Italian flair gets Shopping Festival underway

Florentia Village in the Pudong New Area, an Italian-style fashion outlet, is planning a new 3,000 square meter family entertainment center, said Luca Carpinelli, commercial director of the outlet on Friday.

The day marked the opening of Shanghai Shopping Festival with more than 20,000 retail outlets of over 2,000 companies taking part in the 13th annual event.

Shanghai Florentia Village, which opened in 2015, the second in China after Tianjin in 2011, put on a fashion show by graduates from Istituto Marangoni on Friday.

“We plan 300 more shops in the second phase,” said Carpinelli. “There will also be more restaurants.”

The shopping festival, which runs through October 20, will feature over 100 events in 50 shopping malls and boutiques.

At L+ Mall in Lujiazui, people can enjoy traditional Chinese music. Huizhi Life Center in Zhangjiang has recreated a Shikumen lane in the atrium of the mall where people can buy typical Shanghai goods.