The day Michael Jackson shopped in Fontvieille
By Laurent Duval, MonacoViews Editorial
In spring 1996, fresh from a performance at the Salle des Étoiles, Michael Jackson walked into the Nuggets record shop at the Fontvieille shopping centre.
It is the kind of story that stays with a shopkeeper for life. In the spring of 1996, shortly after a memorable appearance at the Salle des Étoiles, Michael Jackson made an unannounced visit to Nuggets, the record shop tucked inside the Fontvieille shopping centre. The co-manager of the store at the time has spoken about the moment, which caught staff entirely off guard.
Fontvieille, with its relatively low footfall compared to Monte-Carlo, was an unlikely setting for one of the world's most recognisable figures to go browsing for music. Yet that is precisely what happened, and the memory has endured among those who were there. For anyone who knows the centre commercial well, it is a reminder that the Principality has always attracted remarkable visitors, often in the most ordinary of circumstances.