There are McDonald's in Florence, and that is about it. No Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, etc. - no American/International franchises (for food). That changed today. As I walked around the Duomo I came upon the below:
That is a brand new Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop. Seems a little strange in the land of gelato. I could understand it in a bigger city, but Florence is really a small town, and Winter is less than a month away. We just heard of a newer gelato place that is closing down already. I don't know - I wish them luck, but the timing could have been better.