Palmer's Retailer Summer Camp-Day Three
Palmer's Retailer Summer Camp-Day Three Dainese factory highlights top Italian leather manufacturer.
9/21/98
By John Stouffer

Ugo Vercelli, marketing manager of the Dainese No Impact Division shows some clothing.

Dainese was established in 1972 in Molvena, Italy as a producer of motorcycle racing protection gear. They company slowly built up its popularity throughout Europe, and in the last ten years has expanded its offerings to include down-hill mountain biking, inline, down-hill skiing, and snowboarding protective apparel.

On the third day of the Palmer Retailer Summer Camp, the group of 22 snowboard shop managers and owners got to tour Dainese's (pronounced Di-nai-ze) two facilities in Northeastern Italy. This followed on the heels of the group's tour of the Palmer Snowboard factory in Austria, and then a long bus ride through the Austrian and Italian Alps.

According to Jurg Kunz, president of Palmer Snowboards, the company became a partner of Dainese when the snowboard company was searching for protective gear to provide its riders in boardercross races. Some friends at Swatch watches introduced Kunz to downhill mountain biker Philippe Perakis, who was sponsored by Dainese and wore its protective gear when competing. It turned out that much of the padded clothing was directly applicable to snowboarding, and the two companies started to work as partners sponsoring the Palmer boardercross team.

As part of the factory tour, the retailers got to see just where the clothing and protective gear the Palmer team wears is made and the different research and development that goes into it.

Benny Pellegrino of Milosport in Salt Lake City, Utah tries out a new helmet prototype.

Dainese employees more than 200 people in two different facilities, and has more than 600 people working for subcontractors in the local area. In its Molvena facility, R&D;, production, administration, marketing, and overall management is divided through two different buildings right next to each other. The production floor consists of rows and rows of women sewing together the fine leather protective outfits and other apparel the company sells. Patterns are designed and stamped out of leather rolls in another room. Across the street in the R&D; lab, designers and engineers work between computers and testing machines examining different materials, pads, and helmet designs that the company plans on making in the future.

Thirty minutes away in Vicenza, the company has a sales department and distribution center. Dainese markets its products in 35 countries and has sales of 110 billion lire.

The technical collaboration between the Dainese and the Palmer boardercross team is part of its corporate mission to design, develop, and market protective equipment for all sports which require it. In addition to the snowboard protective gear for the back, butt, arms, and knees, the company also has a small line of technical snowboard outerwear that is distributed through Palmer in the U.S.

"I was amazed at the high tech machinery and technology that the company had focused on producing clothing for these sports," said Chris Bachman, owner of The Shred Shop in Skokie, Illinois. "Their shipping warehouse was giant. It's obvious that they're dedicated to their industry and have made a considerable investment into the industry to be number one."

Next stop for the summer tour is a rare look at the Swatch factory in Biel, Switzerland. Continue to log on to Snowboarding Business for more information about the Palmer Summer Retailer tour across Europe.

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