Mondadori Store

The multi-platinum band THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS has released their new single “STUCK” via Concord Records (listen here). This is the first single from the new album “It’s The End Of The World But It’s A Beautiful Day”, due out this September. A dynamic song that lays the foundations for the new musical era of the brothers Jared and Shannon Leto, five years after the release of their last recording project.

The single is accompanied by an extraordinary music video directed by Jared Leto himself, a true celebration of human form, design, high fashion, art and dance.
Speaking about the video, Jared Leto said: “Thanks to my incredibly creative mother, my brother and I were instilled with a love for art and photography from a very young age. The video for STUCK, our first new song in five years, is a love letter to some of my favourite photographers. Artists who made a very deep impact on me like Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus, Herb Ritts and more. Artists whose work changed the way I saw things and showed me new possibilities at every turn.
The video for STUCK is very much a companion piece and a continuation of a journey started with “Up In The Air”, a celebration of art, design, fashion, and the remarkable people who bring them to life. It is a love letter to the power of movement and connection, a testament to the awe-inspiring potential of people who don’t necessarily fit so neatly in – but make the world so much more fascinating. I would like to express my immense gratitude to everyone involved. From the incredibly talented artists and designers to the behind-the-scenes team. All who worked so hard to make it all possible. Your contributions have made this experience an absolutely unforgettable adventure and helped to capture and celebrate the essence of what makes us all unique and exceptional.”

The attention to high fashion is reflected in the wonderful looks of the FW23 and innovative designer clothes like Gucci, Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain, Maison Margiela, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, and Jean Paul Gaultier, among others.
Full of energy, the video also stars an incredibly unique cast that interprets the song with movement, metaphors and action. 

The new single and video come just days after Jared’s participation in the “biggest fashion night”, his fifth appearance at the Met Gala.
Jared attended the themed night “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” paying tribute to the iconic designer who died a few years ago wearing a fun costume on the red carpet depicting Karl’s beloved cat (Choupette). After grabbing everyone’s attention, he then showed off a second Lagerfeld look.

In “Stuck” the ethereal voice and guitar of the charismatic frontman Jared Leto quickly explodes into grittier and more aggressive bass, with sounds that perfectly capture the chaotic on-again, off-again relationship the song expresses.
“I wrote it from the perspective of a narrator who simply can’t help himself from plunging headfirst into what will likely be a doomed romance,” Jared says of the song (“The more I drift, the closer I get to you / She’s a ghost, and the truth it’s impossible / But I love her lies”. “It’s about knowing you need to get out but simply being unable to, whether that’s from fear or comfort or confusion, hence being ‘Stuck.’”

THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS’ sixth studio album, “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD BUT IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY”, will be released in September.
Exactly five years after the release of their chart-topping album “America”, the band is releasing new music like never before.
Throughout their prolific career, THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS have continually redefined their creative boundaries to push in new directions and evolve. Now, the new goal is to be simple and concise – no songs longer than three and a half minutes – placing a lot of emphasis on Jared’s expressive vocals.

In late May, THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS will take to the main stage of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and in August the band will perform for the third time on stage at the Lollapalooza Festival, where they haven’t performed since 2006. Continuing in the wake of their live shows, THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS will also perform at the When We Were Young Festival in Las Vegas in October, which has already sold out.
More dates will be announced soon.

Jared and Shannon Leto will meet the public in the second half of September in a special online event organised in collaboration with Mondadori Store, the largest network of bookstores in Italy, and Virgin Radio, which has always supported the band and of which Jared Leto is a Rock Ambassador: by pre-ordering THE album “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD BUT IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY” on CD or vinyl, you’ll be able to participate in an unforgettable chat on Zoom with the band, moderated by a Virgin Radio talent, where some lucky fans will also be able to participate directly. You’ll be able to pre-order the new album on mondadoristore.it until the day of release.
All the information on how to participate is on mondadoristore.it. and on virginradio.it.

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD BUT IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY TRACK LIST

1. Stuck
2. Life is Beautiful
3. Seasons
4. Get Up Kid
5. Love These Days
6. World On Fire
7. 7 to 1
8. Never Not Love You
9. Midnight Prayer
10. Lost These Days
11. Avalanche

A new Mondadori Bookstore soon to open in the Alessandrino district of Rome.

