Among the social utility activities that remained open in this moment of emergency, there are the newsagents. Key places for a function public service through the sale of newspapers that inform citizens about what is happening. Reference points that survive in the social era as an antidote to fake news and therefore perform an essential service for the population.
In this delicate situation, where the world has stopped, the information continues thanks to a supply chain that works unceasingly: publishers, journalists, printers, distributors and newsagents.
Of the more than 25,000 Italian newsstands, 22,000 remained operational. From cities to small towns, in fact, there are many newsagents who keep their activities open, with all the necessary precautions and often also with the ingenuity that pushes them towards new ways of selling because they are convinced that information is essential.
Among the many stories of courage and determination there is that of the Milanese Andrea Carbini, a newspaper enthusiast who pursues the dream of relaunching the sale and reading of the printed press. This passion of his led him to invent an innovative form of sale: the Ape Mobile Newsstand. A few months ago he set up the first vehicle, started recruiting staff and taking his first steps. Once the emergency of the Coronavirus broke out, he did not lose heart, on the contrary, given the opportunity but short of staff, he put himself at the helm: every day he gets up at 5 in the morning, loads the Ape with newspapers and goes around Milan to sell them. The mobile newsstand has been accompanied by a home service for older people. Among the many newspapers he also distributed hundreds of copies of the Vanity Fair issue #IoSonoMilano.
A large number of newsagents who have courageously and creatively organized home deliveries and are working to ensure service to citizens; these are just some of the many stories.
Gaetano Larenza, co-owner of a newsstand in Sannazzaro, has instead devised a home service on the "American style": he launches the newspaper on the doorstep of the running car. This is to gain time in deliveries, which begin at 6 in the morning, and to avoid any contagion. On the same line Lorenzo Armerighi who in Bergamo delivers newspapers by scooter, and the owner of the tobacconist's bar in Garenzago, Valerio Alòwho, with his bicycle, delivers newspapers to customers' homes. Then there are Alessandra and Federica, the Garlasco newsagents who, in addition to keeping their business open, bring shopping, drugs and newspapers to people in quarantine or who cannot go out. Also Massimiliano Gorrini, who manages a newsstand in Voghera together with his partner Emma Marinella, keeps the opening hours unchanged and adds a home delivery service for those who cannot go out. Then there is the story of Cinzia Renna, newsagent of Pavia who carries on the business opened by her grandfather in 1954. Despite the closed market and the stalls absent she resists, taking all necessary precautions, for her loyal customers but also for new ones who come to her to buy a newspaper and comment on the news.
The role of distributors, who are currently launching many solidarity initiatives, is also crucial in the large information supply chain.
There are many local distributors who are organizing home delivery wherever possible by involving the nearby newsstands and in cases where there are no sales points that can act as support, organizing dedicated services; here too it is impossible to trace them all, these are just an example of the countless initiatives.
Lo Buono, The local distributor in Bari, is launching the initiative of a "door-to-door service" for the home delivery of newspapers, periodicals, sachets and publications for children. The newspapers will be delivered to your home every day by 10:30 am. No additional costs will be applied to the end customer and the costs of the service will be entirely borne by the distributor. The initiative is in collaboration with newsstands and two telephone numbers have been made available, an email address and WhatsApp to which orders can be sent. An "online showcase" will also be created: a portal for information and services offered to citizens, who can be sure of what is available and available at newsstands.
In the same way it is being organized Dora head the distributor of Avellino, Benevento and Potenza that is collecting and filling in a database, the adhesions of the newsstands that are available for home delivery, a database that will be accessible through a dedicated web portal and through which publications can be ordered for delivery to home. The distributors of Bologna, Alghero and Sassari and Isernia-Campobasso-Cerignola have also activated a home delivery service in collaboration with newsagents.
Even the Eboli distributor has activated a service similar to that of Bari, but aimed only at areas not covered by newsagents. Then there is the local distributor in Viareggio, Lucca and Pistoia who activated insurance at his own expense, for one person on each newsstand, to protect and cover any costs resulting from the infection by Coronavirus.
Many solidarity and support activities to support Condé Nast so, as with all publishers, the role of distributors, newsagents and contact with readers is crucial.
Among others, Giorgio Corno, owner of theDistribution agency Dif of Bergamo at its own expense, it organized the free distribution of 1,000 copies of the Vanity Fair to hospitalized patients and healthcare personnel from the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo. Massimo Camponovo, CEO of Liguria Press, offered free of charge the display of the posters of the #IOCISONO number of Vanity Fair in its distribution area and donated the entire distribution of the issue to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, the hospital to which Condé Nast will donate the full proceeds from newsstand sales of the issue. The dealer Martini Dumas from Lucca-Pistoia and Versilia, he also decided to donate the entire distribution yoke to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo.
Also long S in support of the #IOCISONO issue of Vanity Fair, it offered free floor displays entirely dedicated to 87 stores, which represent 75% of the chain's sales network.