5 Questions to Giorgio Rinaldin

Can you tell us briefly the history of your company?

Rinaldin is a family-run company that started business 50 years ago as a framing shop.
The business has expanded from the production of frames for private individuals to wholesale sales to framers.
Rinadin’s sales policy consists in providing everything the framer needs: mouldings, materials, equipment. In this way the framer does not have to waste time searching for various suppliers.
Sales currently concern mainly Europe and are increasing in other markets.

How did your company adapt to market changes ?

For Rinaldin, adapting to market changes is a constant focus.
The fact of knowing the framer’s activity from the inside makes the problem easier.

Which is the strength of your company ?

1. In-depth knowledge of the framer’s activity. It is this experience that has allowed Rinaldin to design and create some items (such as the centering tool, the mountboard square, the corner samples display system) that have become common among framers.
2. The very wide assortment of items used by the framer (around 13,000 different items).
3. The obsessive speed in processing orders (within eight hours from receiving the order).
4. The website www.rinaldin.com which shows all the articles in detail with explanations and tutorial videos. It is possible to place orders from the site and control all stages of order processing.

Do you think that the FamaArt exhibition is fundamental for your business and the one of your customers ?

Trade fairs are no longer as important as they once were. The Internet has almost completely replaced them.
Fairs, however, remain important for human contacts with all operators of this field.

How do you see the future of the framing world ?

The frame will continue to perform its function as an ornament of the home and as a display of paintings, prints, documents and objects.
The future of framers, however, is more problematic.
Unfortunately, the framer’s activity has been losing its importance for several years, as happens with many artisan activities (shoemakers, tailors, bookbinders, etc.).
It is estimated that in the last 10 years the number of framers, both in Italy and abroad, has halved.
In supermarkets, or on the internet or on Amazon, it is now possible to buy ready-made frames in all standard sizes and all models. The purchase price of ready-made frames is always much lower than the price charged by framers.

What does a framer have to do to survive?
He must specialize in the type of framing that the supermarket cannot offer. For example, the framing of objects, i.e. grandfather’s pipe, an old fountain pen, a withered flower…
Another type of frame that is not found in supermarkets concernsf frames of sizes different from the standard ones.
Also frames for museums, art galleries that have the main task of preserving the subject for a very long period of time are not available in supermarkets.
Lately, a significant part of the framer’s activity consists of the repair of old frames, replacement of yellowed passepartouts, replacement of pictures and so on.

The more enterprising framers could expand their business by making frames online.
There is software that allows the framer to choose with the customer, via the internet, the type of frame, the measurements, the type and color of the matboard and above all the price.
The image to be framed could be sent by email from the customer to the framer, who can enlarge, reduce or modify the subject without difficulty.