Death of entrepreneur Angelo Randazzo
Palermo: Angelo Randazzo, a top-level graduate in economics, former member of the Board of Governors of the Palermo branch of the Bank of Italy and 'Cavaliere del lavoro' for his services to industry since 1985, led his company through decades of major transformations and directed a process of continual expansion. A long-distance helmsman, the entrepreneur died yesterday in Palermo at the age of 81. Founded in Sicily's capital city by his grandfather in 1880, the company's initial business was photography but since 1934 it has operated in the optics sector. While maintaining its nerve center on via Ruggero Settimo in the heart of Palermo, the company's development was nationwide in competition with Italian and international companies.
Its continued growth over the years in step with an increasingly competitive optics market was consolidated by two important stages: the setting up of Optissimo in 1995 and the acquisition of the Ottica Romani chain in 2004. The Randazzo Group became one of the most dynamic in the sector thanks especially to its ability to combine tradition and experience with the need for innovation. The optics centers throughout Italy are Randazzo, Optissimo and Ottica Romani and include over 100 directly managed outlets. The company employs professionals in optometry, ophthalmology, contactology and training.
Some of its most significant dates are 1929, when the outlet in Rome opened; 1934, when it widened its product range to include optics; 1960, the year it opened its optics and photography megastore on via Ruggero Settimo in Palermo, which was designed by the Bbpr studio. In 1995 it began massive expansion in Italy with the opening of the Randazzo and Optissimo outlets, which was also thanks to the acquisition of the Ottica Romani chain. As well as opening new stores in shopping centers and in major cities, the most important first-generation outlets were also updated. In 2007 its optics and multimedia billings were Euro 86,448,000, with 800 collaborators/opticians and salespeople, and 102 outlets each of which displays an average of 2,000 pairs of glasses. The Group is located in Piedmont, Lombardy, Trentino, Friuli, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Abruzzo, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Sicily.
The president of the Region of Sicily, Raffaele Lombardo, stated that «Sicily has lost a great industrialist who led his company through decades of major transformations and directed a process of continual expansion in competition with Italian and international companies».
