Radice has redesigned a floor of the 150-year-old La Rinascente, the biggest high-end department store in Milan, to house the supermarket, a sprawling trove of recession-friendly design booty.
The sleek interior of the supermarket has been designed by the minimalist master Claudio Silvestrin. Apart from dedicating the full-scale shop-in-shops to golden Italian institutions like Kartell, Alessi and Nespresso, the supermarket also displays designs from individual designers like porch lamps from Paola Navone porch lamps, Eno leather baskets, and Royal VKB’s kitchen pourers.
The Design Supermarket, housed in the department store, sells designer goods ranging from paperclips to select pieces of home ware, lighting and luggage. The supermarket displays sophisticated dustpans and washbowls, cubes that open into lamps, vases in the shape of grass, and notebooks and mugs by fashion designer Paul Smith.
Located next to the Duomo cathedral, the flagship store of La Rinascente founded in the 1860s, is a popular spot for tourists visiting Italy’s fashion capital, with its designer labels such as Gucci, Valentino and Armani. Currently La Rinascente has a concept store and a chain of 13 stores in major cities – two in Milan, two in Rome and one each in Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Florence, Catania, Cagliari, Padova, Monza, and two subsidiaries in Milan which go under the brand name of Jam, specializing in clothing for young people, within the branch of Piazza Duomo and Rome at the Rome branch Colonna.
Retail veteran Radice took over La Rinascente in 2005, embarking on a seven year plan to improve its image. He closed five loss-making stores, started giving makeovers to drab store interiors, and overhauled product lines. Radice worked makeover magic on the London retail stalwarts Selfridges and Marks & Spencer before returning to Italy.
