Robe Italia is headed by the charismatic Simone Rodella and is based in Castel Goffredo - alongside the vast majority of Italy's prolific Italian moving light manufacturers. The move follows the recent launch of Robe America, and last year, the appointments of key distributors including LMP in Germany and Coe-tech in the UK. Robe's Josef Valchar told us: "Robe Italia was the best choice for moving the Robe brand forward in the Italian market." He feels that customers like to see the factory behind a product - especially in Italy - with its high concentration of home-grown moving lighting manufacturers.
"Robe Italia gives us all the advantages of working in close collaboration with an experienced and knowledgeable distributor. We can be closely involved with their decision making, while they have all the benefits of Robe's worldwide marketing resources," continues Valchar. Until last year, Robe Show Lighting was well known as an OEM manufacturer and a supplier of many of Europe's leading moving light brands. Since deciding to launch a direct sales operation in spring 2002, Robe has been expanding rapidly on all fronts, and is establishing a worldwide dealer and distribution network.
(Ruth Rossington)
