As of: March 16, 2024, 2:00 p.m
By: Gerda Gebel
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Clearance sale in the knitting café at Zehmerhof: Nicky (l.) and Helene Barth stop.
© Peter Gebel
Handcrafting in a friendly atmosphere, accompanied by a cup of coffee with home-baked cake – that was the recipe for success of Helene Barth and her daughter-in-law Nicky, who run the knitting café at Zehmerhof together.
But not for long, because the diverse meeting place closes at the end of the month.
Langengeisling - The idea for a knitting café had been brewing in Helene Barth's mind for a long time, because the enthusiastic knitter had often seen the ladies at the Braun handicraft shop knitting together for hours.
“A coffee would have been nice,” Barth realized.
When the late in-laws' apartment on the Zehmerhof in Langengeisling had to be renovated, this idea resurfaced and the 62-year-old decided to open a business selling wool and catering together with her 34-year-old daughter-in-law.
At the big opening festival on October 20, 2018, more than 100 guests were entertained with the support of local clubs, as the two bosses reported with shining eyes.
After a successful start, the young entrepreneurs were slowed down by the corona pandemic and Nicky became pregnant.
“Our business was only part-time, so we didn’t receive any aid and had to dip into our reserves,” explains the business economist.
However, with the pandemic, customer behavior also changed; people stopped socializing as much and became more thrifty.
“We have not yet fully recovered from the Corona crisis,” says Helene Barth.
In addition to the basic business, the knitting café was also often used as an event location.
A few weddings with a tent in the courtyard, several baptisms and birthday parties were hosted, as well as numerous meetings of clubs, parties or the entrepreneurs' wives.
The Barths organized wine tastings, book presentations and readings, but also a cheese trip with cheese sommelier Sandra Schumertl and sewing courses from the Catholic Education Center were on the program.
Funny activities such as a crochet course for the boys' club or a knitting course for Nicky's colleagues, all software developers, will never be forgotten.
“It was a great time, I wouldn’t want to miss anything,” emphasizes Helene Barth, and her daughter-in-law also looks back gratefully on the many positive feedback from the guests.
Despite many loyal regular customers who regularly enjoyed the knitting meetings and the expert advice, the operators have now decided to close their knitting café at the end of the month.
“The main reason is our changed living situation,” say the Barths.
The two children Lukas (almost 4) and Hannah (1.5 years old) are now born, and it is difficult to combine care times with the business.
Nicky Barth is currently completing a master's degree in human resources management and wants to get back into work after parental leave.
The abolition of the reduced VAT for the catering industry is putting a strain on the economic situation, and the amount of work involved in preparation, baking cakes and cleaning on Sunday should not be underestimated, says Helene Barth.
“We no longer have the same energy with the children as before, but we are also looking forward to a Saturday off,” says the human resources specialist.
The wool shelves are already emptying and there are discounts on the range.
There are no concrete plans yet for the further use of the space, but there are ideas.
It would be possible to rent them out as seminar rooms or for sewing courses, and possibly also for celebrations with catering provided by a caterer.
The two have already planned for the time after Easter: Nicky has booked a course, Helene Barth wants to take more time for her bee colonies.
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