Grocery stores, toy shops, hardware stores: these are the ones most at risk of closing and risk increasing the desertification of cities. There are fewer and fewer shops but they are getting bigger. Confesercenti does the math: between 2011 and 2025, over 103 thousand shops disappeared, but the overall commercial surface area increased by +7.4%, thanks to the enlargement of the average size of the points of sale, which went from around 117 to 144.5 square metres, a leap of +23.8%. A restructuring process driven by the convergence towards the medium format: shops and micro-shops are decreasing and, at the same time, the maxi-retail surfaces are downsizing. The shops retreat. The transformation is not painless, especially for independent entrepreneurs. The reduction in sales points is in fact driven by the contraction of smaller surfaces: micro shops of up to 50 m2 decrease by over 72 thousand units, those between 51 and 150 m2 reduce by over 42,700 businesses. However, the “medium” formats are growing: shops between 151 and 250 m2 are increasing (over a thousand points of sale and 300 thousand m2 more) and those between 251 and 400 m2 are holding their ground (-246 shops).
The size of shops is growing
In 2011-2025 regions such as Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo show a marked growth in overall commercial surface area (+14.6% and +13.2%), despite the reduction in sales points (-14.4% and -14.5%). Lazio and Campania also recorded an increase in surface area (+10.1% and +8.5%) compared to a decline in shops (-10.7% and -8.8%).
In over a thousand municipalities there is no grocery store
On the contrary, the surface area is stagnant or retreats in Sardinia (+0.8% surface area with -19.5% businesses), Puglia (-2.2% surface area), Basilicata (-1.3%) and Valle D’Aosta (-1.2%). Confirmation that in some areas services are also being reduced. There are already over 1,100 municipalities in Italy now without a specialized food shop.
«These numbers tell us that physical trade is not simply decreasing: it is reorganizing», comments Nico Gronchi, president of Confesercenti. «Medium sales outlets are growing, but the extremes are retreating: micro and small formats are disappearing and maxi-surfaces are downsizing. The reorganization, however, has a cost, and the victims are the small independent businesses, those which due to their size guaranteed specializations – toys, hardware, local food – and which constitute a point of reference for the community. This is why we need policies that bring together two objectives: stopping desertification and accompanying the growth and evolution of those who can invest and innovate. Urban regeneration is the meeting point. We need to bring functions back to the neighborhoods, make the streets accessible and attractive, providing concrete tools for businesses.”