Italian Factory Outlet

Akis Painesakis's relationship with Italy began about 30 years ago in Turin. He started his professional 'journey' as a doctor for the Juventus team, but his love for entrepreneurship and fashion brought him back to his homeland, Crete. Equipped with close relationships and connections with the biggest Italian fashion houses from his time in Turin, in 2008 he opened his first clothing store in the basement of his house. Today, his business counts 6 stores in the Chania region and 1 store in the mother city, Turin. At the same time, he is active in wholesale, sending his merchandise to all the major fashion centers of the world, such as New York, Milan, London, Paris. With the onset of the pandemic, Akis suddenly found himself with 6 stores closed, 25 employees on furlough, zero wholesale activity due to the closure of retail stores worldwide, and tens of thousands of products waiting in his warehouses. That was when he decided to become a Skroutz partner.

It was the first time his customers could find his store's clothes online. Immediately, with his start on Skroutz, his business went from zero to the top. The number of orders was so high that even the partnered courier company couldn't keep up with the pickups. Even today, he continues to receive a very high and steady number of new orders every day.

"We used to call the courier and say 'come over, it's crazy here.' They kept coming, and at some point they told us, 'guys, you need to come to us because we can't come so many times.'" , Akis says laughing.

And he adds, "In 2020, Skroutz accounted for 40% of our sales."

After the events of the last two years, Akis regrets resting on the success of his stores and not trying online sales earlier. Now, as a successful Skroutz partner, he is preparing his next business steps, both in online commerce and by entering new foreign markets.