Venice, closes the Fondaco dei Tedeschi

Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the luxury shopping center located in the 13th-century building of the same name in the heart of Venice, next to the Rialto Bridge, will close in 2025. Four floors, 226 employees working in the stores, a focal point of the historic center of the lagoon city. The mall is owned by Dfs Group, a Hong Kong-based luxury retailer that is part of the French luxury group Lvmh. The decision, the group announced, “is part of a general restructuring undertaken by Dfs, which stems from the very critical economic situation and outlook that Dfs and the travel retail sector are facing globally and, in particular, the negative results of the Venice store.” The closure is linked to the luxury crisis and in particular the sharp decline in Asian customers who were spending heavily in the mall’s stores.

The Fondaco dei Tedeschi had been opened in 2016 following a lengthy renovation. In 2008, it had been sold by the Post Office (to which it had even belonged since Napoleon’s time) to the Benetton group, which owned the property and restored it with an investment of more than 50 million euros, while Dfs had the spaces under lease. The lease will expire in September 2025, and Dfs has let it be known that the center will remain open in the first few months of the new year, after which it will be closed for dismantling work.

“We have learned today, with surprise, receiving the communication of the opening of a collective dismissal procedure, the decision of the company Dfs Italy to want to proceed with the closure of Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, the prestigious store of luxury brands, and the dismissal of the 226 employees,” regional councilor for labor Valeria Mantovan announced. “Fair notice of the company’s intentions would have been useful to ensure maximum timeliness in the Region’s handling of the situation. For the management of this complex situation I have asked for the support of the company’s crisis unit, which, with the regional labor directorate, has already set an initial technical table with the company and the social partners. I can already now assure that, as a region, we will provide all the support necessary to define solutions and use the available tools.” The priority now is not to leave the 226 employees on the street.

Venice, closes the Fondaco dei Tedeschi

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