DressALL increases revenue and invests in its own showroom to change sales model | The average is more

DressALL products can be seen in several mall stores across the country – in brands such as Vivara, Natura, Dior, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Levis, Claro and Vivo – and go unnoticed. Most of these stunning celebrity or model photos aren’t stickers stuck on MDF or LED screens displaying video 24/7: they’re panels with LED-lit screens inside, casting even light that preserves image integrity.

“LED monitors and our panels are complementary technologies. You want a photo of Gisele Bündchen with perfect hair, with wonderful light and angles showing the product, the result of a beautiful photo shoot. The store can have three or four videos at the same time. But the image of the product that the brand wants to capture for the consumer is this photo, displayed on our panels”, explains the founder, born in the city of Cruzeiro, in the interior of São Paulo.

Headquartered in Curitiba, DressALL is a pioneer and market leader. Although it operates primarily in shopping malls, the company has expanded its presence into the automotive sector, serving brands such as BYD, Toyota, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Fiat, McLaren and BMW. It is also making progress in residential architectural projects, a growing segment which currently represents 10% of turnover. The robustness of the operation is illustrated by the partnership with BYD: “We have already signed 48 of the brand’s approximately 180 stores in Brazil, which required exclusive sectorization in our industrial park to serve

In February, DressALL opens its first showroom in São Paulo: the DressALL Experience. The initiative marks a strategic shift in the business model, currently based on representatives (resellers). According to Ribeiro, the network of 18 national partners faces growing challenges. “They are suffering from competition from cheaper entry-level products and changing markets, which are crushing profit margins.” The São Paulo showroom will serve as an inspiring model. The idea is for representatives to tour the space and replicate the concept in their cities, focusing on the experience and attracting exclusive customers.

The businessman explains that the rep also works with competitors and must always remember DressALL when selling, a dependency that discourages the CEO. “And we don’t want the type of traffic that franchising normally brings; we don’t want double taxation. We want to license that person,” he says.

Sales advantages
Although using a proprietary system might suggest brand dependence, Ribeiro says DressALL’s structure actually serves as a competitive differentiator. As the panels are designed to fit seamlessly into the aluminum frame — which is permanent and reusable — changing collections becomes quick and intuitive and can be carried out by the store team via an instruction manual. To further simplify management, the company offers a subscription model. “We have an annual fixed-price contract which covers five to six campaigns, guaranteeing financial predictability and operational ease for marketing departments,” explains the manager.

The reusable nature was precisely an aspect that made Ribeiro imagine that it would be an absolute success to start prospecting DressALL customers, from its beginnings, in 2013, through fairs and exhibitions. I was mistaken. When he approached stand assembly companies, none were interested in the element, which cost more. “In Brazil, it’s like this: the fair starts on Saturday, lasts the whole week and on Friday everything is already in the dumpster. And on Monday, everything starts again, with glue stuck on MDF, to last a short time, without any reuse.”

I start with R$150,000
Initially, the CEO only had R$150,000 to invest in the company. He comes from Italy, where he worked in the prestigious Italian industrial design studio Decoma Design. Previously, he worked for eight years as a salesman at the Italian-Brazilian company Cinex, specializing in aluminum and glass for doors – recyclable materials – for frames, coverings and room dividers. “My father was a musician and my mother a seamstress, I didn’t inherit anything. At the time, I looked for suppliers in France and closed the first container of DressALL fabrics, which arrived and I didn’t even know how to attach them correctly; I had to figure out how to sew them,” says Ribeiro.

His keen sense of entrepreneur and salesman, despite his training as an architect, was inspired by Steve Jobs. “There’s a scene from the movie of the same name about him, from 2015, with Michael Fassbender, that I’ve watched about 50 times. It’s him lying in the garden of his house, with the phone in his hand, shaking, focused on calling people and opening up possibilities to show his product. That was my fuel to dedicate myself, come to São Paulo and have at least five panel presentation meetings,” he says.

The life of an entrepreneur: failures as a lesson
In these comings and goings from Italy to Brazil, also remembering the failures of jobs before Apple, Ribeiro undertook and did not do well. “I had a company that designed and produced wall clocks. That didn’t last long, I quickly went bankrupt. I had also planned a kitchen franchise for a brand that no longer exists, but I like to point out that it went bankrupt, but I left before then,” he says with good humor.