SAO PAULO, Brazil — Donatelli Tecidos, one of the largest fabric wholesalers in South America with headquarters on Avenida São Gabriel here, will open its 11th shop in September on Alameda Gabriel Monteiro da Silva, a street where all the best decoration shops have a branch geared to the architects and customers that are used to shopping this decorating corridor. 

The 11th branch of Donatelli comes at a time when sales in Brazil are flat but management expects the new branch to give its business a boost with the opening. The current economic growth rate in Brazil is only one percent according to the latest figures. 

In the new store, Donatelli plans to sell a special collection of its top end fabric lines which the company has been selling for more than 65 years as a successful family business. The shop will cover approximately 250 meters square of showroom featuring a new concept to make it easier to choose and visualize the articles, according to the owners. Denise Vani and Deny Suardi Barbosa with friend Juan Climent of Alhambra (left)

Cousins Roberto Donatelli Vani and Antonio Carlos Donatelli Barbosa are partners and both manage Donatelli. The commercial board is headed by Denise Vani (Roberto’s wife) and Deny Suardi Barbosa, (Antônio Carlos’ son). Denise and Deny are part of the family’s new generation. 

Denise and Deny both think the “longtime success of Donatelli is due to the constant renewing, the attention to the market needs and the respect to the customers.” 

Donatello Sao Gabriel began in 1965 in São Paulo following a family tradition which started in 1943, when family members of Italian origin opened their first business in Brazil, a curtain fabrics and hardware store. 

Since 1965, Donatelli has evolved and is growing its share of the decoration business in Brazil. Starting in the 1990’s Donatelli began to import fabrics from Europe, the USA and India. 

The original stores in São Paulo, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro came early. This was followed by a space for design professionals in all of the main Brazilian States. Today there are stores in Curitiba, Florianopolis, Belo Horizante, Salvador, Brasilia, Goiana, Porto Allegre, two locations in Rio Janeiro and an outlet in Cotia, in Grand São Paulo. 

Donatelli relies on 70 resellers which distribute Donatelli products in 800 cities. 

“In all of our shops we offer high end quality products and the basic ones, that our traditional customers have been finding in our company for more than 65 years without losing the quality; Quality is our aim. That is why we are always visiting expositions in different countries to find new designs at competitive prices,” Denise said. Fabrics & Furnishings International caught up with Denise and Denys at Proposte this year. “We are not sure about our going to MoOD, because of our timetable. We are very busy with the new shop, and by that time we still have a traditional brunch in São Paulo to show the new collection,” Denise told F&FI.