Cosimo Fadda is the inaugural recipient of the DY Retail Legacy Award, which was presented yesterday evening at the 10th Global DIY Summit in Rome. Cosimo Fadda has grown Cfadda, founded in 1818, into what is today Sardinia's leading DIY retailer.
In 1970, he brought the idea of a DIY store to Sardinia as an extension of traditional hardware stores, building on ideas he had brought back from trips to Germany and France, and founded a chain of 12 stores. Twelve years later, he opened the first self-service store for DIY products in Italy, introducing barcodes at the same time. “If the big companies can do it, we can do it,” said Marco Orlandelli, an admirer of the evening and managing partner of the garden centre Organizzazione Orlandelli. He highlighted the values with which Cosimo Fadda, now 84, has run the company, now passed down to the fifth generation of his family: passion, honesty, responsibility and humility. Fadda co-founded the Italian DIY trade association Bricolife in 2009. CFadda has been a member of the international DIY association Edra/Ghin since 2013.
“I'm a very simple person,” the winner said in an emotional speech. Family, honor and people are important to him. “This award goes to my family and the people who work for us,” he said.
The Edra/Ginn Association decided to change the Global DIY Lifetime Award to the DIY Retail Legacy Award because it better fits their DEI strategy (diversity, equity and inclusion), summit organizer Inaki Maillard said at the start. The aim is to recognise companies that have achieved something special at the local level. “The glow is not really the point,” Maillard said. Edra Managing Director John Herbert, who was clearly thanked by the night's winners for their friendship, said of Cosimo Fada: “He is the most passionate and emotional person I have ever met.”
(Source: Dähne Verlag, Götz)