With an exhibition surface of 140 square meters, the bookstore – found on the second floor of the mall located in via Casilina 1011 – offers the public a shelf assortment of over 15.000 volumes ranging from fiction, non-fiction, miscellaneous categories and great classics.

The offer is enriched with the new Just Comics section, dedicated to comics, and the We are Junior area, devoted to young readers and including educational games and illustrated books aimed at stimulating the imagination of the smallest ones with the most amazing stories. The best stationary products, gift boxes, gift cards, gadgets, school supplies, CDs, records, DVDs and record players will also be available to visitors.

The Mondadori Bookstore located in via Casilina will also serve readers online: customers will be able to contact the store and keep up with the initiatives and events through its Facebook and Instagram pages and make use of the digital services of Mondadoristore.it to check the availability of a book from a catalogue of more than 1 million titles, order it and pick it up in the store. The bookstore will also offer customers the opportunity to place orders via telephone or WhatsApp.

«I’m delighted to announce the opening of a new Mondadori Bookstore in a location where social life, sports and culture come together in a unique and evocative atmosphere» stated Fabio Antonini, the entrepreneur affiliated to the Mondadori Bookstore network with over 30 years of experience as a sales agent in the publishing and toy industries.

Mondadori Store is the largest network of bookstores in Italy: a cultural organisation active nationwide with more than 500 stores, across large cities and small towns alike, and online through the e-commerce website Mondadoristore.it and the book club formula. In addition to books, its core offer, it organises fun experiences, events and multi-channel services, reaching more than 20 million customers each year.

MONDADORI BOOKSTORE

Casilino Mall, via Casilina 1011 – 00169 (RM)

Opening hours: 9:00 – 20:30 Mon – Sat; 10:00 – 20:00 Sun

Email: mondadoribookstorecasilino@gmail.com

Phone: +39 06 23260205

Facebook | Instagram

https://www.mondadoristore.it/negozi

Mondadori Store, the largest network of bookshops in Italy, and J-POP Manga, one of the main Italian manga publishers, launch “Destination Cartoomics”: a special project and a series of appointments dedicated to Japanese Comics fans bound to dominate the Milan Games Week & Cartoomics, the great comic exhibition entirely devoted to the world of comics, graphic novels and gaming.

The initiative will be presented in the Mondadori Stores – Rizzoli Galleria, Milano Duomo, Arese (MI) and Vimercate (MB) – within the “Just Comics” section, the area dedicated to manga, superheroes, and graphic novel – with an unmissable promotion for all anime fans. Readers can get their J-POP passport: a special manga-style document to be completed by November 26^th with different hankos, or iconographic stamps representative of the Japanese company that will be affixed to each purchase of two titles published by J-POP Manga in the participating bookstores and on Mondadoristore.it.

The passport must be completed at the info point of the Just Comics stand, pavilion 12, during the exhibition held from November 25^th to 27^th, to receive special gadgets and discount coupons.

THE EVENT CALENDAR

The project is also based on a series of appointments open to the public: the participating Mondadori Stores will welcome readers and comics fans with live manga sketching and presentations, organised with the publisher J-POP Manga and the students and professionals of the Comics School of Milan.

 Among the events, on Friday October 21^st, at the Rizzoli Galleria bookshop, the presentation of the second issue of the Japanese manga Dandadan, written and sketched by the author Yukinobu Tatsu.

The series of appointments with the professionals of the Comics School will start on October 22^nd, at the Rizzoli Galleria bookshop, from 16:00 to 18:30, with the presentation Kishōtenketsu: telling it like a manga and live sketching with professor Gabriele Mareri and the cartoonist Mattia Salvaneschi.

 On November 5^th, at the Mondadori Megastore of Duomo, from 17:00 to 19:30, professor Sabrina Sala will speak of the  Timeless classics, or evergreen titles that captured the attention of entire generations, together with the cartoonist* Fra Fusconi, who will entertain the audience with special live sketching.

On November 10^th, at the Mondadori Megastore of Arese, from 17:00 to 18:30, the cartoonist Richmond Montanano will create customised sketches of the audience’s favourite techno-futuristic scenes of the manga world.

On November 19^th, at the Mondadori Bookstore of Vimercate, from 16:00 to 17:30, the cartoonist Rosy Battaglia will create live sketches of children’s favourite manga scenes.

