1977: Hausmann & Co. opens its first overseas store in Madison Avenue, New York
The end of the Seventies was a very important period: it was the time when Hausmann & Co. embarked on their “stars and stripes” adventure by starting a point of sale in New York, at the corner of Madison Avenue and 59th street. Joe Frielingsdorf eldest daughter, Carla, and her hsuband, Benedetto Mauro, took charge of it.
This was a very important period in the history of the point of sale: the Hausmann watchmaking firm was one of the first names to bring Italian style to the United States and to present overseas for the first time not only classical watchmaking brands but Italian great names of the goldsmith’s and jeweller’s crafts. In fact the American shop did not sell just watches: Pomellato was one of the brands that made its debut in the USA thanks to Hausmann & Co, who held the exclusive rights.
Italian flair was also displayed in the choice of the type of architecture of the point of sale, inspired by the façade of the famous San Miniato church in Florence, to convey the idea of technical and stylistic precision. The lovely internal wall in wood, wich could be seen from the street through the big shop windows, was the architectural motifs and the colours of the marble of the famous church.
The New York period closed at the end of 1982: the work was becoming too demanding and Joe Frielingsdorf’s health, one of the CEOs of Hausmann & Co., was not good enough to handle it.