Kaufland and Lidl soon to be closed on Mondays?
Trade association with a clear message
Created: 2022-12-14 09:29
By: Dominik Jahn
Kaufland, Lidl and Co. closed on Mondays?
Trade association explains possible measures for retailers and grocers.
© dpa/ Jakub Porzycki
Opening hours are discussed again and again in retail during the energy crisis.
A closing day on Monday is also being considered for Kaufland, Lidl and the food trade as a whole.
The energy crisis is still a big issue.
The retail and food trade are also constantly discussing various measures.
According to Kaufland and Lidl, shorter opening times are the decision of the customers, as they explained to
echo24.de
.
But now Monday could soon be the end of shopping.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the possibility of keeping the shops closed on Monday is definitely up for discussion.
According to the "SWR", in order to save electricity and gas, the shops could open later, close earlier or remain closed for a whole day.
Monday closed at Kaufland and Co.?
Trade association explains possibilities
But are such closures in the energy crisis also conceivable in Baden-Württemberg?
When asked by echo24.de, the trade association of Baden-Württemberg commented on this.
It is said that reducing store opening hours will always be
decided by companies “based on a number of different factors”
.
Company: | Kaufland |
|---|---|
Headquarters: | Neckarsulm |
Founding: | 1984 in Neckarsulm |
Sales volume: | 21 billion euros (2019) |
And the trade association cites sickness-related staff absences as one reason.
It says:
"In addition to staff shortages due to corona, there are currently also absences due to influenza viruses, which puts a further strain on the staffing level, which has already been thinned out.
In order to maintain operations overall, it is therefore sometimes necessary to shorten the opening times for a limited period of time"
.
Decisive factors for opening hours in retail
In addition, of course, economic factors are decisive for companies such as Kaufland, Lidl or in retail.
The association explains that the opening hours are checked for cost reasons: “The off-peak times are checked for frequency and sales distribution.
This can lead to rather unprofitable fringe opening times being shortened.”
Opening times are also checked, or precisely to save energy costs.
However, the Baden-Württemberg trade association sees many retailers in a good position: "However, many companies already have professional energy management systems that no longer allow large savings to be made." Recently, Lidl had already commented on extensive energy measures when it came to the procedure went into a blackout.
Criticism of the considerations to make Monday a closing day
According to the "SWR" report, many retailers in Rhineland-Palatinate are currently considering shortening their shop opening hours due to the energy crisis.
Some shops have already taken this step, as Thomas Scherer, General Manager of the Rhineland-Palatinate Retail Association, confirms.
Stores would either open their doors later or close earlier.
Baden-Württemberg trade association
According to its own definition, the Baden-Württemberg Retail Association (HBW) is the central association for the retail trade in Baden-Württemberg and represents the political interests of over 40,000 retail companies in Baden-Württemberg in relation to politics and society.
Trade is therefore the third-largest branch of the economy in Baden-Württemberg, with 500,000 employees subject to social security contributions, around 18,000 trainees and a turnover of around 90 billion euros.
But the article also criticizes the idea of making Monday a "closing day".
The chairwoman of the Mainz advertising community, Annette Plachetka, told SWR that Monday was one of the busiest days of the week.
Grocery retailers in particular such as Kaufland, Lid or Aldi could not afford to keep their branches closed after a weekend.
Meanwhile, Kaufland is captivating millions of people with a Christmas video.
The clip goes through the roof.
Clear announcement from the Baden-Württemberg trade association about a closing day on Monday
The discounter giant Lidl and the sister company from the Schwarz Group Kaufland did not give a statement on request.
The trade association sees the environment “in which, for example, a supermarket is located” as extremely important for appropriate planning.
A distinction must be made here between the different regions.
It says:
“Especially in rural areas, shops are often not open after 8 p.m. anyway.
A further reduction would cause problems for some employees, for example.
In general, it must be borne in mind that many employees benefit from longer opening hours"
.
Finally, the Baden-Württemberg trade association made it very clear to echo24.de on the discussion about a closed Monday in retail: “A nationwide closing day is currently not up for debate in Baden-Württemberg.”
