Michele Civiera raised £10,000 by selling off his rare collection of sneakers
By Magnus Bennett
BBC Scotland News
An entrepreneur who sold his rare sneaker collection to start a pizza business in Edinburgh has announced plans to expand across the UK.
Michele Civiera is planning to sell his New York-style pizza slices from food truck “pop-ups” around the country.
Mr Civiera started his pizza firm Civerinos in 2014.
He had raised £10,000 for the enterprise in part by selling 10 pairs of sneakers, including Nike SB dunks and original Nike Air Jordans.
The collection had taken him decades to build up as he worked as a waiter and pizza chef around the world.
Mr Civiera said: “I’d been collecting Nike and Reebok sneakers since 1989 but the time came when I wanted to start the next phase of my life.
“Starting a business is expensive so I had to throw everything I had at it to get it off the ground. I sold my car as well, and with the money raised I was able to buy a pizza oven, dough mixer and furniture.”
Mr Civiera added that one pair of trainers he sold for £2,500 10 years ago is going for up to £30,000 today.
Mr Civiera already runs four pizza sites around Edinburgh and is planning to open a new venue in Glasgow in September with a £500,000 investment.
The move will bring the number of staff he employs to nearly 200, and he anticipates turnover of £10m next year.
Announcing his plans to put food trucks out on the road, he said: “We will become a national brand in the next few years, and the best way to do that is to build demand by making sure more people have the chance to try our pizza.
“Eventually, we’ll have venues in almost every student town and city across the UK, but our food truck is going to blaze a trail for us first.”
