An important milestone that consolidates the success of Arredamenti Pondi, a company that celebrated its 60 years with a special event on Saturday, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new renovated premises in Cusercoli. A moment full of emotions, which celebrated the history of a solid family business rooted in the territory, which has always been associated with the Cna Area Colline Forlì. Present at the inauguration were the mayor of Civitella di Romagna, Claudio Milandri, and the general director of Cna Forlì-Cesena, Franco Napolitano. Sixty years of history and corporate life are a source of pride, passion and above all vision for those who, in 1964, decided with courage – and perhaps even with a little recklessness, given the limited resources (and “limited” in this case is an understatement) – that it was worth the risk to ensure a better future for himself and his family. Thus it was that Massimo Pondi, known to all as Nardo, decided to undertake this adventure in Cusercoli, a town that geographically “anticipates” the municipality of Civitella di Romagna.
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The idea was to create a carpentry shop, starting with almost exclusively manual tools. The premises were rented and the first “investment” was a family Fiat Bianchina, used for deliveries. They were years in which one could dream of a different, better life, and where entrepreneurial intuition, where present, became a sort of driving force for daring and growing economically. In 1975, the big step: the purchase of the land and the construction of the building that would become the “home” of the Pondi company. Almost at the same time, Massimo (Nardo) Pondi, well in advance of the economic context of the time, understood that the carpentry activity could also be enriched by a commercial activity. So he combined the craft activity with that of selling furniture. It was a period of great transformation, and marketing and sales soon took over the carpentry business.
We talked about intuition, the ability to read the moment and the changing needs of customers: in a word, being able to have a true entrepreneur’s approach. All seasoned with an innate propensity for relationships, an aspect that allowed this small business to distinguish itself in a logic that today would be defined as customer oriented. Nardo, an innovator.
Another fundamental step was the entry into the company of his son Corrado, which occurred in the first half of the 1980s. With the entry of Corrado, the customization of solutions recorded a further acceleration, all accompanied by an ever-increasing ability to interface both with the various national groups that produced furniture, kitchens in particular, and with the increasingly numerous customers. The reference market of the Pondi company was no longer just local, but had expanded to other territories. In 1992, the handover took place within the Pondi family: Corrado became the owner of the company, continuing to make use of his father’s expertise and experience. Corrado focused even more strongly on customizing solutions for the many customers who, in the meantime, had exceeded several hundred. The company, over the years, also through the creation of a permanent exhibition and the collaboration of professionally trained figures, consolidated the growth trend. There was no shortage of investments, including the purchase of a room adjacent to the shop/display for the storage of furnishings.
Today, 60 years after that “vision”, the Arredamenti Pondi company relaunches with a new layout of the exhibition, once again demonstrating entrepreneurial intuition, determination, but above all passion in doing business, confirming its philosophy: attention to the customer , but also and above all knowing how to experience the territorial context in which it was born and by which it has always been appreciated.
