Stopping to go further: a team building experience in Turin

At Teddy, work isn’t just a sequence of tasks and objectives to accomplish — it’s a daily experience made up of people, relationships, and intersecting perspectives.

The Store Lab, Development Office, and Legal Team collaborate every day to open new retail stores around the world, each with a precise and complementary role: some design the spaces and identity of the stores, others lead growth and development in local markets, and some make every normative and contractual step possible. Because this process is long, complex, and requires ongoing dialogue, challenges and misunderstandings can naturally arise over time.

From this need came the idea to pause and create a real space for open conversation — going beyond the daily operational routine. With this spirit, the team building trip to Turin was conceived, not as a simple business trip, but as a shared experience.

For Silvia Celli, a designer on the Store Lab team, the beginning of the trip was a surprise: “We only knew we were going to Turin. They explained the stages along the way, and that made it even more exciting.” 

What was initially expected to be a two-day trip similar to others — focused on store openings or visits — turned out to be pleasantly different.

The true meaning of the initiative becomes clear through the words of Leonardo Cingolani, Country Manager of the Development Office, who framed the trip within a broader internal growth process. “Bringing a store to life is a long and complex process. Our offices work together every day, and in such detailed work difficulties inevitably arise.”

For this reason, he explains, the team has invested over the years in shared moments of dialogue: “Trainings, meetings, and joint initiatives help avoid tensions and build stronger cohesion. The Turin trip fits exactly in that direction.”

The stages of the journey were thoughtfully chosen, each with a specific meaning. The visit to the Lavazza Museum allowed the group to connect with an important reality born from the collaboration of many offices and diverse competencies, whose internal values are perceived by consumers. The location also made an impression from an aesthetic standpoint, demonstrating how beauty and shared vision can support a corporate project and inspire those who experience it.

A central moment was spent at Torino To Dream, a commercial park on the city’s outskirts with stores from Teddy’s three brands — Calliope, Terranova, and Rinascimento. “We visited the stores and really looked at them together for the first time,” Silvia recounts. It was an opportunity to see the concrete results of everyone’s work, sharing challenges, obstacles, and milestones reached. 

Camilla Scarpa from the Legal Team described the emotion of that moment: “Participating in the enthusiasm of my colleagues isn’t a given, and it was very beautiful.”

The trip then continued to Dar El Hikma, a center that aims to create a welcoming and functional environment for cultural integration, especially in relation to Arab culture. There, the group listened to stories from people who have made collaboration and diversity sources of strength and unity, offering a new perspective also on everyday work.

Finally, the visit to Piazza dei Mestieri, a place where young people are welcomed and supported in finding their path — including regaining confidence and learning a new profession — made a strong impression. “It really struck us,” Camilla recounts. “They follow young people who struggle to find their own path with great care and humanity.”

Here, the teams took part in a creative activity: a bartender course where they played a game trying to replicate cocktail recipes. “It was an intense and fun moment that brought us closer,” Silvia says, also emphasizing the importance of space and how architecture can support an organization’s mission.

Al ritorno, ciò che resta è una riflessione condivisa su cosa significhi davvero fare squadra. Per Camilla, la risposta è chiara: «Credo moltissimo nelle relazioni. Facilitano il lavoro e rappresentano un valore incredibile». Portarsi a casa nuove connessioni significa avere strumenti in più anche nella quotidianità. Per Silvia, il valore centrale è stato il dialogo: «È emerso continuamente, sia tra di noi sia nelle realtà che abbiamo incontrato. È qualcosa che porto con me come impegno personale». Leonardo chiude con una consapevolezza comune: «Spesso lavoriamo insieme, ma non sempre viviamo davvero un progetto insieme. Anche i momenti più leggeri hanno contribuito a costruire vicinanza». 

Perché essere squadra, in fondo, significa camminare nella stessa direzione, attraverso la collaborazione tra team, per creare negozi che non siano solo punti vendita, ma luoghi belli e accoglienti, dove ogni dettaglio – dall’allestimento al modo di accogliere una persona – racconta un’intenzione condivisa. Negozi in cui i clienti si sentono accompagnati nel dare forma ai propri desideri. È lì che il lavoro di squadra prende davvero senso: quando le relazioni costruite tra colleghi si riflettono nell’esperienza di chi varca la soglia. E a volte basta un viaggio, vissuto davvero insieme, per ricordarselo.

On the return journey, what remains is a shared reflection on what it truly means to be a team. For Camilla, the answer is clear: “I believe deeply in relationships. They facilitate work and represent incredible value.” Taking home new connections means having more tools to use in everyday life.

For Silvia, the central value was dialogue: “It emerged continuously, both among us and in the realities we encountered. It’s something I carry forward as a personal commitment.”

Leonardo closes with a shared awareness: “Often we work together, but we don’t always live a project together. Even the lightest moments helped build closeness.” 

Because, in the end, being a team means walking in the same direction, through collaboration among teams, to create stores that are not just points of sale, but beautiful and welcoming places where every detail, from the layout to the way a person is welcomed, tells a shared intention. It’s where teamwork truly makes sense: when the relationships built among colleagues are reflected in the experience of those who walk through the door. And sometimes, a journey truly lived together is enough to remind us of that.