"So many do not even pronounce the name, but one of the main causes is Amazon, which with an almost ridiculous tax regime does business in the territory putting itself in competition with small shopkeepers who have a very high tax burden, a great injustice."
(LaPresse) A long snake of closed storefronts accompanies Romans and tourists along the shopping streets, from Via del Corso to Via Condotti to the axis of Via Nazionale. A grim scene of downed shutters and yellowing real estate agency signs offering small stores for rent, but also premises with multiple storefronts.
“I can give you the example of Via Nazionale, a kilometer of street where out of 120 stores 53 are closed and destined not to reopen,” explains Massimo Bertoni, president of Federmoda Roma. The phenomenon, however, is not only related to the events of the last two years, although the pandemic and the crisis have accentuated it:
“So many do not even pronounce the name, but one of the main causes is Amazon, which with an almost ridiculous tax regime does business in the territory putting itself in competition with small shopkeepers who have a very high tax burden, a great injustice.”
Poorer cities and sadder old town centers with proximity stores replaced by soda, souvenir or large multinational retailers that make the streets of the struscio all the same: “Shopping in Rome, Milan or New York is now the same thing, a flattening that makes the ritual of shopping almost boring.”
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