The retail trade fears severe losses due to the planned closings in the Corona crisis. “Over-the-counter retail will suffer a large drop in sales,” said Thomas Scherer, managing director of the German trade association for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. There are also hardly any pull-in effects due to the closure of many shops from Wednesday. “People buy groceries out of concern for the corona virus, but not a new sofa.” Online trading, on the other hand, should benefit. “The big question is whether the logistics of the suppliers can handle this.”
Whether retailers such as furniture and fashion stores would cut jobs or even file for bankruptcy would depend on the duration of the closures ordered, said Scherer. Short-time work allowance is currently more practical for traders than bank loans, for example.
According to the agreement of the federal and state governments, many shops in Germany will have to close the doors as of Wednesday. The retail trade for groceries, weekly markets, delivery services, pharmacies, drugstores, petrol stations and banks should remain open. The ban on sales on Sundays is also to be lifted there.
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) criticized the easing. “There is no need for a further extension to Sunday because there are no signs that security of supply could be at risk,” said Michael Rudolph, chairman of the DGB district of Hesse-Thuringia. He warned of burdens for retail employees. “Occupational safety and hygiene standards for employees are already being neglected.”
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