First Corona, now a large construction site: The retailers and restaurateurs on Egerlandstrasse have a hard time. But nobody thinks about giving up (yet).
Geretsried - The Sparkasse building has been demolished, the Geretsried building cooperative (BG) has started excavating and transporting earth under its new building, called BGZ2. Excavators and trucks are in use all day. "Fortunately, there have been no delays at the construction site due to the corona pandemic or contaminated material in the ground," reports BG spokeswoman Ursula Hölzl. The excavation should be largely completed at the end of June, then the shell can be started. By 2022, a partially six-storey building with almost 100 freely financed apartments on the upper floors as well as retail (an Aldi store is planned) and restaurants are to be on the ground floor by 2022.
Via detours into Egerlandstraße
At the same time, the BG is building a generally usable underground car park, which is directly adjacent to the underground car park under Karl-Lederer-Platz. Visitors who come from Karl-Lederer-Platz can currently only take detours to Egerlandstraße. A construction fence blocks the direct route there. If you want to go to the Isar department store, to Rewe, to Schmid-Bäck ', to Intersport Utzinger or to the Paracelsus pharmacy, you have to take the Schleichweg via Lenauweg. A narrow path behind the Rossmann drugstore along the BGZ building leads to the shops and restaurants in the northern part. According to Ursula Hölzl, foot markers will soon be painted on the ground to show pedestrians and cyclists the way.
"It shouldn't be a problem to find us," says Rudi Utzinger from the sports shop of the same name on the corner of Egerlandstrasse and Fasanenweg. Utzinger adjusted to the construction site a long time ago. In addition to the stationary, he also relies on online trading. That helped him a lot in the Corona crisis, he says. During this time, customers would have mainly ordered fitness items for training at home, but now that they reopened they would buy trekking clothing, tennis accessories and other outdoor sports items. "Despite the construction site, things are going very well for us," says Utzinger. There is enough parking space with the new underground car park and the newly created spaces in front of the Petruskirche. The only disadvantage at the moment was that due to the construction site, no goods could be placed outside due to space constraints. “But the construction workers of the Holzer company from Degerndorf are all very accommodating when it comes to noisy and dusty work. It is a great cooperation, ”said the sporting goods retailer and advisory board member of the ProCit retailer association.
Schilderwald: Which dealers can be found where are shown on the construction fence.
© Photo: Hermsdorf-Hiss
The situation is bearable for Frederik Holthaus, owner of the Isar department store and also a ProCit board member. "The Geretsrieder are now construction site firm," he says jokingly. For three years now, people have been working on the “Neue Mitte”. After the forced closure, customers are happy to be able to shop again carefree. They would not mind minor inconveniences such as the construction site noise or the fact that they would have to walk a few more steps. Holthaus says that the fact that the business is only slowly starting up again due to the security requirements - such as the limited number of customers per square meter. He was quite confident that he could get through the construction site well.
Christa and Willi Modlmayer are standing in front of the shop window of the Isar department store. The two long-established Geretsrieder don't think the barrier fences, the diversions and the cramped space in front of the shops are that bad, they say. "We have to go through that now. After that everything will be all the more beautiful, ”says Christa Modlmayer. Trudi Gunnesch is less optimistic about the future. The operator of the gift and decorative shop "Bellissimo" on the northern Egerlandstraße has closed for the time being. “I first have to see how things go with the construction site. When the promised wall comes in to protect us from dust and dirt, I open it again, ”says Gunnesch. The businesswoman needs the space she has rented in front of her shop to set up postcard stands and other items, otherwise it will be too tight inside. She was happy to have been running an online shop for eight years, which was well received. At the end of May, Gunnesch wants to decide when it will open again. Giving up her beloved shop after 15 years is out of the question for her, she emphasizes. For her, dealing with her customers personally is too much fun.
Online shops are doing well in parallel
Eryka Servotka right next door with "Style & more" thinks positively. The construction site would eliminate parking spaces - at the moment the whole row between the pharmacy and the restaurant "Il Soprano" is closed - and people don't feel like strolling on Egerlandstrasse, she says, but her regular customers would remain loyal to her. Since she has no online sales, she tries to make shopping as easy as possible for the customers. Some of them bring clothes to their home so that the women can try them on in peace, because at the moment there can only be two customers in the small shop at the same time.
Uwe Schoßig borders the construction site with the Iris pharmacy. Nevertheless, the impairments are still in the frame at the moment, he says. Sometimes it is loud and the floor vibrates through the vibrations. What Schoßig really criticizes is that “neither the building cooperative nor the city inform the neighbors about the next steps,” he says.
Across the street, Winfried Müller has had his tennis shop and optics studio for 41 years. He explains that he is not dependent on walk-in customers. "Sure, it's dirty, dusty and loud at the moment. But parking works quite well, for example. You can always find a place here, especially since there is no through traffic, ”says Müller. He praises the construction workers. They tried very hard and always announced the upcoming work.
Slump in sales in the specialty shop
Just two months ago, Mohamed Shaker Hafsevgawi opened the "Istanbul supermarket" at the northern end of Egerlandstrasse, where there used to be a Greek specialty shop. Sales have slumped due to the construction site, says the Syrian. Fortunately, he has many regular customers who appreciate his Turkish and Arabic specialties, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat and flatbread.
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Emanuele Braito, owner of the Rialto ice cream parlor, also relies on his loyal guests. The entrance to the underground garage will lead down diagonally in front of his restaurant. "Corona was just the icing on the cake before construction started," says Braito. He lives from the summer business, the family usually gets the income over the winter. It won't be enough this year. Before the next year and a half the jellyfish dreaded. But he won't throw the shotgun in the grain: “In 1986 my parents opened the Rialto. I have been working here for almost 20 years and I want to stay here. ” Tanja Lühr