Michael Gutteridge, a Scottish entrepreneur, opened a fabric warehouse in Naples' Piazza Dante in 1878, selling cotton and woollen textiles before the business grew into a multi-brand retailer. Its mail-order arm became large enough to employ more than 100 people at its peak, shipping to clients across Italy and the rest of Europe long before that kind of distance selling was common. The Capri Group acquired the company in 1997, and it now runs 68 stores in Italy plus outposts in Spain, Greece and Armenia.