Thousands queue up for free burger on store's last day as Prada prepares to take over premises in high-end galleria
Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, with its glittering Gucci and Louis Vuitton flagship stores, has long attracted tourists eager to marvel at the posh heart of the world's fashion capital. For the past two decades, the historic, marble-floored, glass-vaulted arcade that takes tourists from the Duomo cathedral to La Scala opera house has also been a prime location for a branch of the US chain McDonald's. The restaurant was a popular meeting point, reliably serving up its cheap "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – all on a sesame seed bun", as the famed Big Mac jingle goes.
But apparently not everyone was lovin' it. On Tuesday, the restaurant closed its doors for the last time – to make way for a new Prada outlet.
"For stores like Prada or Gucci, to have a McDonald's across from them probably didn't play well into the prestige of the gallery," said Italian luxury adviser Salvo Spagna. "It likely struck a wrong chord with the elegant, salon-of-Milan image."
According to reports, McDonald's is now planning to sue the City of Milan for €24 million (£19.5m) in damages and lost revenue, though others questioned whether the two entities might have struck a deal. "McDonald's doesn't go away for nothing," said Spagna.
During the day, several thousand young people queued up outside the restaurant (one of Italy's busiest McDonald's locations) to mourn its closing and get one last burger, which the chain gave away free in order to "go away with a smile", according to company representatives.
Fond memories from fans scrolled across a panel outside: "I'll miss you," said one, recalling trips there as a child. On the McDonald's Italia Facebook page, dozens of comments recalled shared laughs, first kisses and regret at the closure of the low-cost option just off Piazza Duomo.
"In front of the McDonald's Galleria in Milan yesterday, the world was turned upside down," wrote Milan daily Corriere della Sera, noting the irony of its transformation from a symbol of US globalisation into a safe refuge in hard times of crisis and unemployment.