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Closed textile shop in Frankfurt: There is no longer a good scenario
Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach / REUTERS
The extent of the misery can be seen in Friedrich Demmler's basement.
The 65-year-old climbs down a few steps in his "Kinderladen" in Mainz, walks past assembled tables and empty showcases to the shelf with the "birthday wish boxes": yellow cardboard boxes into which children called Lotta or Neo toys they put from relatives and friends.
Just a few months ago, the shelf wall was regularly fully booked, filled with 40, 50 boxes, says Demmler.
Today there are 10 boxes here.
Which child still celebrates a birthday with many friends in Corona times?
Demmler's toy store is a traditional store, founded in 1925, housed in four buildings next to each other at the best of times, downtown location on Münsterplatz with 2,500 square meters of sales area, 80 employees and 85,000 products: from baby rompers to model trains, from prams to puppet dolls.
The past few years have not been easy.
First came the fire protection requirements, then online trading.
Demmler reduced the sales area and halved the number of products.
Business shrank, but he managed.
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