The first thing we did today was go on a walking tour of Milan. This one was different than the one from our first day here because this was specifically a fashion walking tour, as opposed to the cultural walking tour we were given the first time. We walked through a street with a bunch of high-end store with pretty displays, and this led to a street with even bigger stores and even more beautiful displays. We got to tour a high-end department store in this area called Excelsior Milano. There’s no department store like it in like it in all of Italy. While there we got to see carefully thought out displays in glass and mirrors of jewelry, electronics, perfume, clothing, shoes, and accessories. There was even a floor that sold wine and food. It was almost surreal being there because of the lighting and the displays. The designers of that store did a very good job, and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to look around.

After our tour we had lunch. For lunch, I had risotto for the first time on this trip. Risotto is supposed to be pretty popular in Italy, but I rarely eat risotto in America, so I never ordered it in Italy. It was very creamy and they gave us a lot. For our second course we had chicken and potatoes, which was also very good.

Later in the afternoon we were given a lecture by a digital marketer from Velasca, which is a men’s leather shoe company based in Milan. I was looking forward to receiving this lecture because this was the company that I researched for a group assignment due before this trip started. They have a really nice website. I think it really sold their company. The lecture today was on the Velasca business model and marketing. What makes their company unique is their direct-to-consumer bussiness model, which cuts out their middle man and makes their shoes much more afforadable, and the way they use e-commerce as an intergral part of their business. I feel like the way in which they do this, is a good example of what the logistics company we visited yesterday envisions for Italian shopping. While we didn’t get to see the store as a group, I took a trip down there with a few people from the group and really liked it. As advertised the shoes are very high quality and relatively inexpenssive. If I was a guy, I would definitely bought shoes from there.