Many retailers are allowed to reopen from April 27, but the Isar department store is not allowed to. Operator Holthaus demands a perspective for the trade.
Geretsried - For days, Frederik Holthaus has been doing nothing else: The businessman is trying to find a way to open his department store on Egerlandstrasse in Geretsried, which was closed due to the corona pandemic, as soon as possible. Because his department store has more than 800 square meters of retail space, it is not allowed to reopen from next Monday, April 27, according to the guidelines of the Bavarian state government. The managing director of the Isar department store is very upset about this, as he says in an interview with our newspaper.
24 employees in short-time work
The majority of retail in Bavaria has been idle for five weeks. For Holthaus this meant that he had to send his 24 employees on short-time work. He can only sell a small part of his range via the online marketplace "Dahoamkaufen.de", but bills have to be paid. "We have liquidity problems," admits the 56-year-old. This problem is made somewhat smaller by the Corona emergency aid and loans from the KfW development bank. "Nevertheless, we suffered economic damage."
Separation not allowed
Together with the Bavarian Trade Association (HBE), the entrepreneur wanted to clarify whether he could separate and open an 800 square meter section of his 1,500 square meter department store. "We could have shared the ground floor and half of the first floor," says the owner. But that is not allowed - not understandable for Holthaus.
For reasons of infection law, it is not understandable why a separated area offers less protection than the total sales area. "If the Bavarian government is concerned with preventing large crowds on the streets in front of the shops, they should also formulate these restrictions," says the HBE local chairman, referring to large shopping centers or the high-traffic pedestrian zone in Munich.
Holthaus demands planning security
The Wolfratshauser also finds the “lack of perspective” for retail, gastronomy and the hotel industry “impossible”. "We need planning security and a timetable, of course, subject to the number of infections," says the managing director. Instead, you are left in the dark. “We all understand the lockdown. But now it's about starting a normal life carefully and carefully. "
Letter to the Prime Minister
The employer also wants to clear his anger in writing: a letter has already been drawn up to District Administrator Josef Niedermaier, Minister of Economics Hubert Aiwanger and Prime Minister Markus Söder.
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