The owner of a historic newsstand in a Tuscan city said he was “delighted” the business has been saved by one of his old customers — Patrizio Bertelli, the chair of the Italian fashion house Prada.

Piero Scartoni, 91, who has been getting up at 5 a.m. to run the newsstand in Piazza San Jacopo in the centre of Arezzo since 1953, can finally retire after it was bought by Bertelli, who was born in the city and is the husband of the fashion designer Miuccia Prada.

“Bertelli was a customer in the 1960s and 70s,” said Scartoni. “He used to buy a load of newspapers and magazines. He was a special customer. Then he became one of the richest people in Italy. I’m delighted he came to the rescue.”

Scartoni is well known in Arezzo for his encyclopaedic knowledge of newspapers and rare magazines, while his newsstand, whose other customers over the years have included the late film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, became a hub for debating the news topics of the day.

But, as with other newsstands across Italy, he has struggled to maintain the business amid the decline in newspaper readership.

“Nobody reads any more,” he said. “I used to sell 200 copies a day of La Nazione [one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy], and now it’s 65.”

Still, despite being eligible for retirement in 1996, Scartoni persevered with the business with the help of his daughter, Cristiana.

“I would still carry on, but my family doesn’t want it,” he said. “They keep saying, ‘Dad, please retire’. I come and sell a few newspapers, but the administration has become too difficult. I’m almost 100 so I should really stop.”

Italy loses about 1,000 newsstands across the country each year. Many small towns are now without a single one.

“All the newsstands in Arezzo are for sale, but nobody wants them,” said Scartoni. “It’s a gruelling job as you have to start at 5 a.m. It’s just not worth it any more, as you hardly earn anything.”

He lamented the decline in newspaper readership, saying: “The barbarians arrived, and now artificial intelligence is on the way, which will produce monsters.”

Bertelli paid €100,000 (£87,000) for the newsstand, according to Corriere della Sera.

The businessman has rescued other historical establishments in the city that were at risk of closure, including Buca di San Francesco, a restaurant open since the 1920s, and the 19th-century Caffè dei Costanti.

By Angela Giuffrida

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