North Carolina’s furniture market began in the 1890s and is now home to the world’s foremost names in handcrafted and luxury furniture. With 3,000 establishments and more than 36,000 employees statewide, the concentration of furniture manufacturing activity is more than three times the national average. Natuzzi Americas’ headquarters is based in High Point, NC and holds an estimated 25% of the U.S. leather furniture market – a huge economic and cultural asset for our community.
Join us as we host Pasquale Nattuzi Jr. and The Honorable Pier Forlano, Consul General of Italy, in partnership with Casa della Cultura Italiana – North Carolina.
According to Pasquale, “My vision is to keep preserving my father’s legacy while continuing the expansion of our brand worldwide. We are reinforcing our international retail chain as well as the brand awareness: we began with the strategic opening of a new mono-brand store in Jordan. We are planning new openings in areas with a large growth potential, Asia, and China in particular, where we keep investing despite the economic slowdown, but also in North America and in some European countries.”

 

Mr. Natuzzi will share his insight on the current state of Italian trade and manufacturing, as well as on the future of global entrepreneurship.

Program Sponsor

 

 

 

 

 

Date:
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Location:
Hilton Charlotte Center City
222 E. Third St.
Charlotte, NC 28202 – Directions
Check-In, Networking and VIP Reception:
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Lunch, Presentation, and Q&A:
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Cost:
*$35 WACC student/educator/TMS member
*You must be an individual WACC educator/student/TMS member to qualify for the $35 rate
$50 WACC Member Rate
$65 Non-Member Rate 

   

Become-a-Member

 

           

 

  • Register online
  • Credit card payments (non-PayPal transactions): Please call 704-687-7762 for payment processing over the phone
  • Check payments: Please make your check payable to “World Affairs Council of Charlotte” and mail it to the following address:

World Affairs Council of Charlotte
UNC Charlotte – CHHS 227
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223

All reservation cancellations must be completed at least 3 business days prior to an event for a full refund. Pease let us know in advance if you have dietary restrictions so that we can make the appropriate accommodations.

Biography

Pasquale Junior Natuzzi was born in Bari, Puglia, in 1990 – with dual Italian and American citizenship – and is the son of Pasquale Natuzzi and Kimberlee Monique Philips. He began his studies in Italy at Bocconi University’s Faculty of Economics, specializing in Economics and Management. During this period, he began to develop his interest in marketing and creativity. This experience acted as a springboard into the business world: in 2010, at the age of just 20, he decided to suspend his university studies to found The Secret Society: a fashion start-up characterized by a disruptive, unconventional approach. In 2011, he moved to New York to attend courses in Asset and Wealth Management at major international banking groups. In 2012, he returned to Italy and joined the Natuzzi Group as Marketing Program Manager. At this point, he started to specialize in marketing and communication management, focusing on the creation of digital communication projects and the development of highly experiential events.

At the same time, he became Brand Ambassador, a role that has led him to speaking engagements around the world as a representative of the DNA and values of the Natuzzi Group. In 2015 Pasquale Junior started working together with his father, CEO and Chairman Pasquale Natuzzi, on the re – branding project that launched a deeply renovative process of the communication strategy, creating an addition to Natuzzi’s signature style, by adding the Apulian – Mediterranean lifestyle as the focus of the brand communication. In 2016, he was appointed Communication Director and Deputy Creative Director, launching the Natuzzi Digital R-Evolution that completely changed the brand’s communicative approach. Perfectly integrating offline and online channels and rethinking the customer journey through new communication instruments, all to emotionally engage with consumers.

In 2017, he was appointed Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. He explores fresh avenues in the development of new products – the result of important collaborations with internationally renowned designers – and has launched a new brand strategy with the goal of transforming Natuzzi Italia into a lifestyle brand that is able to attract new generations of consumers through an experiential approach that unites design, communication, events and interactive projects. In October 2018, he was also appointed Creative Director and Stylist, while maintaining his role as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and Brand Ambassador. He is also a member of the Board of Assarredo, the national association of Italian furniture manufacturers, and is in charge of the FederLegnoArredo Sustainability Task Force (which focuses on the design, sustainability and synergies for the leadership of the Italian wood/ furniture sector).