The complete event calendar is available on the following link.

From tomorrow, Wednesday 14 September, the Mondadori Bookstore in Vimercate (Monza and Brianza) will present a completely restyled look to the public.

A new range of merchandise focused on books – the heart of the store – will be available in premises that have undergone a full restyling, thanks to a layout and furnishings that enhance the important offer that distinguishes the Mondadori Store.

Located in the Torri Bianche shopping mall, the new bookstore, which occupies 650 square metres, will continue to be a cultural point of reference for the local community and book-lovers. On the shelves, the public will find more than 20,000 books – from best-sellers to the great classics in fiction and non-fiction – as well as an assortment of CDs and vinylswith the latest music entries, including K-POP, stationery, gift boxes, gift cards and the recommendations of the Mondolibri bookclub.

The new Mondadori Bookstore in Vimercate will pay special attention to young readers: in the “We are Junior” area designed for children and adolescents, visitors will have access to a wide range of educational games and illustrated books. The store will also house an extensive selection of comics in the “Just Comics” section, with manga, superheroes and graphic novels.

The Mondadori Bookstore in Vimercate also serves readers online: customers will be able to contact the store and keep up with initiatives and events through its Facebook and Instagram pages and make use of the digital services of Mondadoristore.it to check the availability of a book from a catalogue of more than 1 million titles, order it and pick it up in the store.

The new Mondadori Bookshop in Vimercate is part of the on-going renewal and development program of Mondadori Store, the largest network of bookstores in Italy, with over 500 stores located between cities and smaller centers. A cultural network active throughout the country, online with the Mondadoristore.it e-commerce site and the bookclub formula, which in addition to books – the core of the offer – provides entertainment, events and multichannel services, to reach more than 20 million customers every year.

MONDADORI BOOKSTORE

Centro commerciale Torri Bianche

Via Torri Bianche, 16, 20871 Vimercate (MB)

Ooening times: mon-sat 09-20; sun 10-20

E-mail: libreria.vimercate@mondadori.it

Tel 039 635041

Facebook I Instagram

https://www.mondadoristore.it/negozi

For the summer holiday season, Mondadori Store, Italy’s largest bookstore network, is launching the new edition of “Libri da indossare”, the special initiative dedicated to the pleasure of reading and people who want to lose themselves in the emotions of the books they love.

For people for whom reading is a passion, Mondadori Store has produced a new collection of cotton Tote Bags in a limited edition inspired by Richard Bach’s best-seller “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, to offer a pleasurable opportunity for relaxation immersed in the pages of a good book, with an authentic and distinctive style.

The Mondadori Store exclusive Tote Bag is enhanced with an elegant illustration by Francesca Gastone, making it an indispensable accessory for people who love the story and characters in one of the great literary classics.

The bag will be a gift for everyone who buys at least 2 books from the rich catalogue published by the Mondadori Group publishing houses Einaudi, Fabbri Editori, Frassinelli, Mondadori, Mondadori Electa, Piemme, Rizzoli, Sperling & Kupfer at Mondadori Store bookstores taking part in the initiative or on mondadoristore.it, from 29 July to 17 August.

 For the new edition of the initiative, Mondadori Store has renewed its collaboration with the Italian training school MiMaster, the leading player in the illustration and publishing sector, entrusting personalisation of the bags to its students.

The regulation and information on how to obtain a Tote Bag are available on www.mondadoristore.it

Mondadori Store is the largest network of bookstores in Italy: a cultural organisation active across the country through more than 500 stores in large cities and small towns alike, and online through the e-commerce website Mondadoristore.it and the bookclub formula. In addition to books, its core offer, it organises entertainment experiences, events and multi-channel services, reaching more than 20 million customers every year.

Mondadori Retail, the company that runs the largest network of bookstores in Italy, continues to develop with an expansion plan for the opening of new Mondadori Stores, an enhanced offer and an increasingly distinctive positioning embracing physical stores, e-commerce and social media.

“The ongoing work to renew and enhance the network and to focus on the book core business has enabled our network to consolidate its leadership still further,” said Mondadori Retail CEO Carmine Perna. “We are moving ahead with the opening of 13 new stores planned by the end of 2022, for an overall total of 25 openings during the whole year. Our bookstores are designed to inspire future readers and as meeting places where local communities can make new discoveries: so we are paying ever greater attention to the new generations, with dedicated formats in the stores and on the social channels, and the organisation of initiatives involving the local area,” Perna added.

