Tomorrow, Friday, May 9, sees the opening of the new Rizzoli Milano, an iconic bookstore originally opened in 1949, which over the years has welcomed generations of passionate readers, writers and leading figures from the publishing world, to become a symbol of the city and the country’s cultural history.
After an important renovation project that has enhanced its identity, the bookshop in its historic location in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II now provides new spaces and a restyled offering with a full calendar of events and an even stronger international vocation.
«Rizzoli Milano is much more than a bookshop. It’s a unique space of its kind designed to encourage people to meet and chat, capable of engaging a wide audience of book lovers. In one of the city’s most famous locations, it combines the appeal of a “historic store” with a dynamic contemporary cultural offer, to give the public a window on the world,» said Carmine Perna, CEO of Mondadori Retail. «The project is also the symbol of a deep bond with the city of Milan – which has been renewed every day for more than 75 years – thanks to our collaboration with the City Council, demonstrating that reading and culture are a fundamental part of Milanese life and one of its greatest assets,» Perna added.
The Rizzoli Milano renovation project is a strategic step in the development plan of Mondadori Retail, the Mondadori Group company that manages the largest network of bookshops in Italy, with over 500 stores across the country: around 30 new stores will open in 2025, including directly managed and franchised outlets.
The plan confirms the constant commitment of the Mondadori Group – Italy’s leading publisher – to boosting the value of bookstores as key locations to promote reading, meetings and cultural dialogue.
THE PRESENTATION
The day opened with an introduction from Mondadori Group CEO Antonio Porro and an institutional welcome from Emmanuel Conte, Milan City Councillor for the Budget, State Property and the Special Housing Plan.
The presentation of the new Rizzoli Milano continued with a discussion entitled “Rizzoli Milano, a historical bookshop for contemporary audiences. A meeting place for culture, events and an international outlook”, with Mondadori Retail CEO Carmine Perna, Président-Directrice générale Éditions JC Lattès Véronique Cardi, Paola Dubini, Professor of Management at the Bocconi University, and journalist and writer Beppe Severgnini.
The debate – moderated by Alessandra Tedesco – examined the role of bookshops as cultural venues in urban and international communities, and explored the ability of a location like Rizzoli Milano to combine its identity as a historic store with a cosmopolitan vocation.
In interviews conducted by Mondadori Retail among a selection of loyal Italian customers to investigate perception of the cultural role of bookshops in general and of Rizzoli Milano in particular, the store’s symbolic value and identity clearly emerged:
- 70% recognise it as a historic bookstore;
- 57% consider it a symbol of Milan;
- 31% value its international profile.
Rizzoli Milano attracts readers of all ages and geographical backgrounds – from the citizens of Milan to international visitors, the latter accounting for about 40% of the bookshop’s customers – as well as young people, who are turning to original-language books in increasing numbers.
On this point, Paola Dubini, Professor of Management at the Bocconi University, observed: «Milan is an international city not only because it attracts tourists from all over the world, but because many international communities live here. It is important to have a cultural venue to welcome the “historic” residents of Milan, their cosmopolitan children, and people from around the world who have decided to make Milan their home, as well as people coming through the gallery. This is the distinguishing feature of the Rizzoli bookstore that makes it feel particularly welcoming,» concluded Dubini.
The event was also an opportunity to take an in-depth look at trends in reading habits and use of bookshops in other European contexts, with a special focus on France. In her contribution, Véronique Cardi, Président-Directrice générale Éditions JC Lattès, offered an overview of the French publishing market, highlighting similarities and differences in the link between readers and bookstores.
«I am delighted and honoured to have been invited to the reopening of the historic Rizzoli bookshop in Milan, to reaffirm the central role bookstores have played and will continue to play in Italy as they do in France,» said Véronique Cardi.
A different angle was taken by Beppe Severgnini, journalist and long-time Rizzoli author, who shared reflections and anecdotes illustrating his point of view as a writer, reader and visitor to Italian and international bookshops. In his fascinating remarks, Severgnini highlighted the cultural and symbolic role of bookshops as places for encounters, discoveries and memories.
«I have been a Rizzoli author since I had black hair, starting with ‘Inglesi’ in 1990. More than twenty titles have followed, with the latest, ‘Socrates, Agata e il futuro’, published in 2025. Over these thirty-five years I have come to realise that a bookshop, like a publishing house, is an imagined community. Like a country, a football team, an association. Sometimes publishers and authors get distracted and forget this. Readers don’t. Readers sense that behind a publisher there is a story, a personality, a project, a flavour,» said Severgnini.
THE OFFER OF THE NEW BOOKSTORE
Completely redesigned in terms of space and services, the new Rizzoli Milano meets the needs of a contemporary multigenerational and international audience.
The bookstore occupies two floors, on a total area of 755 square metres, with four large windows overlooking Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
Its shelves are organised into numerous thematic sections that accompany visitors on an exciting journey through books and architecture.
On the ground floor, visitors are welcomed into a comfortable and innovative space for all book lovers. After a large area with the latest publications, novels and best sellers, they come to a new department with accessories, guides and gift items inspired by the city of Milan.
Continuing on, the visitor can immerse himself in the famous Rizzoli Ottagono room, where a carefully curated selection of books, a rich catalogue of original-language titles, is available: the room is furnished with cherrywood tables, a homage to the cinematic imagery of the Rizzoli bookstore in New York, with designer lamps from the historic heritage of the Rizzoli Milano store.
