business – Good News Monaco

A new series featuring members of the International Professional Women in Monaco group, we start with Lisa DeRea Frederiksen, founder of Lisa DeRea Photography in 2018.

What inspired your business – and what gap did you see that others weren’t addressing?
My business was inspired by my passion for seeing beauty in the world and capturing it with my camera. The need to share my work is inside of me and that is what inspired me to do exhibitions and enter contests, which led to selling my custom printed work that now hangs in homes, offices, and yachts around the world.

Photography isn’t about the camera. It’s about your eyes. It’s about knowing where to stand. It’s about knowing when to click the shutter. And when it all comes together, it’s magic.

How do you market your company and what has genuinely worked to reach new clients?
In some ways the digital and social media world we live in now has helped for my marketing, but it also made it much more difficult. Before 2020, my primary marketing was exhibitions, both group and solo. Sadly, Covid shut down all exhibitions for a few years, many never to return again.

What was the turning point in your business?
In August 2017, I exhibited in my first exhibition. In November that same year I exhibited in my first large exhibition show in Menton and won an award from the town of Sospel – and the prize was my own solo exhibition. I was surprised and thrilled, although my son, a competition sailor, asked why I did not win a trophy.

Three months later, in February 2018, the Monaco government granted me the official status of “Artist-Photographer.”

What is one unglamorous but essential step every woman should take before launching a business here?
Hard to say, possibly the paperwork things to get started. Even opening a bank account here takes a long time.

What advice would you give to women ready to bet on themselves and start their own business here?
Go for it! Monaco has an amazing network of wonderful women who are always helping and supporting each other. Also, the Monaco government has great websites – most with an English-language option – showing all the steps with documents to download for the things you need to do to start your business and complete reporting, which will be needed throughout the year, for example for the Monegasque Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (IMSEE).

Follow Lisa DeRea Photography on Instagram and see the Annuaire des Artistes de Monaco.

The International Professional Women in Monaco Group brings together English-speakers currently working or retired to share information and support each other.

Article first published on May 2, 2026.

Alexandra Rinaldi, who owns Les 5 Saveurs à Monaco on rue Basse, is no stranger to the Monaco business scene. The Monegasque took over her parents’ business, Rinaldi Ship Chandler, which opened in 1970 on Quai Antoine, and before that, in 2010, she ran Les Trésors de la Mer, a clothing and decoration shop on rue de Millo in La Condamine.

Having sold both businesses, she had the opportunity to open a boutique in Monaco Ville that could cater to both Monaco residents and tourists. “The community on the Rock is elderly but we have people who know our history and share their stories in the streets.”

In March 2019, Alexandra opened Les 5 Saveurs à Monaco with her dog Bella at her side, selling scents of Provence, food and cosmetics. But things were a bit tight. “I ended up having to add some souvenirs to make ends meet. Tourists love anything that says Monaco,” she says.

The first year for any business is never easy, but then Covid hit. Streets typically filled with the bustle of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the Prince were at a standstill. Shops and restaurants, some having to pay out €6,000 a month in rent, faced extinction. As one elderly Monegasque women summed it up: “Monaco Ville est mort.”

“It was very difficult. I closed on March 14 but had the right to deliver food — tapenade, artichokes, olive oil, jams, herbs de Provence — which wasn’t a huge amount but it helped to pay the rent.”

Alexandra, who has lived most of her life between La Condamine and Fontvieille, reopened post-confinement on May 4. “I was so surprised to see clients from Monaco come that first week to support us. They didn’t spend large amounts but it helped. But by July and August, locals stayed away from le Rocher as tourists slowly came back. From August, it became mandatory to wear a mask in all les ruelles of Monaco Ville. “You didn’t have to wear masks in other parts of Monaco so locals stopped coming altogether.”

Once again, Alexandra reverted to small deliveries to loyal clients. Then the French confinement Version 2.0 began on October 30, 2020.

Cleverly, she had started to develop her business by selling Italian sweaters and vests—for €29 to €35—from a supplier she has worked with for 15 years. “I tried to find something that you can’t find elsewhere in Monaco so to not be in competition with other businesses here and although it’s not same turnover, it helps. I am going to expand with clothes and handbags that will appeal to passers-by and people from cruise ships.” (In 2019, there were 182,436 cruise passengers in Monaco. From March 11, 2020 until 2021 cruise ships were banned from stopovers in the Principality).

Alexandra is forthcoming. She admits she doesn’t have the means to buy items in advance and can only sell clothing because it is on consignment.

“As commerce, we are stuck. We can’t buy stock in advance that we don’t know if we are going to sell. This is a huge problem for businesses in Monaco but especially in Monaco Ville with souvenir shops.”

Alexandra has resorted to putting her boutique up for sale — “I am a relatively optimistic person in life but it has become a hard battle” — but is continuing with business as usual.

Her line of Panier des Sens — natural cosmetics and scents of Provence hand creams, soaps and fragrances all made in Marseilles — is her top seller, for both clients in Monaco and tourists. “The products I love sell well.” The Colline de Provence products also a hit.

There is a scent for every budget here. And for Christmas, Alexandra will make up gift boxes from €10 to €150.

Open Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm or anytime by appointment on 06 40 61 80 28.

Les 5 Saveurs
6 bis rue Basse, Monaco Ville

Article first published November 2020.