The Savinelli story started in 1876 when Achille Savinelli Sr. opened one of the first stores in the world exclusively selling smoking articles, in the very centre of Milan at #2 via Orefici, near the famous Piazza Duomo. The small shop, which is still at its original location, soon became a meeting place where passionate smokers could exchange opinions and discuss experiences. It was there that Achille Sr. began designing pipes, which he would then have made by artisans in the Varese district, just north of Milan. Contemporarily to the opening of the shop in via Orefici, Savinelli Sr.'s brother and sister moved to Genoa to open their own pipe store in Galleria Mazzini, which obtained its own faithful customers and further established the Savinelli name. In 1881 Achille Savinelli Sr. exhibited at the Esposizione Industriale Italiana (Italian Industrial Exposition), the precursor to today's Milan Fair. His initiative demonstrated an entrepreneurial instinct that clearly runs in the family, even today.