The next chapter in our Italian adventure involved three different site visits, a bus ride, and a family lunch.

First, we checked out of the Grand Hotel and left for the first company.  This was the online Italian logistics center, which is a hub for Italian ecommerce and online shopping.  We learned about how Italian ecommerce differs from American ecommerce.  For example, Italians use online shopping way less than Americans and prefer to shop in person.  They treat shopping like an experience and still enjoy it even without buying anything.  The logistics center controls a unique Italian type of shipping where you can receive certain items guaranteed within 4 hours in many location across the country.  They out-compete Amazon in this aspect.

Next, we visited a unique tailor shop that does work for brands such as Ralph Lauren.  It was pretty interesting to see how fabrics go from a large sheet into a complete jacket.  This tailor is not allowed to sell branded jackets because they are only a middleman, but they can sell their own, similar items at the store.  Then, we had a group lunch.

Lastly, we visited a knitwear factory that also trains new knitwear professionals.  Here, there is an entire floor of the building dedicated to creating new artisans for the knitwear company MF1.  Overall, we had a long day and I was glad to be able to sleep on the ride home.  I felt quite popular because of the bus, which is the bus a local, popular soccer team uses to travel across the country.