Edeka on the main square closes - many pensioners get into trouble
Created: 11/30/2022, 13:00
By: Volker Ufertinger
A short breather: For Christa Merkle, daily shopping in the Edeka-Express on the main square has always been part of it.
She can only carry the essentials - because of her osteoarthritis.
© Rutt
December 3rd is the end of the Edeka on the main square, that's for sure.
All that remains is Denns Biomarkt as a local supplier for many pensioners.
Gauting
– Christa Merkle is worried and upset.
She lives on Schulstrasse and is 90 years old.
Every day she makes her way to the Edeka Express with her walker.
"I usually go in the afternoon, that's when I feel best," she says.
She can't pack more than the essentials because of her arthrosis.
And the next day it starts all over again.
After shopping she is exhausted, but at least she can take care of herself.
"For young people, the few hundred meters may be a piece of cake," she says.
"But not for us pensioners."
The other supermarkets are too far away
It is extremely bad news for Merkle that Edeka is now closing.
There are no serious alternatives for them and the many seniors who live in the area.
Physically, she couldn't make it to the Edeka in Karl's residential area.
“How am I supposed to get up the mountain with my walker?” she asks.
The Lidl is also too far away for them.
And she can't take the citizens' bus to Penny either because she has to wait far too long before she comes back.
Only the organic market Denns remains.
It's more expensive ("That stinks to me"), but it's within walking distance.
For Christa Merkle, local supplies are hanging by a thread.
What worries her most: There are already rumors about Denns.
For one year.
Also read: Gautinger multi-generation house inaugurated
In fact, there is no way around the closure of Edeka on the main square.
"We can confirm that the market on the main square will not continue to operate until December 3rd," said press spokesman Christian Straus.
The reason seems relatively simple: lost sales.
As property manager Helmut Gerold explained to Merkur, income has fallen by 60 percent since a second Edeka opened in Gauting – the one at Karls.
Also read: So it goes on with the local fire brigades
Gerold tried to rent the store in a central location to various food companies, Rewe, Lild, and Netto.
But they showed no interest.
Gerold also finds that a pity because Tengelmann renovated the centrally located branch with 500 square meters of sales and 300 meters of storage space for half a million euros just six years ago before the group was dissolved.
He knows that older customers in particular, "some of whom have been shopping there for 40 years", very much regret the closure of the store, which can be reached at ground level.
For precisely this reason, he reduced the rent by 30 percent, from 13,000 to 9,000 euros - so far in vain.
But hope dies last.
That's why the cooling devices are staying in for the time being.
The good news: Denns Biomarkt remains
The rumors about Denns are obviously not true.
"We have no intention of closing our market," says Christoph Nossol, head of the southern Bavaria region.
This is what Dr.
Klaus Wagner, Chairman of the Gautinger Senior Advisory Board, with relief.
"A closure would be fatal for the senior citizens in the vicinity," he says.
He can understand Christa Merkle's concerns very well.
Wagner therefore refers to the “Gauting helps” initiative by the BRK and the senior citizens’ advisory board, which is intended to enable those in need of help, especially older people, to continue to live in their own home environment – shopping expressly included.
also read
Excitement about gravel trucks and daycare costs: 140 participants at the town meeting in Weßling
Winter grilling with the SizzleBrothers – Bavaria blu burger taste explosion
Starnberg Newsletter: Everything from your region!
Our Starnberg newsletter informs you regularly about all the important stories from the Starnberg region - including all the news about the Corona crisis in your community.
Sign up here.
