From La casa del tiramisu to La piadineria, from Apple to Pizzium, but also a fish delicatessen, a children’s clothing store, a luxury lingerie store, and another bag store. new openings of the Giunti bookshop, of L’erbolario and of Alperia were only the beginning of the revolution that is about to overturn the face of Ferretto square in Mestre. «By the end of the year the beating heart of Mestre will live again»: the city trade consultant who manages all the commercial spaces in Piazza Ferretto Paolo Zatta is ready to swear it. Months ago he had promised it: the Giunti bookshop would open in the space that until recently was occupied by Flagship-Sky and by Foot Locker before that, the ancient artisan herbalist L’erbolario in front of the Angelica pastry shop in Galleria Barcella and the energy services provider Alperia in front of the former Casa del Caffè, and so it was. Last Sunday Giunti raised its shutters for the first time, on Wednesday Erbolario, while tomorrow morning Alperia will open. However, the restoration work is also proceeding quickly in the shop next to Duca D’Aosta, once occupied by Max&Co: a second bookshop, Librerie.coop, will soon open here, doubling the answer to a lack that has been felt in the square for at least ten years.
Venues and catering
Also starting in the first days of August are the renovation works on the spaces that until recently belonged to Convivium and the pastry shop Hora: on September 1st Pizzium will arrive here, the chain that brings the pizza made as Neapolitan tradition. «Shopping centers, outlets and e-commerce have plundered everything they could – Zatta emphasizes – city centers like Mestre have no choice but to give themselves a different identity, embracing innovation and high quality products. We are not in a crisis, but a war: a winning strategy is to plead the cause of innovative food, which is why we aim to bring here a one-of-a-kind gastronomy and a gem linked to our local tiramisu.”
The brands of gastronomy
The historic Casa del Caffè closed on February 24th Barcella gallery, one could soon arise in that space fishmonger-rotisserie managed by well-known fishermen from Tronchetto, able to offer both fresh fish of the day to take home and some prepared dishes to taste. However, there is another big Italian food brand interested in the same space: La piadineria, which recently passed into the hands of the CVC Capital Partners fund, which otherwise could find a space suited to its needs at the former Fielmann. The historic shop clothing Zancanaro, closed in October 2022, has instead captured the attention of another all-Veneto brand: the Tiramisu House. This will arrive in Mestre by Christmas, it remains to be seen whether it will settle in the former clothes shop or in the space once occupied by Luisa Spagnoli, next to the Duomo. «It will be born – specifies Zatta – and with a completely new concept, similar to the one that made the Hard Rock Café famous all over the world: inside you will find gadgets, souvenirs and tiramisu-themed objects».
Apple on the horizon
Therefore, by the end of the year, at least under the Barcella gallery roof, there will no longer be a single empty shop: in fact, the former Ottica Cecchini, which has moved to the Matteotti gallery, is interested Applewhose top management will go on an inspection of the space in the next few days, the same one that the children’s clothing brand also really likes Blue Kids. Each “black hole” in Piazza Ferretto will instead be filled by the arrival of one of the brands of the Capri Group (such as Gutteridge or Alcott) in place of the former Fielmann, from a luxury underwear brand to the former Just in case, while where a void was left on Saturday, stationery shop Bassed, a bag shop could be born. «There are only two points in the square to which we will not yet be able to give new life – explains Zatta – the former Excelsior cinema and the commercial spaces under the porticoes of Palazzo Da Re. We would like to be able to do so, but to date we are unable to made possible”.
