In the last twelve years, Italy has lost more than 140 thousand retail businesses, including shops and street vendors. A hemorrhage that particularly affects historic centers and small towns and, according to Confcommercio, risks accelerating in the next ten years to reduce the current stock by 20%. The photo is from the Research Office presented at the “inCittà” event, an event organized by the Confederation in Bologna on November 20 and 21.
Traditional commerce is in decline under the pressure of new consumer habits and e-commerce, which since 2012 has seen the number of businesses specializing in online sales grow by more than 16 thousand units (+114.9%). The sectors most affected were fuel distributors (-42.2%), cultural and recreational goods (-34.5%), non-specialized trade (-34.2%), furniture and hardware (-26.7%) and fashion (-25%). Pharmacies (+16.9%) and IT (+4.9%) showed good performance.
Meanwhile, urban conditions are also changing: the number of bars is decreasing (-19.1%) while restaurant activity is increasing (+17.1%). In the accommodation sector, traditional hotels lost 9.5%, while bed and breakfasts and holiday homes grew by 92.1% and could increase by 81.9% by 2035. The picture is worsened by more than 105 thousand shops currently empty, a quarter of which have not been used for more than a year. If no action is taken to carry out urban regeneration and reuse of these spaces, Confcommercio warns, another 114 thousand businesses could disappear by 2035, which would have a major impact on city life.
“The desertification of shops is an economic, social and cohesion problem: every shop closure means less safety, less service, less attractiveness and
lack of sociality in our cities”, said President Carlo Sangalli. And he warned: “Without effective and timely urban regeneration interventions, by 2035 we risk having real ghost towns”.
