A FIRM FOUNDED ON A TRUE PASSION

"Even as a child I was interested in keeping birds", remembers Virgilio Camillini. 'I used to breed them, mandarin diamonds and budgerigars in particular, in cages I built with bits of wood and scraps of net. I remember how hard I used to try to find the right methods and get the best results.

I took the birds to show them at the famous St Michael's Fair, which has been held at Santarcangelo every 29 September for centuries. At the time the event was held in the old ball-game court, and it started at five o'clock in the morning, with the birdsong contest. I still remember the waiting, the hopes and the pleasure at winning a prize.With the passing of time the event has lost some of the traditional reasons for which it was held, and it's become much more an occasion for business, but I'd like help restore it to its past splendour, when animals were the main attraction of the whole day.

My career started way back in 1975, in Santarcangelo itself, when I met the man who was to be my teacher, Michele Maresi, who gave me the opportunity to develop everything I'd learnt by myself, also sharing with me the experience and the passion of his entire life. In the eight years I worked with him he showed me all the secrets of this trade, helping me to become such an expert that in 1983 I decided to take the most important step of my life by opening a pet shop.

A short while later I was joined by my brothers, first Loris and then Andrea, and my sister Romina. In the meantime the number of customers continued to grow, and our shop quickly became too small, so in 1988 we moved to nearby premises with 200 square metres of space. The second great step had been accomplished, and my whole life's dream had come true!

Over the years we have also extended our expertise in other sectors, in particular aquariums, beekeeping, gardening, fishing and cats and dogs. Once again our customers increased, with requests coming from outside Santarcangelo as well, and what we needed once more was not only bigger premises, but also a transformation of our services to cater for the changes of modern society. In particular, it became urgently necessary to computerize our stock management procedures, with over 15,000 different articles on our shelves, 600 companies represented and a workforce of 18 persons. It was an ambitious project that called for a lot of hard work, but at the same time a challenge we could not ignore.

And so in 1994, after many sacrifices, we opened TUTTOZOO Magasin, defined (and not by us!) as 'the biggest and most modern shop in Italy' for the display space available and the vast range of products on offer, capable of satisfying even the most demanding customers. Now, at the threshold of the third millennium, the challenge we took up 25 years ago continues!