The Decline of Traditional Commerce in Naples' Vomero District

It's a real slaughter: there isn't a week that, in the hill district of the Neapolitan capital, the Vomero, a commercial area par excellence, does not register the closure of some store, even in these first months of 2024 - states bitterly Gennaro Capodanno, president of the Committee for Hill Values, already president of the Vomero District. The economic crisis, along with the rise in management costs, mainly regarding rental fees, which in some streets has reached exorbitant values, has brought to its knees the traditional commercial tertiary sector that has represented, for over a century, the main productive activity of the hill district, with about two thousand commercial establishments, some of which are large distribution, present on a territory of just two square kilometers. To make matters worse, recent events have certainly contributed, with landslides and sinkholes that have led to the closure of some streets, with consequent repercussions on traffic, and to the stop, which occurred over a year and a half ago, of the Chiaia funicular, which carried 15,000 passengers daily. Unfortunately - continues Capodanno - these days has announced the closure, which will take place next weekend, also the firm Antonio Spatarella, whose premises are located at number 82 of Via Francesco Solimena, right in front of the building that has been partially evacuated for a month, following the lesions that have appeared in the building, while, at the same time, the stretch of road in front has been cordoned off with a ban on vehicular traffic. The prestigious store in question - Capodanno remembers - was founded in 1971, therefore 53 years ago, becoming over time a safe and reliable reference point for all those who need to purchase suitcases, bags, women's clothing, shoes and, more generally, leather goods; not only for the residents of Vomero but for many people who come from all the neighborhoods of Naples but also from the municipalities of the Province. The owner Antonio Spatarella, a second-generation merchant, since his father Ciro, opened a leather goods store in Naples back in 1925, is certainly one of the most known and esteemed merchants of the hill district. Present every day in the store, with his collaborators, he has always stood out for the kindness and politeness with which he welcomes the vast clientele in the store, where his wife Margherita was also always present, whose kindness, elegance, and professionalism have left an indelible mark. Knowing Antonio Spatarella for many decades - Capodanno specifies - I asked him the reason for this sudden and unexpected decision, which personally, and I don't think I'm the only one, has greatly saddened me, moreover falling, like a bolt from the blue, in an extremely difficult period, aggravated by the known events, of the commercial tertiary sector, notably in Vomero. He answered, with the elegance and serenity that have always distinguished him, that at 84 years old he feels tired, that the pace of life he has led so far, although full of satisfactions, has become too difficult to sustain and that for this reason he has decided, as they say, to pull back. I don't know if this is, or rather only this, the reason for a certainly difficult and painful renunciation for someone who for over 50 years has carried out an activity that suddenly decides to do without but I did not insist further in the request, accepting his only motivation. What is certain - Capodanno emphasizes - is that many of us will miss this merchant from another time, from when customers were welcomed in the commercial premises, with kindness and warmth, personally by the owner, almost as if they were family members. The only consolation, besides the fact of being able to continue to enjoy the company of this great friend, is that the company does not disappear completely, since Antonio's son continues, in an excellent manner and with the same style, the family business, always in Vomero, in the shop located at number 45 of Via Michele Kerbaker, where the same sign of the shop on Via Solimena will continue to stand out, for which unfortunately from next Sunday, March 10, the shutters will be definitively lowered, after more than half a century of life.