Boutique Firenze

GOING TO THE SOURCE

International buying trips are on again

By Ellen Ashton-Haiste

When Bettina Weber began importing Italian products for Boutique Firenze, one of her favourite perks of the business was taking buying trips to the country she fell in love with on her first visit. But the COVID pandemic put an abrupt end to those plans. So a call, early last year, from the Italian Trade Agency inviting her to be a guest at the Milan Leather Show was a delightful surprise.

“It was wonderful,” she says of the 15-day trip that allowed her to reconnect with many of her long-time suppliers and also make some new contacts. With news of her imminent arrival came a flood of emails from those suppliers, saying “’We want to see you, take you to dinner.’ They dropped everything. It was great,” she says.

The ability to reconnect with suppliers on a personal level gave Weber a welcome look at emerging trends. “I think customers are going to see some new and exciting products from their favourite vendors,” she says. For instance, Massimo Ravinale of Florence, a longtime supplier of shawls and scarves, has a new line of silk scarves with designs reflecting Florence landmarks. “They are really special, a beautiful series,” she says.

Gloves are the product that started it all. Weber recognized early on that glove stores in Italy carried a range of colours and styles not found in Canada. So she began to offer a wide variety that has continued to grow. She now imports from three leather glove suppliers and one vendor of fabric gloves, all based in Naples. “We can say with assurance that we have the largest selection of Italian gloves – men’s and women’s – in Ontario and perhaps Canada,” she says.

She’s also the only vendor in Canada carrying handmade Murano glass jewellery from Miani in Venice.

While Italian businesses suffered severely during the pandemic, Weber is happy to report most of them have rebounded with a tourism surge in recent months and are busy again.

This, along with her inventory of Canadian giftware, is good news for the store. “Every month this year has been better than last year and that was our best year ever, so it’s very encouraging.” 

TOP Boutique Firenze owner Bettina Weber is pleased to offer a wide variety of European products. LEFT Weber in Naples with designer Martina Squillace, of Omega Gloves.

“We can say with assurance that we have the largest selection of Italian gloves – men’s and women’s – in Ontario and perhaps Canada.”

BETTINA WEBER