Milan, an open city: shopping during Easter week

Thanks to the coronavirus, the city is discovering small shops. In Milan, numerous businesses ( see list ) are delivering essential goods to people's homes. While the ordinances remain in place, large online grocery shopping systems are unable to meet the demand. Thus, the Lombardy capital is populating with neighborhood shops that deliver groceries to residents' homes. While essential services are still being maintained, here's how local businesses have organized themselves to supply the community through home delivery. We begin this journey with Milan, the major city that has undoubtedly felt the impact of the coronavirus the hardest. Enterprising and pragmatic by nature, residents and the administration have proven capable of finding concrete and rapid solutions (see the rapid construction of the Covid-19 hospital) to the needs that became so urgent during the first full month of quarantine.

Map of open businesses in Milan

As a demonstration of organizational effectiveness, the City of Milan recently published an interactive map on its website of all the shops that remained open during the emergency and were organized to offer home deliveries. Filtering by category, it's clear that all the main businesses are effectively covered and well distributed across Milan.

Fishmongers

Around ten fishmongers in the city are busy, non-stop. " Those who shop in-store haven't changed their habits, while the many who order home delivery are buying more products and freezing them ," explains Angelo Valentini , councilor for Assofood Confcommercio , who has seen home delivery requests quadruple.

Home delivery restaurants

On the interactive map, the City of Milan lists the various catering businesses involved in preparing and delivering essential products. These activities are largely delegated to dedicated chains: Foodys.it, Glovo, Deliveroo, JustEat, and UberEats are among the most popular.

Fruit and vegetables

Over 100 greengrocers and fruit and vegetable sellers are at work, with a full 90% making deliveries. " The stay-at-home order ," explains Gianluigi Zaffaroni , president of Confcommercio's fruit and vegetable retailers, " is pushing people to dedicate more time to cooking. This is why demand for products is increasing, especially vegetables, which are typically purchased less because they require lengthy processing. And there's a growing focus on quality."

Butchers

All 80 butcher shops in Milan are operating normally, as they are not affected by the restrictions. According to the Butchers' Association of Confcommercio, the way people shop is changing: "People are buying more, less frequently, and requests for home delivery are increasing."

Bakeries

Of the 120 bakeries belonging to the Confcommercio Milano Bakers' Association, approximately 10% continue to offer home delivery. In addition to bread, the bakeries also sell traditional Easter sweets (primarily colomba).

Wine shops

About half of Milan's 50 wine shops offer home delivery. " This is a service we've already offered, especially during the holidays, but now we're seeing a huge demand ," explains Massimo Malfassi , vice president of Assofood Confcommercio Milano, who receives about 60 calls from customers a day at his wine shop.

Coffee and roasting

Coffee, pods, capsules, and roasted products are regularly insured for home delivery. The map of the municipality highlights many well-known ones, from La Bottega del Caffè to La Cialdina, from Matic to the historic Torrefazione Hodeidah.

Supermarkets open during Easter week

No problem for the weekdays, on Sunday (Easter Sunday) only Coop and Pam Panorama would keep their stores closed to give employees extra rest time and carry out thorough cleaning in the stores.

• Esselunga: Mon-Sat 7:30 am – 10 pm. Sunday 8 am – 3 pm.
• Carrefour: Mon-Sat 7:30 am – 8 pm. Sunday 8:30 am – 3 pm.
• Coop: Mon-Sat 8:00 am – 8:00 pm (some 8:30 am – 7:30 pm). Closed Sunday.
• Pam-Panorama : Mon-Sat 8.00am – 8.00pm. Sunday CLOSED.
• Conad: Mon-Sat 8:30 am – 8:30 pm (some 8:30 am – 8:00 pm). Sunday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.
• Lidl : Mon-Sat 8:00 am – 8:00 pm. Sunday CLOSED
• The Giant : Mon-Sat 8:00 am – 9:00 pm. Sunday 8:30 am – 1:30 pm.
• In's: Mon-Sat 8:30 am – 8:00 pm. Sunday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Other initiatives by Milanese supermarkets

Supermarkets are increasingly taking steps to help those most in need.

Coop Lombardia

With CoD@Casa , Coop lets you book your shopping time online to avoid the lines. Starting Monday, April 6th, at five stores in Milan (Ipercoop in Piazza Lodi, Bonola, and Baggio, plus the superstores in Arona and Palmanova), simply go to the store's website, register, and choose your time slot (numbers are limited), then present a receipt at the door.

Esselunga

Starting April 1st, Esselunga will add a 15% discount on the total purchase to the vouchers distributed by municipalities. Additionally, it will introduce a dedicated lane, with priority entry and a dedicated checkout, for customers over 65, disabled people, and pregnant women.

Carrefour

Here's a list of Carrefour Express stores that deliver groceries to your home: Via Edolo 26 (tel. 338 72 54 499); Via Grossich 3 (tel. 366 75 47 254); Via Gianella 21 (tel. 388 72 54 499); Via Sismondi 35 (tel. 366 69 96247). You can order groceries over the phone, choosing from a catalog of eighty essential products, and have them delivered to your home by the next morning at the latest. This service is reserved for citizens over the age of sixty.

Filaindiana and Dovefila, the apps that "see" supermarket queues.

Created by the startup Wiseair, the website FilaIndiana.it is a platform that allows you to check—in real time—wait times outside Milan's supermarkets (originally for residents of Lombardy, but later expanded to the rest of Italy) and monitor the number of people waiting in line. A smartphone app is also available. Another interesting web app is DoveFila, designed for anyone who needs to do their shopping, again with the goal of avoiding spending too much time in line. It can be used on both smartphones and computers, and again requires an active GPS signal so that the signal can indicate nearby stores.

Foodcrossing: the solidarity initiative in Zone 4

The Foodcrossing service, set up by residents of Milan's Zone 4 to exchange basic necessities among neighborhood residents , is just one of the latest social initiatives to help those in need. Food and basic necessities are collected at the tobacconist's on Via Fiamma, to then be redistributed to the residents of Zone 4.