Instead of going to China or Brazil, where many of Capri’s competitors have invested, the company is primarily researching three regions of the world: Africa, the Middle East, and India. “We believe that these three regions are connected at the hip and have been for the past 1,000 years in terms of trade and immigration,†says Primo, citing the millions of Africans in the Middle East and Arabic peoples in Africa and India. “So, there is this interconnectedness to these three regions. What’s good for one is good for the other two.â€
In business, thinking globally is not an option, it’s an imperative. “Whether you’re Capri or McDonald’s or Coca-Cola, the key to the long-term health of U.S. corporations lies outside the borders of the United States,†Primo asserts. “We have studied for nearly four years where we should plant our flag. Everybody says they’re so surprised. ‘You haven’t made one dollar of investment in Africa or the Middle East yet?’ Nope. Thank God we didn’t. We didn’t four years ago because we had a big global recession.â€
It appears that Primo is at work on another profitable tune.