CUVIO, Italy – Alberto Mascioni has left his post as chairman of Mascioni SpA, the home furnishings manufacturing and printing division of the Zucchi Group.

With the sale of his remaining shares to Zucchi last year, he is also leaving Mascioni after a 27-year career there.

He joined Mascioni in 1982 when the company was still a division of the Bassetti Group, as assistant to his uncle Umberto, co-founder of the company with Bernardo, Alberto's father. Alberto was area manager of Europe from 1982-1987 and was managing business developments in the UK market. He soon took over direct contacts with Europe's top textile producers and converters.

In 1984 the Bassetti Group was taken over by Marzotto and Mascioni became a division of the largest textile group in Italy. From 1987-1992, Alberto was sales and marketing manager for Mascioni.

By 1992, Mascioni's sales had risen from 32 million Euros to 55 million Euros. In 1993 Alberto opened a showroom in New York City with "a view to grasping every opportunity to leverage a growing demand in the US to upgrade home textile products," Alberto said.

Alberto continued to focus on the US market and according to him, "by the middle of the '90s Mascioni became the first name in quality and innovation, widely recognized as the 'brand for high quality.'"

Sales in the USA rose from 15 million Euros in 1992 to more than 22 million Euros by the end of the decade. With the help of his brother Carlo, who joined the business in 1996, Alberto said he "brought about a radical change in the company, optimizing operations and enhancing the efficiency of Mascioni's structure in part through a major change in information technology. "Mascioni was able to cut production lead times by 30 percent and achieve outstanding levels of efficiency and reliability."

In 1999 Bernardo Mascioni passed away. The board of directors of Mascioni appointed Alberto as chairman and CEO. Carlo was elected to the board and appointed managing director. In July 2008 the Mascioni family sold its entire equity interest in the company.

Alberto is a graduate of the Catholic University of Milan, Italy with a degree in economics and business administration. At 46, he is married to Gabriella, with a baby daughter named Margherita Maria. His future plans are not known at this time but he will be missed from the textile industry.