For the retail trade in Peiting, the 2022 Christmas business was a return to normal, at least in part: Corona restrictions no longer existed, but the high inflation dampened the joy before the festival a little.
Peiting - "We are satisfied with the Christmas business," says Michaela Schuster from "Intersport Schuster".
Although there was a little less demand than usual for skis and related accessories due to the mild weather, many ice skates were sold instead.
In addition to the classic articles of the winter season, other things were also in demand, from swimwear to football jerseys, according to Schuster, everything was there.
Michael Geiger from “Betten & Mode Weissenbach” is also satisfied with the Christmas business.
Sales increased slightly compared to last year.
“We noticed an increased demand for blankets in particular.
This shows that people are currently heating a little less than usual,” says Geiger.
Customer shopping behavior has changed
Gabriele Pischel, owner of "Kids and Style", is also happy about a decent Christmas business.
However, her sales in the pre-Christmas period had hardly changed compared to the previous year.
What has certainly changed recently, however, is the shopping behavior of customers, says Pischel: "People are buying more locally again, they are less drawn to the big cities." In the past two years, this was probably due to Corona , this year mainly due to the high fuel costs.
Michael Geiger from "Betten & Mode Weissenbach" can also confirm this development.
Another change in customer behavior was observed at "Intersport Schuster": Despite the good business, it was noticed that customers made different purchases in times of an economic crisis and high inflation than they used to.
"People look more at the price and often think twice about whether they really need the item," reports Schuster.
Gabriele Pischel from "Kids and Style" has also observed more price awareness among her customers: "You can clearly see that."
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At "Betten & Mode Weissenbach" everyone is satisfied with the Christmas business.
Blankets in particular, like the ones boss Gabi Geiger is holding in her hands, were increasingly sold over the counter this time.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
The situation is different in Sabine Fischer's leather goods business: "This year, too, my customers were willing to spend money on high-quality products." That is certainly also due to the fact that 90 percent of her customer base consists of regular customers: "They already know that quality simply has its price."
Despite the ongoing crisis, Gabriele Pichel is optimistic about the new year: "I hope that the situation will improve this year.
That would be particularly important for us small businesses, because in times of crisis we always have a harder time than the big retailers.”
Delivery situation is still tense
One person for whom the weather played more of a role in the run-up to Christmas was Markus Haslauer, an orthopedic shoemaker and shoe dealer from the Peitingen traditional shop of the same name.
The snow and cold before Christmas boosted his boot business.
But by no means everything that was in demand could also be sold.
"The delivery situation is still very tense," explains Haslauer.
Hafer shoes, for example: none.
"A catastrophe." There was nothing more to get or to reorder.
"The warehouses are empty.
I used to just order more, this time nothing worked.” At least there is a chance of improvement.
After all, Haslauer knows that the supplying companies have promised to use this year to rectify the situation and replenish the warehouse.
Supply bottlenecks in the material should not make this army project any easier.
Whether the promise that everything will be back to normal by 2024 can be kept: Markus Haslauer is curious.
