Page 28 - May2021

Revitalising

Communities

An operator of sustainable and inclusive community markets,
Mercato Metropolitano is a company focused on reinvigorating
neighbourhoods and communities to improve people’s quality of

life whilst protecting the environment. Here, RLI discusses with Managing Director
Amedeo Claris how the company is evolving and growing in the wake of the global

pandemic.

The Mercato Metropolitano (MM) story began in 2015 as a parallel event within the Milan International Expo, running a
150,000sq ft pop-up market where it had 2.5 million visitors.
Following this success, they opened their first site in London in 2016 and they now operate two sites, one in Elephant & Castle,
a 45,000sq ft site that houses over 35 F&B concepts, a cinema and a cookery school and one in Mayfair, a 20,000sq ft community
market set within St Mark’s, a Greek revival style, Grade I listed building that features educational and social activities for local and
neighbouring residents along with the retail and dining offer.
The company has not altered their key objectives and expansion plans as a result of Covid-19. Instead, they have spent this
unprecedented economic period addressing a number of inefficiencies that a fast-growing start-up inevitably encounters in its
initial phase of expansion.
“The project continues to hinge on the same pillars on which it was conceived, such as a community focus, sustainability, food
adequacy and inclusion, which now more than ever are needed to address pressing issues,” explains Amedeo Claris, Managing
Director of Mercato Metropolitano.
In the coming months, three projects in London will be delivered along with one large market in the heart of Berlin’s Potsdamer
Platz. The first is due to open this month and will be a deli and grocer in a newly built residential complex, Elephant Park which is
part of the bigger MM Factory project. The MM Factory, which is expected to launch in August, will comprise a number of artisanal
laboratories, including bakery, viennoiserie, patisserie and fresh pasta amongst others. The second project, also due to open in
August, will be a 6,000sq ft neighbourhood site with a 1,500sq ft music venue in the basement, as part of the newly-built Vertus
Building in Canary Wharf. The final London project will be a sustainable and inclusive community market in Ilford, which they are
building from the ground up behind Redbridge Town Hall. Meanwhile outside of the UK, Mercato Metropolitano expects to launch

28 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL MAY 2021