Mega Malls Reflect New Italian Consumerism

Twenty years ago, there was no such thing as a proper “shopping mall” in Italy. Italians still kept up the age old traditions of going to the fruit and vegetable shop for produce, the butcher for meat, the baker for bread, the linen store for bedding, the seamstress for alterations, and so on. Slowly but surely, with the nineties began the era of “one stop shopping” as consumer awareness and convenience make their way into Italian daily life, especially in and around major cities such as Rome.  

The first shopping mall or “centro commerciale” near Rome was that of Cinecitta, just next to Rome’s biggest film studios. The center opened in 1986, with a large supermarket and and a handful of clothing, shoe, and accessory stores as well as a food court. In 1991, the larger “La Romanina” mall opened, again with a supermarket and this time close to one hundred retail stores and eateries.

In the last ten years, Roman developers have truly stepped up the competition.  In 2005, the Leonardo Caltagirone Group (major stake held by Italy’s Prime Minister and one of the richest men in Italy, Silvio Berlusconi) opened the doors to the largest shopping center in Italy, with 210 stores and restaurants, a massive supermarket, and a 24 screen cinema complex. The Parco Leonardo Mall was among the first in Italy to feature international retail stores such as Zara, H&M, Bershka, The Body Shop, and even American fast food giant Burger King.

Since the Parco Leonardo, several massive shopping centers have sprung up all over Rome and its periphery. In March 2007, the Roma Est mall was inaugurated, about a 30 minute drive from the Rome center along the Roma-L’Aquila motorway. Just four months later, the Porta di Roma mall opened its doors in Northern Rome, by the Bufalotta exit off of Rome’s main ring road.

The newest addition to the Rome mall scene is the Euroma 2 mall, at the city limits along the Via Cristoforo Colombo. This mall is the first to reach three levels of shops and restaurants.

All of the shopping centers are now open 7 days a week, giving Italians some fun new alternatives to shopping in the center or spending lazy Sundays at home (or more precisely, at the dinner table) for lack of better options.

Romans have certainly taken to the new malls, made evident by how hard it can be to find a parking space in the multi level parking garages that have been constructed. For visitors to Rome, they can be a great place to beat the heat in the scorching summer months, or just as a nice break from Rome sightseeing.

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