24-hour Rewe soon throughout Bavaria?
Municipality ignores Sunday opening ban
Created: 05/22/2022, 15:20
By: Theresa Kuchler
You can also shop here on Sundays: in the mini branch of Rewe and Nahkauf in Pettstadt in Upper Franconia.
© REWE Markt GmbH
On Sundays, supermarkets have to stay in Bavaria.
A municipality in Upper Franconia has now overturned this regulation and allowed a mini-Rewes to be opened permanently.
Will this soon be possible throughout Bavaria?
Pettstadt - In the Upper Franconian municipality of Pettstadt (Bamberg district), a Rewe supermarket has caused a stir.
Due to legal regulations, the new 24-hour supermarket called "Josefs Nahkauf Box" was not allowed to open on Sundays and public holidays.
But Pettstadt wasn't satisfied with that - and without further ado gave permission for the permanent opening of the shop.
It could set a precedent for all of Bavaria.
Mayor Jochen Hack is looking eagerly towards the Bavarian government to see whether his community's pilot project might make a bigger splash - and whether shopping on Sundays will soon be possible throughout Bavaria.
The case of Mini-Rewe in Pettstadt is already known in the state parliament.
The hard discussion about the Sunday opening was rolled out here some time ago.
At the time, the FDP in particular campaigned for the 39 square meter "walk-in store", with which Rewe is testing a new format without staff.
Sunday opening ban overturned: The first 24-hour supermarket in Bavaria
The fact that Bavaria has "one of the strictest shop closing laws in the country" would restrict "innovative concepts for local supply in rural areas" - according to the Bavarian FDP.
According to the member of parliament Sebastian Körber, an innovative village shop concept could be implemented with the local purchase box, which even “has the potential to revolutionize the local supply in rural areas in the long term”.
(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Register here.)
This opinion is shared in Pettstadt.
So the municipality fought for the mini-market and allowed it to be open on Sundays and public holidays - despite the nationwide ban on sales on these days.
This was possible because of an exemption option in Bavarian law, to which the municipality relied.
It was a “very own decision” by the municipality, as Mayor Hack
said
infranken.de .
"Ultimate decision": Municipality enforces Sunday opening of Mini-Rewe on its own initiative
In order to push through the individual exemption for the Mini-Rewe, Pettstadt was able to present the right arguments.
The supermarket is on the outskirts in the commercial area, where there is no "noise pollution for residents," said Hack.
In addition, no staff are deployed in the Rewe mini-market on Sundays and public holidays.
Another decisive point was the local supply of the community, which had been lacking for a long time.
It remains to be seen whether the precedent in the Upper Franconian municipality will result in a change in the law for the whole of Bavaria.
It is currently being examined “whether and, if so, how the operation of digital small supermarkets on Sundays and public holidays can be made possible”, as the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior told
infranken.de
at the end of April .
Pilot project runs until the end of the year - the mayor is looking forward to the government
The pilot project in Pettstadt will initially run until the end of the year.
The mayor is curious to see whether the legal situation will change throughout Bavaria by then.
"If nothing happens, the municipal council would then have to decide on an extension," he explained.
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Hack thinks it is very likely that the opening of the sales box on Sunday will be well received: “Sundays and public holidays are generally the days with the highest sales.
The small shops are dependent on these days.” He is therefore optimistic about the decision by the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann (CSU), which is expected in the near future.
When exactly it falls is unclear.
(kuc)
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