On the way to the lower floor, the visitor will enjoy an area for all lovers of stationery, pens and gift items and the scenic staircase winding around the bookstore’s panoramic lift.
On the lower floor, visitors are greeted by a large R surrounded by a wall of books dedicated to the thematic areas of the store, a sort of Ariadne’s thread.
This floor houses the new events room – for presentations, meetings with authors and talks with the public – overlooking a large wall of illustrated books on art, design and photography, leisure, travel, tourism and design pieces celebrating the uniqueness of Milan, selected from the archives of leading Italian manufacturers.
The lower floor is also home to the fiction department and a new non-fiction area – with a new arrangement of tables and spaces for reading and research – enhanced by the bookstore’s historic octagonal skylights over the Galleria concourse.
Meanwhile, the “We Are Junior” play and entertainment area gives children and small readers the opportunity to discover the world of books in a stimulating environment made to measure for them. The new area is separated from the rest of the bookshop by the distinctive yellows of the format designed for small children, and offers a curated selection of illustrated books, first readers, educational games and entertainment, making the store a welcoming place for families.
The lower floor’s offer is completed by the section for Kobo e-readers, with accessories and gift cards.
For an increasingly people-oriented shopping experience, the bookshop is enhanced with a series of services, including a new multi-purpose reading room that reinforces its identity as a place to meet and talk.
In addition, both floors are equipped with Trovalibro touchscreens – in Italian and English – that help readers explore the products and find out where the book they are looking for is located, automated checkouts to simplify the shopping experience, and a Click & Collect service, which lets customers make online purchases on the bookstore’s website and pick them up in the shop.
THE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT
The architectural redevelopment project for the new Rizzoli Milano – designed by the Paolo Lucchetta Retail Design studio, with Virginia Lucchetta and Gianluca Trovó – focused on preserving the bookstore’s historical identity, while enhancing its contemporary vocation.
In addition to the new organisation of the space and the use of American cherrywood for the furnishings, distinctive elements – such as the iconic brass handles in the shape of an “R”’, the ink-blue floors, the cast-iron pillars, the octagonal skylights and the original vaulted ceilings designed by Giuseppe Mengoni for the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – have been preserved and restored.
Innovative architectural solutions have been introduced to make the spaces more expressive and functional, starting with the windows, which showcase the books in the store. The lighting has also been restyled, thanks to a careful relamping project creating theatrical yet more sustainable effects.
All the furnishings have been redesigned to stimulate curiosity and the pleasure of choosing a book, fostering a more personal and interactive relationship with the publications and products through the store graphics and visual communication.
EVENTS
An exciting calendar of events, presentations and meetings has been planned for the Rizzoli Milano bookstore, starting just a few days after the opening. Below are the first unmissable events with major authors and personalities from the world of literature and culture.
- 13 May at 6.30 p.m., Antonino Di Pietro will present his latest book Cambia pelle (Sperling & Kupfer) in a chat with Michela Proietti
- 14 May from 6.00 pm., Andrea Giuliodori with La svolta (Rizzoli)
- 19 May, Rula Jebreal with Quello che rimane di noi nell’era neo-imperiale (Piemme)
- 20 May, Maurizio De Giovanni with Il pappagallo muto (Rizzoli)
- 21 May, Chiara Francini with Le querce non fanno limoni (Rizzoli)
- 22 May, Walter Veltroni with Iris, La libertà (Rizzoli)
- 23 May, Nicoletta Romanoff with Come il tralcio alla vite (Rizzoli)
- 27 May, Valeria Locati with La distanza che cura (Mondadori)
- 28 May, Roberta Recchia with Io che ti ho voluto così bene (Rizzoli)
- 29 May, Enzo Amendola with L’imam deve morire (Mondadori)
- 3 June, Cristina Cassar Scalia with Delitto di benvenuto (Einaudi)
- 4 June, Annalisa Cuzzocrea with E non scappare mai (Rizzoli)
- 11 June, Fabio Ciconte with Il cibo è politica (Einaudi)
- 16 June, Marino Bartoletti and Maria Vittoria Backhaus with Come together (Rizzoli)
- 19 June, Andrea Staid with Dare forme al mondo (UTET).
For more details, go to the website: www.eventi.mondadoristore.it
Partners
The partners of the new Rizzoli Milano are: Paolo Lucchetta Retail Design for the architectural design and layout of the bookshop; Altavia for the communication concept of the event; Campus Fandango Club for the organisation of the opening event; Radio Montecarlo, the official in-store radio station.
Photo credit: Vito Corvasce
Mondadori Store is the largest network of bookstores in Italy: a cultural organisation active nationwide with more than 500 stores in large cities and small towns alike, and online through the Mondadoristore.it e-commerce website and the book club formula.
The bookstores are designed as places where local communities can meet and learn and future readers can develop a love of books. In addition to books – the heart of the offer – there are also specific formats and products for younger generations, such as “Just Comics” (dedicated to the world of comics and illustrated volumes, from manga and graphic novels to superheroes and major Italian authors) and “We are junior”, an area designed to welcome younger readers, with books and learning games that stimulate the imagination.
Mondadori Store also offers readers and users entertainment experiences, events and multi-channel services. The special attention placed on organising meetings with writers, singers and artists from the performing arts, workshops and activities for children (also available online) has made it possible to increase points of contact and opportunities to engage customers in the community. As a result, Mondadori Bookstores are an important landmark for culture and entertainment, whose responsiveness to customer needs and innovative proposals make the difference.
The Mondadori Group network is active through four sales channels: direct sales, franchising, web and bookclub.
