Vallesi S.p.A. operated a chain of perfumery and beauty retail stores under the Modus brand across nine regions in central and northern Italy. The company was a fixture of Italian high-street and shopping-centre beauty retail, with locations in Rome, including the Tor Vergata and Tiburtino shopping centres, Piazza Vittorio, Via Merulana and Via Tuscolana.
In 2025, Vallesi entered a negotiated composition procedure (composizione negoziata) under Italy's business-crisis legislation (D.Lgs. 14/2019), with a 120-day extension from May. As part of the restructuring, the company sold its Modus-branded stores to competitors D.M.O. and Douglas Italia. On May 29, 2025, Vallesi initiated a collective dismissal procedure affecting 55 workers across Italy, including 15 in Rome. The workforce was 97% women, many described as single-income workers with minor children.
Negotiations between the company and the Fisascat-Cisl union collapsed without agreement. The union accused Vallesi of acting unilaterally, sending dismissal letters before the legally expected procedure was complete and before a ministerial crisis table could be convened. The union demanded an urgent institutional table at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, but the layoffs proceeded. The case illustrated the fragility of mid-size Italian perfumery retail chains squeezed between online competition and the expansion of larger players like Douglas.
Sold its Modus stores to competitors D.M.O. and Douglas after entering negotiated composition, laying off 55 workers, 97% women, many single-income with minor children.
Mid-size Italian perfumery chains were squeezed between the scale advantages of larger players like Douglas and the convenience of online beauty retail.
The company's crisis procedure led to a fire-sale of stores to competitors rather than a viable standalone turnaround, suggesting the business model was no longer sustainable.
Failed union negotiations and unilateral dismissal letters turned a restructuring into a labor dispute, damaging the company's reputation and complicating the transition.
The 97% female workforce with single-income households made the layoffs socially devastating, drawing political attention but not saving the business.
A regional retail chain that cannot match a national player's purchasing power or e-commerce convenience will be absorbed by one or the other. The only question is whether the exit is orderly.
Vallesi's Modus-branded stores were absorbed by D.M.O. and Douglas Italia. The Fisascat-Cisl union continued to demand institutional intervention. The case became part of a broader pattern of Italian retail consolidation, with Douglas closing approximately 128 stores in Italy in the same period while acquiring competitors' locations.
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