FORTHCOMING OPENINGS

On the bookstore front, three new Mondadori Bookstores under direct management will be opened in the second half of the year, in the regions of Lazio, Lombardy and Umbria. They follow the two openings in Genoa and Montenero di Bisaccia (Campobasso) in April and May.

The expansion of the franchising network is also moving ahead, with 10 new bookstores due to open by the end of the year in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Sicily and Marche, after the start-up of 10 affiliated outlets in the first half of 2022. A nationwide presence across Italy, from North to South, with medium-size locations where books are the real protagonists.

The Mondadori Store development plan is also supported by the continuous renewal of directly managed stores: by the end of September, the Mondadori Bookstore in Padua will open in its new location in Piazza Garibaldi, and in Vimercate the outlet in the Torri Bianche shopping mall will undergo a restyling; during the winter, the new Mondadori flagship will open in Milan, on the corner between Piazza Duomo and Via Mazzini.

THE NEW FORMATS

The Mondadori bookstore offer for children and adolescents is enhanced with the new “We are junior” section, an area designed to welcome even the smallest children, with books and educational games to stimulate the imagination for the 0-13 age group. With its yellow and green colour scheme and origami decorations inspired by nature and the world of animals, which have great appeal for children, the section has an immediately recognisable visual identity.

The process of continuous innovation has also led to the development of the “Just Comics” format, for manga, graphic novels, superheroes and the great Italian authors. Planned as a comic store in the bookstore, “Just Comics is a flexible space that adapts easily to the specific dimensions of the individual outlet. The project began in Milan with an entire floor in the Rizzoli bookstore in the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery and the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo, and has since been extended to all the bookstores under direct management and to a growing number of stores managed on a franchising basis, establishing itself in just under a year as a point of reference for lovers of the genre.

EVENTS

The events calendar has been enhanced with meetings with writers and figures from the world of entertainment and initiatives with schools and libraries. Bookstores play a vital role in promoting reading, thanks in part to the passion of local booksellers, who are able to build productive ties of cooperation with local institutions. Events include the literary festivals “Ad alta voce” in Mestre, “Come un libro all’aperto” in Fano, “Velletri Libris” in Velletri. For information about all the events: https://eventi.mondadoristore.it/it/news/2022/07/19/estate-in-festival-tutti-gli-eventi-letterari-delle-nostre-librerie/115/

DEBUT ON TIKTOK

From the physical to the digital, relations with readers are also consolidated on social media, with initiatives and content to support purchasing on all channels: from today Mondadori Store will also be on TikTok , as well as Instagram and Facebook, to talk about books, local events and meetings.

A journey to explore the Mondadori bookstores in Italy, through the testimonials of people with close connections to bookstores: from booksellers, who organise content on the TikTok profiles of local Mondadori bookstores, attracting numerous followers, to booktokers, young men and women who love reading and have built up huge followings. A communication format that valorises books and bookstores, making them a point of reference for people who want to follow the latest literary trends on social media.

Mondadori Store, Italy’s largest bookstore network, is taking its cultural and entertainment offer to the Latinafiori shopping mall with a new Mondadori Bookstore which will be officially opened on Friday 22 July.

Occupying a surface area of over 260 square metres, the store will be a new point of reference for book-lovers, with more than 12,000 volumes on the shelves including fiction, non-fiction, and the great classics: a selection organised by the Mondadori Store team of booksellers, who will welcome customers in the shopping mall seven days a week with advice and recommendations.

The new Mondadori Bookstore also houses a large comics section, the “Just Comics” department, with  manga, superheroes and graphic novels.

Younger readers are catered for too: in the “We are Junior” area designed for children and adolescents, visitors will find a wide range of educational games and illustrated books to stimulate the imagination of the smallest children. The store also offers the latest music entries and a quality range of stationery, gift boxes and gift cards.

All Mondadori Bookstore customers will be able to use the store’s digital services including Pick Up Point, where books purchased from the Mondadoristore.it catalogue, which contains more than 1 million titles, can be picked up free of charge; Prenota e ritira, where items can be booked online then purchased in the store; and Invia a casa, for home delivery of articles ordered in the bookstore.

