Enrico Bracalente was born in 1957 in Monte San
Pietrangeli, a hillside village in the south of the Marche
region, a well-known cluster for footwear production. That
was the era of family businesses, typically ‘one house, one
workshop’, micro-sized enterprises boasting high value in
terms of craftsmanship, and Enrico had the opportunity
to get an in-depth knowledge of the entire footwear production
process.

In 1975, he decided to start his own business and set up
a small shoe factory together with his brother Luigi and a
partner; in those years he worked as a subcontractor,
while planning the company’s new development. By 1990,
at the age of 33, Enrico had acquired the necessary skills
to move on to the next stage: he started his own production,
and developed the NeroGiardini brand.

Led by his inherent instinct for business, he decided to
profoundly revise the company, by focusing “not only on
the product”; he started to get out of the old conception
of the small business and imagined a brand based on
three pillars: products, service, and communication. Enrico
defined the key features of the brand: recognisability
in terms of style, quality and comfort, artisan know-how
integrated with advanced technology. He inferred the potentials
of the ‘warehouse-based production’ model, a
completely innovative system in the footwear sector.
The choice of such a production model - based on production
scheduling and stocks – required huge investments
in the logistics sector, which led to the setting up
of the Replenishment Service. Such service soon became
one of the company’s distinguishing features.

During the years marked by delocalisation and the logics
of cheap labour, Enrico decided once again to swim
against the tide, and chose to maintain his business in
Italy, in the region where he was born. This decision
proved to be far-sighted, in fact it became one of the
company’s strengths, thanks to the very high production
quality and speed guaranteed by the ‘short supply
chain’. Being aware of the great value of Made in Italy
and determined to promote and safeguard the historical
craftsmanship heritage of his region, in 2012 Enrico established
the Three-Year Training Course for Footwear
Operators, with a certificate recognised by the European
Community.

The company has been growing exponentially over the
years, while conquering and consolidating a leading position
in the Italian market; it is now well-positioned in the
medium-high product segment. In 2016 Enrico Bracalente
started to expand his business to foreign markets, and
NeroGiardini rapidly became one of the most appreciated
Made in Italy brands.
The vision of an entrepreneur has become a solid business
reality: the perfect synthesis between the craftsmanship
excellence of his land and the most advanced
industrial technologies.