Smeg executives joined with senior retail partners to celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary last Tuesday evening with a stylish event at a hip venue in Alexandria and an unveiling of the new Classic Collection coking range.
When Smeg started Australian distribution of its premium appliances in 1985, the two most popular songs of 1985 were ‘Y.M.C.A’ by the Village People and Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive”. Petrol prices were well below one dollar a litre which probably helped all those Smeg account managers regularly visit the once ubiquitous national Retravision stores.
L to R: Geoff Reader, Wayne Campbell, Michael Ford, Andrew Cronin, Geraldine Gillespie, Wayne Jennings.
Today, while modern technology has helped suppliers such as Smeg manage retail accounts throughout this vast continent, the company still believes that investing into face-to-face personal relationships with its retail partners is important.
Smeg managing director Andrew Cronin talked about the values and commitment to innovation and design held by Smeg’s global owners, which the company strives to communicate to retailers and consumers.
Smeg was founded by Vittorio Bertazzoni from Guastalla, a town near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, and is today one of the country’s leading home appliance manufacturers. The Bertazzoni family’s entrepreneurial history begins way back in the 19th century. Starting out as blacksmiths, the Bertazzonis soon branched out into cooker building.
The very first Bertazzoni kitchens were put on show at the World Expo held in Milan in 1906.