The dm drugstores have had a challenging year.
Area manager Ulrich Brenner reports on the run on toilet paper, the expansion of logistics and wishes for the future.
Schongau
- pasta, toilet paper, disinfectant - Ulrich Brenner, as the area manager for all dm branches in the Oberland, “experienced the run on it very intensively in the spring.
And then all of a sudden there was a hype about the yeast too, ”he recalls.
"For some products, sales suddenly increased by up to 300 percent".
The whole thing developed its own dynamic.
“Even people who don't actually hoard saw the shelves being empty and grabbed them again to be on the safe side,” he describes.
Phenomena that should be taken seriously as a trader.
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Ulrich Brenner, area manager at dm
© Elena Siegl
“The manufacturers continued to produce, so it was never tight - we just couldn't keep up with the logistics.
It cannot be planned that there will be such a large amount of hoarding, ”said Brenner.
The logistics were therefore gradually set up in such a way that the branches were supplied more frequently.
During the second lockdown, Brenner noticed an increased demand for certain products.
But the company is now well armed.
"In the warehouses, toilet paper is piled up in all pack sizes," explains Brenner and laughs.
Corona time at the dm: Markt sees opening as a task to provide people with good care
He is happy that the drugstores were allowed to stay open all year round, but at the same time sees this as a mandate to take care of the people.
In addition to the goods aspect, security is also very important.
From the disinfection column, which is available in every branch, to Plexiglass panes between the cash registers and photo stands: “A huge hygiene concept was worked out for what is cleaned and how often,” says Brenner.
In addition, the amount that can only be paid by showing the EC card and without typing in the PIN has been increased from 25 to 50 euros.
Before that, Brenner had seen wild things.
A customer who used a cotton swab to press the keys of the card reader because she didn't want to touch the keys, for example.
Corona at dm: As much normality as possible
Despite all the requirements, shopping at dm should be as normal as possible.
Entrance only with a shopping trolley and blocking the customer toilet?
Then Brenner shakes his head.
“People should feel good.” Therefore, in addition to taking precautions, he also relies on people's common sense.
In fact, the majority of customers look out for each other, said Brenner.
“Sure, there are also those who do not want to wear a mask at all and cause trouble.
That's not nice.
But there are many more positive things to report. ”From customers who give dm employees chocolate to say thank you or who put brightly painted stones in front of the branch.
It is also nice to see that people help each other.
Some customers would also shop for older family members or neighbors.
The option of ordering products on the Internet and picking them up at the branch when they are packed is also being increasingly accepted, says Brenner.
“It's not urban.
This is also used in the country. "
Because no branch had to close due to a corona case, Brenner concludes that the hygiene concept works perfectly.
Several employees only contracted the virus during one shift in the warehouse.
“The shifts are separated from each other in such a way that no others were affected and the camp could stay up.
Otherwise it would be a disaster. "
dm im Obelrand: Which branches have made good developments - and which have not
Especially the specialty store branches with parking spaces right in front of the door, as they are in Schongau and Weilheim, have "made a gigantic development" this year, says Brenner.
Brenner is also satisfied with his latest branch - dm opened in Gaißach in summer 2018.
But not all branches are in greater demand than ever during the pandemic.
In Kempten, for example, dm is based in the shopping center.
"When clothing stores and restaurants had to close in spring, it was really dark there." Hardly any customer found their way to them.
There was also less interest in branches in pedestrian zones.
And in Garmisch you can clearly see that customers from Austria are staying away because of the border closure, says Brenner.
Nevertheless, the company was a good year behind.
That's why they really wanted to pass on part of the profit this year, says Brenner.
As reported, the “HelferHerzen” campaign supported regional associations and organizations.
Where you want to go - and why not to Peiting
Ulrich Brenner has been looking after six branches in the region (Schongau, Weilheim, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Wolfratshausen, Gaißach and Tutzing) in addition to other markets in the Allgäu for around a year.
But if he has his way, more could be added.
Three places are at the top of his wish list.
In Murnau and Penzberg dm would like to open stores - for years, as Brenner says.
The problem: So far there is no suitable property.
The chain primarily wants to open specialist stores, explains Brenner, with a large parking lot in front of the door and other shops and supermarkets in the immediate vicinity.
For example, a location like in Schongau-West, where dm is already based, is ideal.
Shops in pedestrian zones, on the other hand, are not part of Brenner's ideas, even if they are offered to the company again and again.
In
Geretsried
, too, the area manager can easily imagine another dm branch.
Also to take
some of the pressure
off
Wolfratshausen
.
“The market is growing and growing.
The catchment area is huge, ”says Brenner.
"Some even get together, take the VW bus to us and combine the excursion with a coffee".
The region could therefore use another branch.
"Well positioned in Schongau"
In his opinion, things look very different in Schongauer Land.
Brenner knows that some people from Peitingen also wanted a dm for the market town.
There were talks with the community, but for several reasons the decision was made relatively quickly not to move into the former Kik building.
dm would have competed with itself.
“We always think from the customer's perspective,” explains Brenner.
And they would go to Schongau to go shopping anyway, because there are other popular shops in the immediate vicinity.
"We are in a great position in Schongau," said Brenner.
He is sure that you would not win additional customers through a branch in Peiting.
In addition, the building in question in Peiting was facing away from the other shops - Ulrich Brenner didn't like that either.
And here is more news from Weilheim and Schongau.
