Oscar Farinetti Explained

Oscar Farinetti
Birth Date:24 September 1954
Birth Place:Alba, Italy
Style:Italian

Natale Farinetti, known as Oscar (pronounced as /it/; born 24 September 1954), is an Italian businessman and investor. Farinetti was the owner of the high-end Italian food mall chain Eataly and founder of the consumer electronics chain UniEuro.

Personal life and career

Farinetti was born in Alba, Piedmont. His father was insurgent and deputy mayor of Alba Paolo Farinetti.[1] After attending the liceo classico Govone in Alba, he started studying Business in Turin in 1972, but dropped out from college in 1976.[2]

His father Paolo founded a small local supermarket in 1967 and named it UniEuro; a few years later Oscar became actively involved in the business. He was appointed board member in 1978, and then CEO & Chairman until 2003.[3] The same year he decided to sell UniEuro to Dixons Retail for £230m.[4]

In 2004 he founded the high-end Italian supermarket Eataly. The New York Times has described it as a "megastore" that "combines elements of a bustling European open market, a Whole-Foods-style supermarket, a high-end food court and a New Age learning center."[5] The company is based in Monticello d'Alba, Cuneo, Italy and currently controls 28 stores in 7 different countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, UAE, Italy, Turkey and Brazil).[6]

On 18 March 2014, Eataly opened its big 5,000-square-meter store in Piazza XXV Aprile in Milan. In November 2016, Eataly opened in Copenhagen.[7] On 13 November 2019, Eataly opened a 50,000-square-foot store in Toronto, Canada in the Manulife Centre on Bloor Street.[8]

Media coverage

Farinetti's disruptive model has received significant media attention. His methods have been covered by publications including Forbes,[9] The New York Times,[10] The Atlantic[11] and the Chicago Tribune.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ANPI, Biografia Paolo Farinetti. Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia. 31 July 2014. it.
  2. Book: Sartorio, Anna . 7 October 2008 . Il mercante di utopie. La storia di Oscar Farinetti, l'inventore di Eataly . Sperling & Kupfer . 56 . 978-8820046217 . it.
  3. Web site: Oscar Farinetti racconta Oscar Farinetti. Il Post. 24 February 2012. it.
  4. Web site: Dixons in £230m UniEuro takeover. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211114415/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/dixons-in-pound230m-unieuro-takeover-613617.html. dead. December 11, 2008. The Independent.
  5. Tardi, Alan (24 October 2007) Spacious Food Bazaar in Turin Plans Manhattan Branch, The New York Times
  6. Web site: Eataly Chicago focuses on quality, education. 8 July 2014. Supermarket News.
  7. Web site: Eataly opens in Copenhagen. 10 November 2016. Eataly website. 25 March 2017.
  8. Web site: Eataly Toronto - blogTO - Toronto.
  9. Web site: Eataly Chicago, Is This The Future Of Food Retailing?. Forbes. 12 February 2013.
  10. Web site: Big Box Italian Food, in Rome. The New York Times. 19 July 2012.
  11. Web site: The Supermarket of the Future. The Atlantic. 1 May 2007.
  12. Web site: Eataly comes to Chicago. Chicago Tribune. 29 August 2014.