A benchmark in the industry, over the years Morandi Tappeti has become synonymous with guarantee and reliability . The quality of its products and the taste with which its collections are selected are the strengths on which the brand manages to build and maintain the trust of its customers and carve out a place at the top of the rankings of companies specializing in antique, modern, and contemporary carpets.
Fabio Morandi, owner of the shops and art gallery based in Tuscany, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, cares about his carpets, which he treats with painstaking care. The choice of each carpet follows not only the taste of the owner but also meticulous characteristics related to its quality, which make it a unique piece of its kind.
Morandi knows well that the carpets he chooses are not just a piece of furniture, but an art form and an investment for the future that he, as an ambassador of such beauty, decides to entrust to the care of his trusted customers.
During his interview, Morandi recounts the history of his company, the passion that has accompanied him throughout his 50 years of business, during which he has expanded his online store and digital marketing to his physical stores . Morandi Tappeti is one of Viva Digital's success stories, where past and future merge: a centuries-old product is presented and promoted online , always with an eye to the future with increasingly innovative ideas.
Let's start with the story, how can we describe Morandi Tappeti's business?
If there is still a need to describe my business after fifty years, it means that I have absolutely everything wrong.
What are your duties?
My job can be summed up in one word: factotum
In the morning when I enter one of my shops, sometimes even in a very rude way, before saying goodbye I complain if I find a light off, I empty the closet to make order, I adjust a shutter and check that everything is always in order.
What career path led you to reach this position?
I can assure you that I have never been interested in “making a career”, in fact at 66 I am still the same, a polemical rebellious boy, intolerant of hypocrisy and certainly politically incorrect.
Describing my life path is a bit complex. First of all, my professional and private life have no real dividing line. Let's say that the vicissitudes of life have had an influence on me and consequently on my work.
How was the company born?
I never formed a company. Mine was founded as, and remains, a sole proprietorship . I am fully aware that I would have many advantages in transforming it into an LLC or other more tax-advantaged forms, but I believe, based on my company policy and for ethical correctness, that I must personally answer for all my actions with my own capital. This attitude, confirmed by facts, means that I enjoy the utmost trust of my customers and that I can purchase large quantities of carpets based solely on my word. Morandi is a guarantee of trust worldwide.
I grew up between my father's farm and the shop of my merchant mother.
Although everyone believes I've inherited the traits of my mother, a saleswoman and shopkeeper of old, I feel much more akin to the farmer who sows in order to reap, who cares deeply about her business. However, I cannot help but give my mother the credit for having opened and led the carpet business to success with determination, dedication, and perseverance. In the late 80s, after I had been running Morandi Tappeti di Piasaroni Teresa (mother) for over ten years, I stepped away from the business to have more space to manage my business. I opened the Crema store and, at the same time, began importing carpets.
What are your flagship products / services?
Contrary to what I was taught at university, I have never followed trends, I have never focused on a specific type of carpet but have selected high-end antique carpets and contemporary art design carpets based on my personal taste.
In the 80s, when Persian rugs became widespread, exploiting a decrease in price due to the decline in the quality of wool, dyes and knotting, I preferred to recommend Pakistani rugs finely knotted with hand-spun wool, vegetable dyes and double knots. Persian.
Today customers thank me and are my best PR.
My articles are managed and selected according to some principles that I take into consideration according to their priority:
1) Rugs strictly hand-knotted with the Persian knot ;
2) Rugs that guarantee they will maintain their value over time (the Morandi Guarantee gives me the possibility of changing the rug even after many years);
3) Rugs with great expressive power (I have an almost histrionic intuition for this choice);
4) I never mention all the after-sales services because I believe they are due, therefore the assistance, the guarantee, the highly professional washing and restorations remain exclusively reserved for our customers.
What sets you apart from the competition?
I view those who do my work not as competitors but as companions in adventure or misfortune, depending on how you look at it. With some of them I share a passion for rugs, with others a commitment to excellence, with still others a skill. However, I believe, somewhat modestly, that I am truly unique in my ability to identify and best enhance the creative power and decorative beauty of the rugs I offer.
On the website, each rug has a detailed description with its technical characteristics, along with my comments that highlight the emotion the rug evokes . In this regard, my blog also has a page called " Feeling the Rug ."
Who is your typical customer?
The customer who truly benefits from the products I offer is the one who understands that they're not dealing with a "dealer" but with an enthusiast . They've generally already heard of me, read my comments, my blog, or some of my stories. They know they'll always be told the truth, even if it's uncomfortable. My customer has a much higher-than-average IQ; he can look beyond many superstructures, interpret and sift information through the filter of logic. He has a strong personal taste and is able to express it by interacting with me in making choices.
What are the future plans for your company?
My company is small, dynamic, and flexible , able to adapt to the times. It draws on a tradition of extreme professionalism and precision, with solid economic and cultural foundations, and is ready to overcome any challenges that arise, just as it has always been resilient . Many years of experience online has taught me to look beyond the immediate, beyond the contemporary. The stylistic research aimed at finding the right graphics for the rugs is already exploring a world somewhere between physical matter and the idea of matter itself.
With this in mind, I designed and created the NFT Old Carpets and Contemporary Carpets collections , in which the image, material, and idea of the object intertwine, preparing the carpets to adapt to the Metaverse. Morandi's carpets are already ready for the future.
