Cisalfa Group announces that Nicola Lazzari has joined the company as its new chief operating officer. Lazzari will report directly to general manager Boris Zanoletti and will be responsible for driving the development and implementation of the Italian sports retailer’s operational strategies across Logistics, Demand Planning, Construction, and Import.
Nicola Lazzari, Cisalfa Group’s new COO – Cisalfa
Nicola Lazzari brings over 20 years’ experience in operations, supply chain, international logistics, and organisational transformation. He began his career at Airbus, working between the UK and Spain, before joining Accenture as a senior consultant specialising in supply chain management. In 2012, he moved to 3T Cycling, where he held roles of increasing responsibility, eventually becoming general manager for the EMEA region. In 2018, he continued his career with Legami, a stationery and gift chain, where he served as chief operating officer and later as head of logistics and strategic projects.
In his new position, Nicola Lazzari will oversee the evolution of the group’s operations, with a particular focus on optimising logistics flows and coordinating demand planning and forecasting activities at international level. His priorities will also include driving innovation and the digitalisation of processes, with the aim of strengthening Cisalfa Group’s operational efficiency and supporting the company’s ongoing growth and organisational transformation.
In a statement, Lazzari described Cisalfa Group as “a solid company, with a clear vision, a strong entrepreneurial culture, and great ambitions for the future”, adding that he is “convinced that, thanks to the skills and energy of its people, we will be able to continue to strengthen the growth and transformation journey already underway, creating lasting value for all stakeholders and further consolidating Cisalfa Group’s role in the European retail landscape.”
Still wholly owned by the Mancini family, who founded it in 1977 in Tivoli (Rome), the Italian sports multinational – one of Europe’s top five companies in the sale and distribution of sports and leisure clothing, footwear and equipment – operates in Italy and Germany through seven companies under the Cisalfa Sport banner, as well as the German banners Intersport Voswinkel and SportScheck, acquired between 2023 and 2024. The group closed 2025 with a record turnover of €1.1 billion and an EBITDA of around 11%.
In 1994, the Mancini brothers acquired Goggi Sport, a company with 19 shops in northern Italy. Goggi Sport’s offices in Osio Sopra (in the province of Bergamo) became the new head office of Cisalfa Group, which then began to expand throughout Italy and subsequently abroad. Since 2020, the operational and corporate headquarters have been located in nearby Curno, in a building on Via Lega Lombarda that previously housed MediaWorld’s head office. Today, Cisalfa Group operates 240 stores across Italy and Germany, welcoming around 80 million visitors a year to its shops, serving one million members of the Cisalfa Pro loyalty programme, managing over 280 brands – including distributed, licensed, and owned labels – and employing more than 5,300 people (100 more than a year ago).
