The Mestre district, part of Venice that is on dry land, has seen an explosion of Bangladeshi arrivals in recent times, so much so that the routine of a children’s store has completely changed.
The establishment, called “Cecchetto”, promoted an unprecedented change in the region by placing product prices and specifications on the window in Italian and Bengali, a language spoken in Bangladesh.
The store has been open since 1959 and is just a few steps from Piazza Ferretto, in the central part of the district. It is known for its showcase full of stuffed animals, including large ones.
The choice to place product details in Bengali is completely commercial, but also necessary, as many Bangladeshi couples arrived in Italy and do not understand Italian very well.
“You just have to look around to see how many Bangladeshi mothers are here. The world has changed and consequently the cities have changed. Mestre is no different”, analyzed Andrea Cecchetto, owner of the store.
A study carried out by the Italian government showed that, between 2002 and 2022, the number of Bangladeshi citizens living in the European country rose from 22 thousand to more than 150 thousand, with 46% living in the northern region, mainly in Lombardy and Veneto. .
