Upscale shopping mall cancels the lease of a down-market store to make way for something more exclusive. Mass versus class – an old story, except that in this case, it involves the politics of global capitalism, an agile turnabout by a clever marketer, and the brio of Italy. There’s a lesson here for anyone interested in how capitalism sells itself to a mass audience even during a recession.
The mall is the granddaddy of all upscale malls – Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The tenant that lost its lease is the international symbol of American capitalism and globalization – McDonald’s.
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