Back after a two-year wait, the Design Week is the event in Milan where ideas and talent are forged and is, together with EuroCucina 2022, the sector’s most important event. Gruppo LUBE was also in the spotlight at this year’s event, with a stand where it was possible to admire and see first-hand the new products of the two Cucine LUBE and CREO Kitchens brands, although the focus of the week’s events was unquestionably the Convention – Lo Store. Il nostro Essere LUBE, which was held on the evening of Tuesday, 7 June, at the Repower Theatre in Assago.

The convention offered a unique opportunity to take stock of the situation, starting with the excellent performance of the Group despite the pandemic, and going on to outline the strategies and objectives of the future, market trends and the next steps that Gruppo LUBE intends to take to maintain its sector leadership, all before an audience of over 1000 customers, sellers, journalists, the local authorities and the general management of the main Eldom groups that are partners of Gruppo LUBE.

“COULD IT BE TRUE?” was the question with which Fabio Giulianelli, the Group CEO, opened the Convention: simple and concise words that hide a deep and immense meaning: “Everything that Gruppo LUBE has created in over 50 years of activity, COULD IT BE TRUE? Did it really happen?” There is only one answer. YES.

“While it is words that teach us, it is facts that attract us and drive us to act. Only facts lend credibility to words”. Paraphrasing the words of Saint Augustine, Mr. Giulianelli used facts to answer his opening question.

The convention offered the occasion to take stock of the early months of 2022, which began with a 20% increase in revenues compared with the same period of the previous year. In just five years, Gruppo LUBE has obtained constant growth, ending 2021 with revenues of around Euro 248 million from its Cucine LUBE and CREO Kitchens brands, a 24% increase on 2020. These figures were accompanied by the opening of 50 new stores throughout the country, after 150 openings in 2021 and the milestone of 500 stores reached at the end of 2020.

The certified store and specialisation remain the Group’s main focus. “The store is the means through which the values of the brand are conveyed”, to put it in the enthusiastic words of CEO Fabio Giulianelli. Emotion and a memorable purchasing experience are confirmed as central strategies for LUBE and the concept of BEING LUBE was reiterated many times at the convention, as not just two simple words, but as a way of creating and experiencing a kitchen, a home and a lifestyle. This set of shared and tangible values take shape in the numerous Stores. BEING is a sum of the elements that characterise the LUBE world and define its identity.

It was 2017 when LUBE mentioned specialisation for the first time, and time has proved that it was right. “Focusing on specialised stores is the only way to achieve market leadership”, said CEO Fabio Giulianelli during the convention. “The generic distribution model is no longer suited to a value-based offer and it is increasingly being replaced by a distinctive and specialised single-brand store model, thanks to precise positioning and a clear identity on the market”.

And if the store evolves and gains increasingly precise and identifying features, the natural development to highlight that specialisation is CERTIFICATION, which Gruppo LUBE will grant after carefully checking compliance with a set of requirements by each Cucine LUBE store present in the country. An actual plaque with a gold ingot as a seal and displaying the LUBE brand in the foreground, alongside the colours of the Italian flag, the year of certification and the signature of the CEO.

Scalability and replicability of the store are the two key concepts of the LUBE project and of the major results achieved so far. These are the two words that will guide the Group strategies in the future as well and, during the Convention, were offered as a vindication for those clients who have embraced and believed in the philosophy, by opening several specialised single-brand stores.

Are BEING LUBE and ALWAYS BEING THERE the answers to the initial question “COULD IT BE TRUE?” It is all true: all we have to do is want it, believe in it, work to achieve it, be true to ourselves and to our values. We need to believe in our abilities and our dreams, visualise our objectives and know how to convey them enthusiastically to our team. BEING LUBE means family, trust, respect, quality, transparency and research. It means ALWAYS BEING THERE.