Regensburg's old town in danger: retail is thinning out - "permanent loss of sales"
Created: 09/30/2022, 08:31
By: Stefan Aigner
The Regensburg Arcaden are increasingly becoming a problem for retailers in the old town.
© Stefan Aigner
The city of Regensburg is concerned about the retail location in the old town.
The reason is restructuring in a nearby shopping center.
Regensburg - The Regensburg city administration speaks of a "worrying" development.
Likewise the city council and retailers.
But you really can't and don't want to do anything about it.
Cheap textile Zara in Regensburg: rude treatment of employees
The cheap textile retailer Zara is closing its store on Neupfarrplatz and opening a new, larger branch in the nearby Arcaden shopping center at the main train station in October.
Two branches of Pull & Bear and Bershka are also planned in the arcades.
All three fashion chains belong to the Spanish Inditex group, which is known for its rude treatment of employees.
In Regensburg, too, the company is currently trying to use a few tricks to get rid of the approximately 30 employees from Neupfarrplatz.
At the same time, you get rid of the works council.
Zara Regensburg: Poisoned offers for long-term employees
In Regensburg, the employees from Neupfarrplatz, with three exceptions, were not allowed to apply to the new shop in the arcades.
Instead, they received job offers in shops in Nuremberg, Munich, Ingolstadt and Würzburg – on significantly worse terms than before.
It is a common practice of the group to get rid of long-term employees and to improve the balance sheet on their backs.
Despite all statements to the contrary by the PR department at Inditex.
(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)
Zara goes to the shopping center: the city administration fears the damaging effect on Regensburg's old town
But that is not the reason why the city administration and the retail association “Fascination Altstadt” are concerned about the Altstadt as a trading location.
It's about the increasing concentration of textile workers in the arcade center and the increased settlement of larger shops beyond 500 square meters.
Purchasing power is increasingly being withdrawn from the old town in the direction of the arcades.
The administration fears that this could have a damaging effect on the old town in the long term.
The possible consequences are impressively described in a draft resolution for the Regensburg city council: "permanent frequency and sales losses, which lead to irreversible operational closures, vacancy formation, supply and functional restrictions".
Read here: The Regensburg districts in the big check.
Restructuring into shopping centers violates urban planning contract
The restructuring of the retail concept in the arcades violates the urban planning contract that was signed with the city in the early 2000s when the center opened.
But, according to the draft resolution, one sees “currently no possibility of corrective intervention”.
The settlements are “formally to be assessed as still justifiable”, according to the wording.
Therefore, the city councilors should give their placet to the new settlements in the arcades.
"Trick" with order reports?
City councilors have sharply criticized Zara and Arcades
This assessment is based in particular on two expert opinions that classify the settlement of the Inditex shops in the arcades as compatible for the old town.
Incidentally, expert opinions commissioned by the arcades.
Thomas Thurow also clearly speaks out against the draft resolution.
This is the “signal to bleed the old town dry”.
The Brücke city council describes the expert opinions commissioned by the arcades as a “trick”.
What is in these reports is essentially determined by the person who commissions it.
Florian Rottke, also a member of the Brücke city council, considers that Zara's settlement "is not politically worth supporting" in view of the way it treats employees.
Just like the city councilor of the left, the ÖDP and the Greens, the bridge against the resettlement votes.
But the governing coalition is waving this through with its majority.
New settlements: planning officer is afraid of lawsuits from the arcades
It does not seem to be so clear whether these settlements can actually be reconciled with the urban development contract and whether they actually have to be approved.
Planning officer Christine Schimpfermann admits this.
Nothing can be done about the new Zara branch.
However, it is not really clear whether there is a claim to the settlement of Pull & Bear and Bershka.
So if the city refuses to settle there, the arcades could sue.
And letting it come to that is something the planning officer advises against.
Resettlement in the arcades: city councilor wants to take legal action
City Councilor Irmgard Freihoffer (left) does not understand why it is not allowed to take a chance.
"That would probably lead to a meaningful discussion in our city." And in her eyes, the settlement of the two shops, which are primarily aimed at a younger audience, would definitely result in a weakening of the retail location in the old town.
Benedikt Suttner (ÖDP), who describes the restructuring in the arcades as a “complete rejection” of the urban development contract, argues similarly.
Mayor defends resettlement
Mayor Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer counters that the old town will not be strengthened by weakening the arcades.
Even if the current plans are “close to the limit” of what the urban planning contract still allows, they are still permissible.
Rottke is not convinced.
Conversely, it becomes a shoe, he says.
"We weaken the old town by strengthening the arcades." And for him his rejection is also a vote against the behavior of the Inditex group.
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Where the OB would like more solidarity from retailers
Mayor Maltz-Schwarzfischer finally explains that she is "not so incredibly pessimistic" about the retail trade in the old town.
This will continue to be "an important player".
You just have to do more to increase the attractiveness of the location.
And every now and then she would expect more solidarity among the traders in the old town.
If, for example, there were joint advertising campaigns or events in DEZ or in the arcades, everyone would contribute financially.
Something like this would also be desirable for the old town.
“But we can only support here.
We are not the center management Altstadt.”
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