Creativity in the limelight

Eagerly awaited, the French Groupe Adeo's first Italian Zodio store finally saw the light of day in May 2015. The market is located in Rozzano in the province of Milan. It was established on a former site of another French garden centre chain Botanic. It has a gross sales area of approximately 3 000 m² and a team of around 40 em­ployees.The main theme, which characterises Zodio's philosophy is: creativity. With this opening, Italy alongside France (where the name is written with a circumflex accent i.e. Zôdio), is the only country with all four retail formats which are dedicated to the home, says Adeo: Leroy Merlin, Bricoman, Bricocenter (on the Iberian Peninsula this format is called Akí) and now Zodio.The new store offers almost 30 000 products for the home, creative living and hobbies, so-called "crafts" - divided into clearly defined product categories, which start with the kitchen (set-up, preparation and also cooking, baking, foodstuffs); this category along with the "table décor" range takes up 30 per cent of the sales area.It's important to note here that only 30 per cent of the product range has been taken over from the French format. The rest was especially put together for the Italian customers and their habits.This is followed by the spa category, that's dedicated to the bathroom and bedroom. Then one comes to the more decorative product ranges with a product assortment for beautifying and individual home design and furnishings (small furniture and accessories) and finally to the department for children's parties - the so-called "Bimbo Party" in Italian.The customer path is completed with two special workshop areas: the first is a fully-equipped kitchen, the second is designed for events involving creative activities or can also be used individually and free of charge with no obligation to buy.

Opposite the workshop areas is a "Salone Creativo", a comfortable area where one can take a break, use the free WiFi, recharge a battery, drink a coffee or just read a book. Additionally one can meet once a month for a knitting and crochet session.This is a retail format which presents Italy with a whole new concept. Maybe it's possible to compare the highly competitive product range areas like "table décor" or bedding and bed linen with…