The new opening continues the development plan of the Mondadori Store bookstore network, the largest in Italy with more than 500 stores located in cities and smaller centres. A cultural network active throughout the country, online with the Mondadoristore.it e-commerce site and the bookclub formula, which in addition to books – the core of the offer – provides entertainment, events and multichannel services, to reach more than 20 million customers every year.

MONDADORI BOOKSTORE

Latinafiori shopping mall, V.le Pier Luigi Nervi, 04100 Latina LT

Opening times: Mon-Sat 09-20; Sun 10-20

E-mail: libreria.latinafiori@mondadori.it  – Tel 0773.1727301

Facebook I Instagram

https://www.mondadoristore.it/negozi

Guarantee an inclusive education for everyone: this is the goal Oxfam is setting out to achieve together with Mondadori Store through the new Christmas project “Wrap up a book, gift a future”.

The initiative marks the start of a partnership that will continue over the coming years, with Mondadori Store and Oxfam joining up for the first time on activities intended to help the most vulnerable members of society.

A concrete commitment from Italy’s leading bookstore network to contribute to the education of children and adolescents living in difficult social environments. Oxfam has been engaged in programs to combat education poverty for more than 20 years in Italy and around the world.

This Christmas, Oxfam’s work to help the weaker members of society can be supported with the “Wrap up a book, gift a future” project: until 24 December it will be possible to have Christmas presents wrapped by one of the more than 100 Oxfam volunteers at the 73 Mondadori bookstores taking part in the initiative in the main Italian cities.

With a small donation, a contribution can be made to the Oxfam and Mondadori Store program to guarantee equality and equal opportunities for scholastic success for students in difficulties, so helping children and adolescents currently at risk of exclusion from education in Italy.

Donations to the project may also be made online, through the special Oxfam page on oxfam.it/mondadorif.

Since the pandemic began, Oxfam has intensified its work in favour of thousands of students and teachers, to fight scholastic dispersion and poor education by improving access to socio-educational services for families in financial difficulties. An inclusive intervention – implemented together with junior and senior high schools, local authorities, universities, foundations and organisations in the voluntary sector – which has generated training initiatives and support for teachers and parents; laboratories and remedial courses to help students who have fallen behind in the last very difficult academic year; educational and play activities in parks in Italian suburbs hardest hit by the social unease generated by the pandemic.

“The pandemic has affected everyone, but in different ways. Kids who were already experiencing difficulties have suffered the most, falling behind and lacking the means to react to the severe impact of the emergency. We’re thinking about children who don’t have the tools to follow online lessons, above all about a generation we don’t want to lose and need to put back on an equal footing as soon as possible,” said Roberto Barbieri, general manager of Oxfam Italia. “In Italy, even before the pandemic, 10 million people lacked the resources to resist the emergency. So we need to make every possible effort, starting with schools and students, to prevent kids from leaving school early, which is the first step towards definitive social exclusion. Thanks to the work of the Community Centres we have already reached thousands of people since the pandemic began, but there is still a great deal to do and we have to do it together. With Mondadori Store we shall be even more effective in helping kids not to give up on their future.”

“Every day through our bookstores across the country we work to promote and spread cultural values, which are the bedrock for the growth of the individual and community cohesion,” said Mondadori Retail CEO Carmine Perna. “With the launch of this important cooperation agreement with Oxfam, we shall be at the side of people who risk exclusion, bringing our commitment to support education: thanks to the work of the volunteers and the awareness of our customers, we can certainly make a difference in creating new prospects and a more inclusive future for children and adolescents.”

About Oxfam
Oxfam is a global movement of people who fight inequality to overcome poverty in more than 60 countries. It saves and rebuilds lives in emergencies, promotes sustainable development and works to build a future without inequality where essential rights are guaranteed for everyone, everywhere, and no one is left behind.

About Mondadori Store
Mondadori Store is the largest network of bookstores in Italy: a cultural organisation active across the country through more than 500 stores in large cities and small towns alike, and online through the e-commerce website Mondadoristore.it and the bookclub formula. In addition to books, its core offer, it organises entertainment experiences, events and multi-channel services, reaching more than 20 million customers every year.

