DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5
Retail

Over 8,000 Italian Municipalities 'May Soon Be Without Food Stores'

By Branislav Pekic
Share this article
Over 8,000 Italian Municipalities 'May Soon Be Without Food Stores'

The Italian retail sector has lost some 21,320 stores over the past four years, of which nearly half are in the food retail segment, according to data from the Italian Federation of Food Companies (Fiesa).

During the period 2010-2014, food expenditure in Italy has decreased by 7.9%, impacting the sales network, the study found.

The food retail segment added approximately 21,000 new businesses over the study period, but around 33,000 closed their doors, leaving a negative balance of 11,787 in just four years. The food stores that have suffered the most have been those selling meat and meat products.

Speaking during its Annual Assembly, the president of Fiesa, Gian Paolo Angelotti, warned that as many as 62% of 8,100 Italian municipalities are in danger of remaining without food shops. According to him, the “desertification effect” will leave about 5,000 municipalities without basic services, making it difficult to even find bread, milk and meat without moving kilometers from home.

The main cause of said closures, according to the president of Italian consumers association (Federconsumatori), Rosario Trefiletti, are high rents, while the president of the association of Italian SMEs (Confesercenti), Massimo Vivoli, called for new rules and the rethinking of tax structures, to prevent them from strangling the sector, adding that new fiscal measures may be needed to increase the profitability of SMEs.

© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.

ADVERTISEMENT
Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.