectural context featuring the Italian beauties and lifestyle in order to involve the customers in a unique experience and bring them closer to the values of the different brands. Inside the #florentia Village malls we offer a shopping experience focused on history and emotions originating from an engaging narrative. It was actually the exclusivity of the format that convinced the most prestigious international luxury brands to open in a #florentia Village mall", #jacopomazzei explains.

Within this first decade, #florentia Village attracted the interest of many important international investors and more than 750 million dollars has been invested to develop the business project.

“Our first mall, in #tianjin, was powered and financed mainly by Fingen (70%) and the Sino-American investor Waitex (30%)”, underlines Jacopo Fratini, CEO of Fingen. “Thanks to this first successful deal, we managed to involve and engage more and more institutional investors in order to develop a wider network of malls to cover the most important Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. To date, RDM is the leading Italian real estate development group in China and one of the first ever. Our vision was good and this is confirmed with the successful outcome of the project that also reveals that the expertise and the credibility of our group led to a strong partnership with important international funds which chose to rely on our leadership to manage the investment”.

A leisure and entertainment concept, named Jungle, was also created inside the Florentia Village malls. It is a special format that appeals to both kids and adults with different kinds of attractions from the more common playground to emotional virtual reality shows. In addition, an Italian concept of catering, restaurants and cafeterias were developed under the brands BellaVita and Buonissimo. To date 3 restaurants and 3 bars have already opened, by the end of the year this will total 9. The Italian projects dedicated to Food & Beverage are investments made by Fingen and some managers of RDM.

In order to implement the touchpoints of the #florentia Village brand, a comprehensive e-commerce platform has been created to offer an omni-channel retail experience as well as a loyalty member program. Currently there are more than 2.2 million loyal members, representing between 40% and 50% of turnover, and this number continues to grow by 8,000 new members per week. Members receive many exclusive offers such as a VIP lounge, special sales and other dedicated offerings.