Word: manzanos
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...Manzano's once dominant share of the market for no-frills office swivel chairs has collapsed because Chinese producers churn them out with almost the same quality at a fraction of the cost. Now the Chinese are stepping up to more sophisticated chairs in wood and leather too. Talk about "the crisis" is ubiquitous in Manzano--even the executives of thriving companies are worried that the unique industrial fabric of the area is fraying. "We see people with tears in their eyes, not knowing what to do next," says Simone Focacci, manager of one of Manzano's three principal banks...
...Manzano entrepreneurs know they can't compete on price. But if they can find a way to carve out an upmarket niche for themselves--as the most successful chairmakers are doing--there's every reason to believe that Europeans and Chinese can coexist and flourish, building on their respective strengths. Several Manzano chairmakers are already looking to China as a market where they can both buy and sell. "Nobody can stop the Chinese anymore," says Lucio Zamò, one of the few remaining successful manufacturers of office chairs in the district. Zamò has been able to cut expenses by building chairs...
...Manzano is to recover its mojo, the chair triangle's entrepreneurs know that they--and not politicians wielding protective tariffs--will be the ones to find it. "This is a moment of maturation," says Fanin, the machine-tool manufacturer, who recently laid off six of his 15 workers. "You can't compete on price. You need to believe in the company and innovate. There's no third...
...Manzano's claim to be the chair capital goes back centuries. An 8th century altar in nearby Cividale contains the first trace of chairmaking. During the Renaissance, local carvers and carpenters from the region had their hands full with orders from Venice, 75 miles away. Production of chairs for the masses began in the 1800s, but the real boom came after World War II. Big distributors, primarily from Germany, discovered the local craftsmanship and started buying in bulk, turning Manzano chairs into a $1 billion-a-year business. To cope with the demand, the number of firms grew tenfold...
...sorely undercapitalized and lack the resources to build their business to a global scale. And virtually no one has much experience selling to customers other than the big German distributors that once snapped up as much as 70% of the district's output. Says Giovanni Masarotti, president of the Manzano chair district and chief executive of Montina, one of its oldest firms: "If I say three companies have true marketing departments, I'm exaggerating...