• First of its kind in Italy, single-point-of-access subscription allows Italians to synchronize eBooks and audiobooks bookmarks across Kobo eReader or Kobo App devices
• Kobo Plus, the all-you-can-enjoy subscription service, offers hundreds of thousands of titles from Italian and international authors
• With new Audiobook service offered by Kobo, booklovers can read or be read to on the Kobo App or latest eReader devices with Bluetooth® wireless technology

Global digital eReading leader Rakuten Kobo announced today the Italian launch of Kobo Plus, the all-you-can-read subscription giving booklovers unlimited access to hundreds of thousands of eBook and Kobo Audiobook titles for as little as €9,99 per month, in partnership with Mondadori Store, the largest network of bookshops in Italy.

Since launching their partnership in 2012, Rakuten Kobo and Mondadori Store have worked together to provide Italy’s best digital reading experience. Kobo Plus marks the first service in Italy to provide a combined reading and listening subscription offering at an affordable price and single point of access. Italian booklovers now have the opportunity to read or listen to their favourite stories within a single subscription on their Kobo eReader or through the Kobo App, all without having to worry about losing their place thanks to Kobo’s synchronized reading experience that keeps all eBooks and audiobooks seamlessly synced across all of a reader’s devices.

“Italy was the first country that taught us how to embrace digital reading to make reading lives better during the difficult times of the lockdown, and we have seen significant growth in digital reading as a result. It’s why we are so proud to be launching Kobo Plus here – it is our way of expanding on our commitment to Italy by making a great reading experience even better. The all-you-can-enjoy subscription allows Italian booklovers to explore new titles and genres risk-free, while also introducing them to Kobo Audiobooks and Kobo Originals selected and curated by skilled and committed book experts,” said Michael Tamblyn, CEO, Rakuten Kobo.

Tamblyn continued: “Our mission has always been to make the reading experience better and more accessible to everyone. By working with equally committed partners, like Mondadori Store, we can continue to connect more authors to more Italian readers.”

Kobo Plus is available in three subscription plans: Kobo Plus eBook for €9,99 per month; Kobo Plus Audio for €9,99 per month; or Kobo Plus eBook & Audio for €12,99 per month. All subscribers will receive a free 30-day trial, where booklovers can access the full Kobo Plus catalogue and switch between the three subscription plans to determine which is best for their needs.

“As the largest network of bookshops in Italy, our task is to intercept the new interests of readers, offering them also the possibility to access the most advanced forms of digital reading. We have done this with Kobo since its arrival on the Italian market, through our e-commerce site and our network of bookshops Mondadori Store. Since then, we have witnessed a transformation in the way content is used and in purchasing habits. Today we are delighted to renew this profitable partnership, which over the years has enabled us to reach an increasing number of readers and which today also extends to audiobooks, a segment that is recording very interesting growth rates,” declared Carmine Perna, managing director of Mondadori Retail.

To build the Kobo Plus catalogue, Rakuten Kobo worked with the Italian biggest publishers—including Mondadori Rizzoli, Einaudi, Sperling & Kupfer, Piemme e Mondadori Electa, Garzanti, Longanesi, Feltrinelli, and many others—along with the best Italian independent publishers, like Sur. The catalogue also features Kobo Originals, like Silvia Volpi’s Il silenzio dell’erba, and eBooks published through Kobo Writing Life—stories from Rakuten Kobo’s own publishing platform that allows authors to self-publish—as part of the subscription service.

The new Kobo Plus collection features a breadth of stories including literary classics and popular genre page-turners such as Ilaria Tuti’s Fiori sopra l’inferno; Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge novels, including as Pillars of the Earth; Non è la fine del mondo by Alessia Gazzola; and La guerra dei Courtney by Wilbur Smith, among many more. Other authors featured within the catalogue include Fabio Volo, Cristiana Capotondi, Melania Mazzucco, Gianrico Carofiglio and Alice Basso, while great actors like Anna Bonaiuto and Fabrizio Gifuni bring stories to life as narrators of Kobo Audiobooks.

In addition to hundreds of thousands of eBooks, Kobo Plus also offers a wide selection of Audiobooks, depending on your monthly subscription service. While Kobo Plus eBooks can be enjoyed with any eReader device, Kobo Audiobooks can be listened to on any smartphone or can be paired with the new Libra 2 or Sage eReader devices, which both feature Bluetooth® technology, allowing booklovers to read or listen to their favourite story.

Italian readers will be able to discover the features of the new devices and the Kobo Plus service in participating Mondadori Stores throughout Italy, ambassadors of culture and reading in all its forms.

