12 May 2021
The Weekly

After the most recent revamping of its locations in Turin and Florence, Rinascente has kicked off the restoration plan of its unit on Rome’s Piazza Fiume, which is turning 60 this year. The store is located less than a 10-minute drive from the Roma Tritone flagship, which the company inaugurated in October 2017. The Roma Piazza Fiume store occupies an eight-story building that is owned by the Megas fund. Despite Rome certainly being one of the most important tourist destinations in the world, the Rinascente store on Piazza Fiume mainly relies on local consumers, which account for 98% of its around one million annual visitors.

The renovated store will carry some of the brands already available at Roma Tritone, and a big focus will be put on the food hall on the last floor, as well as on women’s shoes and beauty. The renovation, which will require an investment of €37mn (€23mn will be paid by Prelios SGR’s Megas fund, Rinascente will disburse €9mn and concession brands will invest €5mn to decorate their spaces), will address the facade, the interiors and the outdoor space around the building, including a garden. Similar to Roma Tritone, where Rinascente signed an agreement with the Rome Municipality investing €3mn to enlarge the sidewalks of Via del Tritone and Via Due Macelli streets, the company will remodel the sidewalks around the Roma Piazza Fiume building. According to Rinascente, the first fruits of the renovation will be visible this June, when the store will unveil the renovated fourth floor, redesigned by DWA Design Studio to house the women’s ready-to-wear collections of a range of brands, including Max Mara Weekend, Polo Ralph Lauren and Gerard Darel, as well as underwear labels and an area dedicated to seasonal assortments, including beachwear. In the meantime, renovations will progressively continue on the exterior and interior, while the store will remain operative.

 

The facade, which will include an outdoor elevator, the windows, the food hall on the sixth floor and the ground level will be completed by the beginning of 2022. Rinascente expects to finish completely in August 2023. According to Rinascente’s business plan, Roma Piazza Fiume, which will host the collections of more than 500 brands, should generate €50mn of net sales within five years from the end of the renovation. Rinascente’s best-performing stores are its two flagships, Milano Duomo and Roma Tritone. Currently, 235 people work inside the Roma Piazza Fiume store (130 of them employed by concession brands), but, thanks to the creation of the food hall, 30 and 50 new jobs will be created.