Apparently, they’re just not innovative enough for the fashion capital of Italy.  The Financial Times is reporting that McDonald’s has been evicted from the iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall in Milan, due to what it describes as “an unfair public tender for the renting of the space that hosts the restaurant.”  They’re also suing the city for 24-million Euros—that’s a whole lotta Happy Meals!

Incidentally, they spent the afternoon handing out free burgers and fries at the Galleria, Mickey D’s third-busiest Italian location, attracting a crowd of some 5,000 people, according to Reuters.  Some 1,500 messages have been left on a Facebook farewell page in the past two weeks, to boot.  As per the FT, Rossana Commissari wrote: “This is the McDonald’s where I ate on the first date with my boyfriend, now my fiancée (sic), and where we eat every time we come to see the duomo. A true pity.”

Something tells me the likes of Commissari couldn’t afford to dine at the nearby Savini restaurant, where a salad reportedly sells for 27 Euros.  But with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci in the same shopping plaza, it would appear that the Golden Arches aren’t upscale enough for Milan’s high-fashion crowd.  Apparently, the new rental agreement issued by the city contained several clauses meant to exclude the billions and billions served by McDonald’s, with terms stressing the need for “business showing excellence in innovation, technology and communications.”  Hmm, it’s not too late for Ronald’s homeboys to launch a Your Questions campaign in Italian, is it?  And couldn’t a Mac Sabbath reunion gig be organized for the occasion?

In any case, the space has apparently been allocated to Prada, which already boasts another storefront in the Galleria.  But I guess you can’t have just one Prada, eh fashionistas?