Milan’s factories, of course, will be central to any recovery, and despite the scale of the problems Italy faces, at least a few key companies report an almost business-as-usual posture. Prysmian SpA, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric and communications cables, was spun off from Pirelli in 2005 and is headquartered adjacent to the tire maker in the northern suburb of Bicocca.
Valerio Battista, the Tuscan engineer who leads Prysmian, has been working from home but presides over regular video and phone meetings with managers worldwide. He says the impact so far is “under control” and as the crisis has eased in Asia, the news from there is encouraging.
“Our businesses in China are now working at full speed, and even better than we forecast following the end of the virus crisis,” Battista says. “I expect Italy, and Europe, to follow the same path in a few months, though probably with a slower pace of recovery.”
Automaker Ferrari, based two hours south of Milan (or maybe one hour in one of the company’s $1 million supercars), says its business has barely been dented by the outbreak as its cars are ordered as much as 18 months in advance. But with the factory closed during the lockdown, the company says it’s unclear whether it will see delays in deliveries later in the year.
“We haven’t seen any abnormal reduction of our order book,” says Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri. “Our customers outside Italy are really stepping up to try to help us.”
For companies lacking a global footprint, by contrast, there’s little reason for optimism.
Salmoiraghi Automatic Handling makes equipment for automated warehouses at its site near the Monza Formula One race track just north of Milan’s A-51 ring road. Founder Sandro Salmoiraghi says the lockdown has thrown the company into “complete chaos,” and that a key customer recently delayed its order by a year, leaving his 60 employees with little to do.
“I remember the air raids of World War II in Milan,” says Salmoiraghi, 85. “Our current enemy, the virus, is worse than bombs because it’s invisible.”
If big businesses will provide the backbone of any recovery for Milan as it crawls out from the lockdown, it’s the small ones that serve as the city’s soul—and sustenance. So far, their fortunes are mixed, with a few standouts that are thriving. Terroir, an organic grocery and wine shop in the shabby-chic Risorgimento district, has seen sales double in recent weeks as homebound workers order from the corner shop rather than queue at a supermarket. But Smartkook, a normally busy lunch spot just a few minutes’ walk from Milan’s majestic gothic Duomo, had to dump dozens of salmon fillets it had bought just before the lockdown. “We tossed thousands of euros worth of food,” says manager Paolo Zubani, who’s now considering a carryout business to keep some revenue rolling in.
Any real recovery will have to wait until Smartkook and other restaurants can again open their tables to diners, both locals and visitors. Confcommercio, a business lobbying group, predicts that restaurants and hotels will see sales fall by 23 billion euros—22%—this year. Alberto Salvagnin suspects the decline for his company will be closer to 90%.