Melchionni group

via Migliara, 17 - 15121 Alessandria (AL)
Tel. +39 01312875281
Tel. +39 348 1311390
E-mail: info@melchionni.it
Website: www.melchionni.it/

The name Piero Melchionni is a symbol of city trade and, generally, of a certain Alessandria. Following a serious illness, he had undergone throat surgery leaving him without the use of his voice. He stayed strong and after a few days of absence from work, he took it upon himself to learn alternative vocal techniques. His family, who had roots in Varallo Pombia in the province of Novara, had been dedicated to the textile trade for generations. Pietro, Piero’s father, had settled in Voghera with his wife Rosa and had purchased premises for the storage of goods, which would have later become Magazzini Melchionni, facing onto piazza del Mercato. In Alessandria, he opened his first shop between via Chenna and via Migliara, a wholesale warehouse for various items, related to textiles and to haberdashery, which immediately became famous throughout the province. When the war came, he had to entrust the management of the company to his sister Lina Anfossi and to his wife Mariuccia, with whom he had two daughters, Luisella, who has developed the company he created, and Mariagrazia, a professor at La Sapienza University of Rome. After the disaster of the war, Italy was able to put a disastrous past behind it and start the great adventure of Reconstruction. Melchionni is one of the many entrepreneurs who were able to embody the spirit of those years. Next to the historic textile business he was the first in the province with his sister Lina Anfossi to offer ready-made clothes. He had agents which distributed the products in Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy. He had more than 160 employees, and also opened shops outside the province. In the city he is remembered by the historic building on via Migliara which is now home to a modern department store which proudly carries his name.