At the same time, Mondadoristore.it is also expanding its offerings to include a new section dedicated to audiobooks, with over 4,000 Italian titles, from new releases to the great literary classics. At the time of purchase, users will be redirected to the Kobo site and with a few clicks you can start listening to a new story directly on your device (PC, tablet or smartphone), using the dedicated Kobo app.

Readers can also sign up for their subscription and free trial directly through kobo.com, the Kobo Android app or on a Kobo eReader. Kobo Plus launches in Italy November 4, 2021.
To learn more about Kobo Plus in Italy, visit kobo.com/koboplus.

About Rakuten Kobo Inc.
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is the world’s digital bookseller created by and for book lovers. Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Inc. and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo’s 58 million worldwide users can read any time, anywhere, and on any device. With a mission to make reading lives better for all, Rakuten Kobo connects readers to stories using thoughtful and personalized curation of eBooks and audiobooks, and the best dedicated eReaders and apps for reading. With the singular focus of making reading lives the best they can be, Kobo’s open platform allows people to fit reading into more moments in their busy lives.
To learn more about Rakuten Kobo, visit https://www.kobo.com/ca/it

About Mondadori Store
Mondadori Store is the largest network of bookstores in Italy: a cultural stronghold active throughout the country thanks to more than 500 stores spread from large cities to smaller towns, online with the e-commerce website Mondadoristore.it and the bookclub formula. Mondadoristore.it is at the side of readers and users through a proposal that, in addition to books, the heart of the offer, includes entertainment experiences, events and multi-channel services, reaching over 20 million customers every year.

Mondadori Retail continues the plan to develop its network of bookstores across Italy from north to south, and kicks off a new training project for the network’s booksellers.

After the 10 bookstores inaugurated in the first half of the year, another 10 stores will open to the public by end 2021. The plan brings the offering of the most extensive network of bookstores in Italy even closer to readers, with the directly-managed medium-size stores located in the larger cities, and the franchised ones in the smaller populated areas.

Two new directly-managed Mondadori Bookstores will open over the next few months: the first in Lombardy, inside the Fiordaliso mall in Rozzano (Milan), which will be inaugurated on 11 November 2021, followed by a second opening in Emilia Romagna.

Eight new franchised Mondadori Bookstores and Mondadori Points are expected to open in the final part of the year in Emilia Romagna, Latium, Campania, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily.

Mondadori Retail also enhances the services dedicated to franchisees with the new training program called Percorsi. The new courses are meant to provide the over 500 affiliated booksellers with additional tools and guidance to enhance and increase their daily bookstore activities, through insights into the evolving landscape of the publishing world in recent years and the relationship between booksellers and readers in the digital age.

“We have built a training path to be alongside our affiliates in an even closer way, providing them with an opportunity for in-depth analysis and discussion that will help them nurture their relationship with readers even more. Bookstores are outposts of culture that can add value to the local area and its communities; today, they are turning more and more into vital gathering spots where people converge for the pleasure of discovering new stories. Our new openings bear further proof of their importance for the buoyancy of the sector, which is also driven by the dedication and hard work of booksellers throughout Italy, key figures in the promotion of reading in our Country”, says Carmine Perna, Managing Director of Mondadori Retail.

Percorsi is divided into four sessions covering several topics, from market scenarios to the enhancement of books and their assortment inside the store, from customer relations to exploring the synergies between the physical and digital world, with industry professionals taking the floor.

“The present and future of Bookstores” is the focal theme of the opening session, graced by the address from Prof. Paola Dubini from the Bocconi University. The publishing market in Italy is constantly evolving; the last 18 months, in particular, have marked a true watershed, with a few major aspects coming to the fore. The session will explore the dynamics of the sector, how to promote peculiarity in the local area, the bookseller role and the next steps to be taken.

The Percorsi cycle continues in November with the second session dedicated to “Assortment, catalogue, local area: building value for the customer“. Building an assortment is crucial to meet the needs of readers and to cover the local area: what are the pillars for building the right offer? How to enhance readers and the local area? What role do categories hold and how can choices be guided?

In 2022, Percorsi will continue with two training events that will address how to manage customers and their satisfaction and the new opportunities offered by cross-channel marketing, which will be followed by new training workshops next year.