Dear Dr. Caprotti,
i read your book with curiosity, which I specifically asked my wife for as a Christmas present. In several parts I recognised myself in the evolution of Esselunga when, in the early days of the 2 monthly advertisements in the style of Orsetti or Cocco, going to work in the Lambrate area meant that I had to take a bus under the railway lines where the biggest posters were put up and every month one advertisement exceeded the previous one. It was a constant topic of discussion at home. It was from 1996 that I used to come to Esselunga-Feltre and I had done my green Fidaty (today and for at least 20 years I have the gold one) with which I had collected my first prize (a pot with extra cost) with the receipt saying ‘congratulations on reaching your goal’. So much laughter about my goal!!! Then what happened, and for a while I was left with a deep admiration for her father and his ability to have created such a reality. A machine that was never wrong, ahead of its time and always on the ball. the last part of the book, on the other hand, made me sad and I could imagine how much he suffered (it transpired) in being subjected to those incomprehensible treatments in constant and continuous friction/war(?). I wondered why he did not talk about his marriage (his wife appears but there is no mention of the choice to take an important step, which I took in 2001) or the birth of his children (the eldest of whom, I gather from seeing one of the presentations, would have preferred the name Bernardo). I am now observing, also thanks to his articles, a giant that seems to me to be having a little difficulty in maintaining its position (the Florence problem aside). I have seen Ipercoop and Carrefour go down (close to home I have always had a GS/carrefour market that often retains its original name for us) I have seen the crises of the hypermarkets and I watch with curiosity the new frontier ARESE vs MERLATA BLOOM without having yet done the shopping in either the former or the latter as the arrival of Tigros and the various LIDL and IN’s markets opening everywhere. I thank you again for the many contributions you have gradually posted and which have helped me to get ideas about a world that, seen from my desk at work, seems interesting and worth exploring. I wish you, in my small way, to find the will to bet on something new that will bring you back to the fighting spirit. Should you make any new presentations in Milan city, let me know and I will try to come and hear you. Good work.
Alessandro Berrini, 7/4/24
