A reopening of many stores on January 11th seems increasingly unlikely.
Not only is retail suffering, economists are expecting a wave of bankruptcies.
Unemployment and the end of thousands of businesses: The Corona * lockdown is causing considerable damage to
retailers
.
Not everyone agrees on
whether
loosening is
the right approach when there are high numbers of infections.
Federal Minister of Economics
Peter Altmaier
wants to give trade and municipalities hope with an aid program.
Berlin - The trade is not expecting a quick end to the corona-related
shop
closings
in Germany.
“I'm afraid the shops won't be allowed to reopen on January 10th.
Because the goal of reducing the seven-day incidence * nationwide to below 50 will probably not be achievable by then, "said the managing director of the German
Trade Association
(HDE), Stefan Genth, of the German press agency.
On January 5th, the federal and state governments want to meet for the next
Corona summit
.
The
trade
feels left alone in the crisis.
"The situation is really very serious," said Genth.
“Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz always announces billions in aid, but the aid is actually not paid out because the access barriers are far too high.” In the next few months, there is a threat of a
wave of bankruptcies
in retail.
Many companies
affected
by the two-time
lockdown
had largely consumed their equity and now needed economic support.
Otherwise the end "for
up to 50,000 stores
"
threatens
.
Trade in corona lockdown: easing could damage in the long term
Also
DIW chief Marcel Fratzscher
expected severe impact on an extension of the corona lockdown.
"The longer it takes, the more companies are reaching the limits of their possibilities, the more will go bankrupt," said the President of the German Institute for Economic Research of the
Augsburger Allgemeine
.
“The question now is not whether there will be a wave of corporate insolvencies, but when.” There is also a threat of an increase in
unemployment
.
Fratzscher emphasized that it was nevertheless correct
to extend
the
lockdown
if the number of infections
remains
high.
"Economic easing now may benefit some in the short term, but it would harm everyone in the long term."
We look back on a year in which #Corona has changed a lot - data and facts on the effects on #online trade and # retail in the current HDE location monitor 2021 at https://t.co/cC1ZlmEQMu pic.twitter.com / 8FIcQxh01b
- HDE trade association (@ trade association) December 29, 2020
According to the economist Gabriel Felbermayr,
around 600,000 jobs will be
lost
in Germany because of the corona pandemic
.
The hardest hit areas are areas that have already been subject to structural change, such as the aviation and tourism industries.
"The pandemic will change the retail sector in the long term," said the head of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Some segments of the population bought for the first time in the
Internet
one, schwänden reservations.
"For the retail trade in city centers and in shopping centers, the crisis is not over even if the infection actually allows a return to the city center."
Political support for trade and municipalities - "interlinking culture and economy"
Federal Minister of Economics
Peter Altmaier
wants to support trade and municipalities with an aid program so that inner cities become more attractive in view of the online boom.
The CDU politician told the dpa: “It must be about enabling attractive, contemporary retail in the city center.
This will also mean that businesses will participate more in
digitization
and that we will
interlink
culture and business
even more.
It will mean that we will bring interesting offers beyond shopping into the city centers.
None of this will work without public support. "
Altmaier said that one of the big problems of the
second lockdown *
that troubled him was that the retail trade in the inner cities had been set back again.
“Many small and medium-sized retailers from shoe stores to fashion stores are under enormous pressure.
On the one hand there are the
shopping centers
on the green field, on the other hand digitization and the large internet platforms, which now have the chance to
expand
their
business model
once again thanks to the lockdown
. "
The HDE trade association said that the primary goal must be to open the stores as soon as the
virologists
believe
that this is
possible again and then to keep them open.
“We can't move from one lockdown to the next.
Many thousands of retail companies, especially fashion houses, will not survive that, ”warned Genth.
The retail sector has proven in recent months
that open shop doors and
fighting pandemics are
not a contradiction in terms.
Shopping digitally: Corona pandemic primarily promotes online business - second pillar for retailers?
What is certain for the industry expert is that shopping will become more digital in the future.
Many customers who previously did not
shop
online
would have seen it work in the pandemic.
For the stationary trade, however, the stormy change is not so easy to cope with.
"Many retailers are currently trying to establish a second mainstay on the Internet, but that is extremely difficult," emphasized Genth.
For a
medium-
sized company, it is a great challenge to even be noticed in the competition with large providers.
Another big problem is the tough price competition that dominates everything on the Internet.
The companies therefore needed
state support
.
North Rhine-Westphalia could be a role model for this with its digital coaches - consultants who go to companies and provide them with tailored support with digitization.
(dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen digital network.