The Italian-Brazilian Remígio Dalla Vecchia founded a bicycle store in 1952. It was the origin of CEM stores, one of the largest retail chains in Brazil.
The history of one of the most successful retail chains in the country began in Salto, in the interior of São Paulo, and its origin was thanks to the immigration wave that brought thousands of Italians to Brazil between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, to work and start a family in their new country.
It all started when the Italian couple Giacomo and Regina, coming from the city of Schio, province of Vicenza, the Italy, arrived in Brazil in 1888, to try life in a new land, escaping the crisis that was affecting the Europe.
They first came to the city of Itu, in the interior of São Paulo, where Remígio Dalla Vecchia was born, on February 14, 1914. When he was 3 years old, the family decided to move to the city of Salto, also in the state of São Paulo, where the From the Old They settled on Rua Sete de Setembro, currently Monsenhor Couto.
Entrepreneurship
In the following years, he attended primary school in the only School Group that existed at the time, later called Tancredo do Amaral, between the years 1921 and 1924. After that, he attended the Italian School.
In 1936, Remígio married Nair Zanni, with whom he had children Christmas, Giacomo, Eda e Cicero. In fact, Nair was important in his private life and also a decisive figure in the trajectory of entrepreneurship of her husband, by allocating the money she received as compensation from an industry that had closed to form the initial capital.
She died on February 20, 1982, when Lojas Cem had already achieved a prominent position in commerce in the region and the State. On March 3, 1983, Remígio married Maria Lobo, daughter of Alfredo Lobo, who was her boss at Lavras Plant. They had no children.
Because he had a difficult name for residents of the interior of São Paulo, Remígio was called Gino, Your Gino or even Uncle Gino by the most intimate.
Before opening the business that would become Lojas CEM, Remígio moved with his family to São Paulo, where he was a seminarian at the Capuchin priests, but soon returned to Salto, where he worked as a bricklayer in the construction works of the main church of Our Lady of Monte Serrat.
Remígio Dalla's turnaround Old
In 1936 he was admitted to the Light Electricity Services, initially working on Lavras Plant, moving in 1948 to the Porto Góes Plant, where it remained until 1964.
It was in the meantime that he decided to open, in 1952, a bicycle repair and sale, parts and accessories, alongside his wife, Nair Zanni Dalla Vecchia and his brother-in-law, Zalfieri Zanni, the Zanni and Dalla Vecchia Bicycle House.
From 1959With the day and determination of the children and son-in-law, the The company's direction began to change. That was how, in 1964, Remígio Dalla Vecchia decided to leave the Porto Góes Plant, where he had worked until then.
The parts and repairs section gave way to first household appliances. Seven years later, in 1966, the store was transferred to its first own building, also introducing the commercialization of furnishings.
From then on, the company, whose name had already changed to R. Dalla Vecchia S/A, began to be managed by a board of directors. In 1968, the company began its expansion process, opening its first branch in Indaiatuba, São Paulo.
The name Lojas CEM is born
The objective was to go far beyond the four stores existing at the time. For this, a short, impersonal name was needed, easy to say and remember. The acronym CEM – Home Appliances and Furniture Center – was chosen in 1976, by means of a big contest that moved the region.
From then on, CEM Stores never stopped growing. Dozens of branches They were and continue to be built and opened with absolute success, generating jobs, increasing tax collection and strengthening local businesses.
Em 1989, after rapid expansion throughout the State of São Paulo, the network, with 33 stores, opened its first branch in Minas Gerais in Pouso Alegre.
In the year of 1994 the company began to move towards the South of Minas and conquer other regions of the State of São Paulo, reaching 50 stores. Five years later, there were already 88 branches across the country.
The headquarters of Lojas CEM was transferred in 2002 for your new Administrative and Distribution Center. With 71 thousand square meters of built area, the new CAD has the capacity to supply up to 250 stores and plenty of space for expansions.
In the year of 2006 Lojas CEM entered the select group of companies with revenue exceeding R$1 billion and adopted a new visual pattern, starting the complete remodeling of all branches.
Remígio's strength From the Old
The company completed 60 years of history in 2012 on 205 stores, revenue exceeding $ 3 billion, but of 7 million registered customers and won the Valor 1000 Award again.
In 2017, at 65 years foundation, the company surpassed the R$5 billion in annual revenue. considered the best retail company in Brazil, the network ended 2018 as the third largest furniture and appliance retailer from the country.
Em 2021, CEM Stores celebrate 69 years of history on 288 stores, 224 in the State of São Paulo, 24 in Minas Gerais, 22 in Rio de Janeiro and 18 in Paraná. And offering more than 4 thousand items in furniture, household appliances, cell phones, IT and utilities, in addition to employing more than 11 thousand direct employees and more than 1 thousand indirect.
Remígio Dalla Vecchia died on June 2, 2005, at the age of 91, not before promoting a true revolution No. commercial sector of the country that their parents chose to live, work and raise a family, with the willpower and day typical of blood of the Italians.
By Roberto Schiavon/Italianism
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