There are legacies that are left gradually and throughout a lifetime. To have them you don’t need endless notaries and discussions, just wait for memory and heart to tune in and understand their legacy.
That of grandfather Tullio and his grandson Bruno has the form and substance of years spent together, of walking and skiing in the mountains, of boat trips.
Together with the Urban District of Commerce we met Bruno Masnaga, born in 1987, today owner of Regazzoni Tappeti, to learn about the history of his business.
‘Grandpa took me everywhere,’ explains Bruno. ‘He taught me what beauty was, starting from the fact that he appreciated all the beautiful things in life!’
Bruno grew up with his cousins inside the large shop in Piazza Pontida, where in children’s eyes the giant stacks of carpets were ships and they jumped from one to the other to avoid falling into the threatening lava that ran below. The same carpets then became soccer fields to kick the end of game penalties. In short, a magical place, full of fantasy where nobody forced them to sit calmly.
The shop belonged to his grandparents Tullio and Mimma, who had taken over from the one founded by Signor Regazzoni in 1820. It was the place where local textiles were sold, which also had an internal workshop.
If grandfather Tullio, with his savoir faire, dealt nimbly with public relations, grandmother Mimma was the true entrepreneur with a flair for business and had excellent accounting skills.
Bruno remembers him with a big smile on his face and two blue eyes that hid nothing. He touches the chain around his neck. ‘It belonged to my grandfather and I never take it off.’
After the grandparents, none of the children wanted to continue the business. It was left to some sales assistants to manage without dedicating too much time or thought. In the meantime, Bruno, on the journey to find himself, had enrolled in Literature and Philosophy and at the age of 22 he began to ‘help out the employees of the shop’.
It was not an easy year. Bruno wanted to do something, to take his risks, to change things, but he was seen as the last one to join the team and nobody trusted his vision.
It was at this point that he built up the courage and asked to be left alone – or not quite, because Bruno knew and said it with certainty. ‘Grandpa would have supported any choice I made!’ and therefore he was always there with him.
Bruno is full of enthusiasm. He speaks while walking around the shop, indicating with excitement the latest arrival or something unique that he has just rediscovered in a deposited case from who knows how long ago.
A display of old postcards from the thirties, kept in a small wooden box in the shape of a book: please accept our best regards, we remember you with esteem etc.
He is amazed at the elegant handwriting and the recognition that people brought to the owner and then, with a touch of pride, he shows us some postcards used to make orders. ‘Please send us fifteen metres of green, white and red fabric by courier to Selvino to make the national flags.’ The precious postcard is dated 1934.
The large shop is full of carpets from all over the world, old books, tin toys, paintings, mirrors, old compasses and furnishings for ships, photographs, sculptures and even a bicycle. Bruno apologises for the chaos. Yesterday the new goods arrived and he has not yet had the opportunity to sort them. In addition, as always, the night before the goods arrive, he can’t sleep from excitement, as if it were the night of Saint Lucia.
The young owner is precise and methodical, loves symmetry and harmony and his windows are storyboards for great adventures. People often stop and they stop for a few minutes. They understand that everything is organised as if it were a great adventure.
“I play all day. Every corner of the room is a skit!”
But he wants us to know that his is an organised creativity and that he is also good at making ends meet, just like his grandmother.
“I only got ripped off once. I had just arrived and wanted to make my first purchase. I wrote a check without seeing the material! It never happened again,” he says, amused. ‘It doesn’t matter, the rip-offs you learn to take, the important thing is not to give them.’
Today Bruno is happy and certain of his life choice.
At times, he seems to be a man from a previous era. He wears a blue shirt with his initials embroidered, he has a cell phone he only uses to make calls, and he doesn’t have a license but he always uses a bike. ‘Everything I save from not having a car, I invest in bicycles!’
Bruno spends most of his time in the shop, he does everything himself, even the tiring task of hanging the carpets on the ceiling. He studied an engineering precision technique ‘Once’ he says, ‘we had help from the newsagent Robi.’
He looks around with satisfaction and in referring to the objects on sale he often says ‘they have an incredible taste’ as if to underline that their beauty is not only for the eyes, but passes through the body, nourishing it deeply.
In this place of memories, between the beauty of articles and the elegance of Bruno’s soul, only the applause of his parents is missing.
‘I wish they were proud and understood how grateful and determined I am not to ruin everything they left me.’
He will also await this, as if it were another magical night of Saint Lucia.