Italy: Milan's Via MonteNapoleone wins out as world's priciest street

The Via MonteNapoleone has been officially awarded the title of the world's most expensive shopping street, according to a US commercial property global index showing the Milanese street outsmarting even New York's Fifth Avenue.

The latest version of American firm Cushman & Wakefield's annual global index, which ranks shopping areas based on the rent prices they command, is a sign of Via MonteNapoleone's desirability as an address for luxury ready-to-wear, jewellry and even pastry brands.

The average rent on the Milan street has surged to 20,000 euros per square metre, compared with 19,537 euros per square metre on an 11-block stretch of upper Fifth Avenue.

Via MonteNapoleone's small size - just 350 metres long - and walking distance to services and top cultural sites are among the street's key advantages, according to Guglielmo Miani, president of the MonteNapoleone District association.

Small and exclusive

"Not everything can fit, which is a benefit" since the limited space makes the street even more exclusive and dynamic, said Miani, whose group also represents businesses on the intersecting side streets that together with Via MonteNapoleone form an area known as Milan's Fashion Quadrilateral.

The biggest brands on the street make between €50m and €100m in annual sales, Miani said, which goes a long way to paying the rent. Tiffany's is preparing to take up residence on Via Montenapoleone, and long-time tenant Fendi is expanding.

The MonteNapoleone District says 11 million people visited the area this year through to November, but there's no way to say how many were big spenders and how many were window shoppers. The average shopper on Via MonteNapoleone spent €2,500 per purchase between August and November - the highest average receipt in the world, according to the tax-free shopping firm Global Blue.

The street is a magnet for holiday shoppers who arrive in Maseratis, Porsches and even Ferraris.

One visitor from China, Chen Xinghan who was laden down with parcels, said he had paid half the price for a luxury Fendi coat that he purchased in Milan than he would have at home.

"I got a lot," Chen acknowledged, adding: "It's a fantastic place, a good place for shopping."

A few store windows down, Franca Da Rold, who was visiting Milan from Belluno, an Italian city in the Dolomites mountain range, marveled at a chunky, meters-long knit scarf priced at 980 euros.

Despite upper Fifth Avenue getting bumped to the No. 2 slot on the Cushman & Wakefield list, the organisation that serves as the Manhattan street's guardian and chief promoter had praise for MonteNapoleone’s achievement.

"Milan's investment in its public realm is paying off, which is a win for their shoppers, businesses and city as a whole,’" Madelyn Wils, interim president of the Fifth Avenue Association, said.

But she also expressed confidence that, with new investments and a record year for sales on Fifth Avenue, "we'll be back on top in no time".