The Girschick sports shop on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße closes at the end of the year after almost half a century.
The neighboring specialist for e-bikes, Bergfrei, will take over the premises.
Lutz Girschick will pursue his passion there to a much smaller extent, tennis, including service and accessories.
BY PETER SCHIEBEL
Starnberg
- The news shocked many Starnbergers. "Dear sports fans, because of the closure of my business, I am now going through a big clearance sale," announced Lutz Girschick (69) recently on social media. How, the Girschick closes? The tennis and ski specialist shop at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 26 has existed since 1976, and countless Starnbergers and sports fans from the area have equipped themselves there with skis, shoes and helmets, tennis rackets and clothing over the past five decades. Girschick is an institution in the city.
"I only stop 80 percent and go back to the roots," explains Lutz Girschick in an interview with Starnberger Merkur. These 80 percent make up the complete range of winter sports. Lutz Girschick wants to continue to operate the remaining 20 percent, i.e. everything that has to do with tennis. The neighbors from the Bergfrei bike shop, a specialist in e-bikes, take over the premises and provide the 69-year-old with “a little corner” (original quote: Girschick). Massimo Taschin from Bergfrei is looking forward to working with them. "Lutz Girschick is very welcome here with his passion," he emphasizes.
It all started with tennis in the spring of 1975. Together with Dr. Thomas Haller set up a small shop for Girschick, and the move to Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse followed a year later. A little later, his specialist started a career as a lawyer, and Girschick took care of tennis rackets and everything that went with it. “I really enjoy the job,” he says. Trading in sporting goods is nice work because the customers take care of their hobby and are therefore usually in a good mood.
The really nice years, however, have been over for some time. The “unbelievable” tennis boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Boris Becker, Steffi Graf and Michael Stich had long since subsided. And the ski business, which was flourishing until around 2010, has also subsided, says Girschick. Ski equipment is expensive, the rental in the ski resorts has increased "incredibly strong". Compared to the best years, his sales have declined by around 70 percent. With this, Lutz Girschick describes one of the reasons why he is now stepping down.
The second reason he calls "the main reason" is his age. At 69, he no longer wanted to be in the shop six days a week from early morning to evening, says Girschick. And then there are other considerations: for example, the increasing online trade and the associated question of what significance brick-and-mortar retail still has at all. Or difficulties in purchasing products. For certain tennis balls, for example, he was given April 2022 as the delivery date. “It's a total package of reasons,” says Girschick, whose daughters are successfully pursuing their careers as doctors and in the pharmaceutical industry.
The sale at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße 26 will now run until the end of the year. The neighbors of Bergfrei can make good use of the premises, as Massimo Tashin says.
Bicycle shops have been very popular since Corona at the latest.
In addition to trading, Bergfrei also has what is probably the largest rental fleet in the area with 60 to 70 e-bikes.
There is still a way to go to one institution - that the Girschick institution will continue to exist there, albeit a smaller one, should be a pleasure for many Starnbergers.
