Friday 16 May 2008, 6.30pm – GAS unveils its new Venice Flagship Store in one of the main shopping areas of the city of canals, in Calle del Lovo, near the Goldoni Theatre. The mono-brand store covers an area of 211 square metres over two floors. There was a large crowd in attendance at the opening of the new GAS Flagship Store. The event, which was open to the general public, included a spectacular performance by the Venetian band “Pantakin da Venezia”. The artists, who are part actors and part circus performers continually amazed the crowd with their acrobatics. A juggler, a clown, a dancer on stilts and an aerialist moved around a dreamlike space among flying jellyfish and see-through sailing boats. The show, dedicated to Venice and the sea, was set to the music of maestro Carlo Cialdo Capelli. Claudio Grotto, President and Founder of Grotto SpA, which produces and distributes the GAS label collections, welcomed numerous special guests including: President of Veneto’s Manufacturers’ Association Andrea Riello, President of Veneto’s Journalists Association Gianluca Amadori. The event represented a moment of unity, a sign of openness between the company, which already organized numerous art and culture initiatives in town in the last years, and Venice itself. The Venice store is part of the Vertical Retail development project, based on the creation of a network of mono-brand stores in the main cities of Italy and around the world, aimed at creating an ever greater balance between the product and the retail point, the GAS home, the place where creativity meets the consumer. The programme of openings began in Florence in January 2007 and has taken in the following key cities: Hong Kong-Causeway Bay, Munich-Liebfrauenstrasse, Munich-Wilhelmstrasse, Mumbay-Bandra, London, Vienna, Prague, Palermo, Bangalore, and Cologne. It continues in 2008 with Venice and Budapest.