Evolution – Paolo Sarpi – Milan’s Chinese Quarter

Back in May 2005, I wrote this post about the silent invasion by Chinese businesses of the area of Milan which is on my doorstep. Well, I have to say that things have changed, or rather evolved, quite considerably since I last wrote about this subject.

There are still quite a number of shops selling cheap clothes to those who run markets, but there are now quite a few other types of shop, and many of them are starting to take on the appearance of typical Italian shops.

For example, there are now at least four shops selling computer hardware and electronic goods such as Mp3 players and the like. And, in addition to odd Chinese brands, many of the products stocked in these shops are familiar names such as Acer, Sony, and LG, amongst others.

Next, we have the mobile phone stores, again, offhand I can think of at least four of them, including one newly opened shop.

However, the most interesting thing is the transformation which is starting to take place of the formerly cheap wholesale clothing outlets into smarter, more up market boutique type shops. OK, I can only think of one or two at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that this trend will continue.

Along with the clothing stores, there are now a number of reasonably good quality Chinese run jewellers selling well known brands. Yes, they could be copies, but I’m not so sure. Indeed, there is no reason why they should be really, seeing as it is probable that some of the more well known brands most probably sub-contract their production to Chinese producers.

There is also a perfume shop, which looks very Italian in style.

And the ever industrious Chinese are not doing too badly as a result of the evolutionary expansion, as I see plenty of youngish Chinese cruising around in very expensive cars.

There is a bustling Chinese community here, and it looks as though it will become stronger and stronger.

I was half expecting this transformation to take place, so it is very interesting to see it happening before my eyes.

Oh, and it is not just Chinese faces you see in these recently transformed shops, you may like to know.

It will be interesting indeed to see how things differ in another three years time, and if I’m still running this blog, and I plan to be, I’ll write another little update.

Desperately seeking sausages!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find 100 good quality vacuum-packed Cumberland sausages and export them asap to the 4-4-2 pub here in Milan, Italy. This blog post will self-destruct within 15 seconds.

Yep, finding English sausages has poor Alessandro down at the 4-4-2 pub banging his head against a brick wall. The search for these elusive sausages really is proving a ‘mission impossible’. So, if any of my English readers out there know where to get vacuum packed Cumberland bangers and can DHL, TNT, UPS or FedEx them over to Milan in Italy, Alessandro, and I, will be eternally grateful and all expenses will be paid.  If the sausages prove to be a success, then this could well turn into a fixed weekly order for 100 or so of these things. Sorry to bang on about this, but one would not imagine that in the 21st century getting something as banal as British bangers over to Italy could be so darned difficult. This is an SOS – Save Our Sausages!

Sausage Crisis!

My good friends at the 4-4-2 pub in Milan, as I have mentioned before, are about to launch their full English breakfast. The launch is planned for the 28th and 29th of October, 2007. But the 4-4-2 has a problem, a big problem: that is they have no good frozen English sausages to serve up with their inaugural English breakfast. Alessandro the landlord urgently needs a supply of good frozen English sausages.

If you think you can help him out, and you happen to be an English sausage manufacturer who would like to enter the Italian market, this could be a great business opportunity. Personally, I think that English style sausages would go down rather well here, with the right marketing, of course. The England brand is strong, and, as an aside, I believe that good quality subtly flavoured English sausages, either fresh or frozen, would sell well here in Italy. This would be a good opportunity to test the market and verify whether Italy is a good market for your products. I believe that Sainsbury’s, the UK supermarket chain, has a link with the Italian supermarket chain Esselunga, so perhaps either could help out.

You can contact Alessandro, the landlord of the 4-4-2 pub in Milan from the 4-4-2 site, which is here. The 4-4-2′s telephone number is +39 0233101296, and Alessandro speaks English.

Please help resolve the sausage crisis!