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Carnival: outfitter near Cologne reports 90 percent less sales

2021-02-10T08:28:15.519Z


"At some point the air will run out": The failure of the carnival season is particularly hard on the costume manufacturer Deiters from Frechen. Shops are tight and online retailing has also collapsed.


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Deiters owner Herbert Geiss

Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa

Because the carnival celebrations are canceled due to the corona pandemic, the leading costume manufacturer Deiters has suffered heavy losses.

In the fiscal year that began in April, sales fell by around 90 percent by the end of January compared to the same period in the previous year, said company boss Herbert Geiss.

He did not give an absolute number.

The company, based in Frechen near Cologne, has 31 stores, mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Deiters claims to have 280 permanent employees, the vast majority of whom are on short-time work.

Deiters normally employs an additional 400 seasonal workers, this year it will be zero.

The boss is worried.

"From an economic point of view, this is a catastrophe for us, all 31 locations are closed," said Geiss.

He actually wanted to open between five and ten more stores last year, but he put the brakes on because of Corona.

No relief from online trading

The online business is also running on the back burner - there is a drop in sales of around 80 percent compared to the same period last year.

Before Corona, the Internet business only made up eight percent of company sales.

"There is no need to dress up - so the online demand is also low." Like other companies, Deiters has received state aid, according to Geiss "a drop in the ocean".

Carnival is extremely important for Deiters, 70 percent of his business is disguised for the foolish "session" from 11.11.

until Ash Wednesday.

Other dress-up occasions such as Halloween or theme parties are also important for the company, which also has shops far away from the carnival strongholds in the Rhineland - for example in Stuttgart, Berlin or Frankfurt.

Nevertheless, this business does not even make up a third of Deiters' annual turnover.

"We hope that the vaccines will also bring us entrepreneurs back into normal waters." Financially, the situation is also tense.

"It's like a high-performance athlete: He can run longer than usual, but at some point he too runs out of breath," says the 38-year-old.

"We're doing everything we can to get through the crisis."

Has the Corona period, including contact restrictions and distance to other people, possibly given the carnival business model a crack in the long term?

Geiss does not hope so: "People want to celebrate together, they want to be happy together - accordingly, demand will be there again when Corona is over."

The family company, which has been expanding for years, wanted to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.

"I don't feel like celebrating at the moment," says Geiss.

Deiters is the largest German dealer in carnival costumes, and one of its competitors is Karnevalswierts, based in Heerlen in the Netherlands.

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beb / dpa

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-02-10

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