As of: March 18, 2024, 7:30 a.m
By: Christian Fellner
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The sale is still ongoing: Denis Stiller with his employees Rebecca Buchwieser (l.) and Emilia Schmitt.
© Very.
The sale is already underway: two retail stores in Garmisch-Partenkirchen will close at Easter.
Sport-Meyer Garmisch and Sport Stiller are breaking new ground - once online, once at another location.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen - At Easter, Garmisch-Partenkirchen will lose two more retail stores: Sport-Garmisch Meyer will close its doors forever and limit itself to online trading, while Sport Stiller will go to Murnau in the town center.
The owners are drawing the conclusions from changing purchasing behavior, but they also see a dangerous trend in the market town: away from owner-managed shops towards a collection of chain stores.
“The development in the town is not positive,” summarizes Denis Stiller.
“You hear that again and again from customers.”
But Stiller doesn't give up completely.
He moves to Murnau and takes over the former Sport Conrad store on Obermarkt.
“This is a prime location in the pedestrian zone,” he emphasizes.
“There are cafés, there are walk-in customers, there are people strolling through the shops.” That is something that he missed badly about the town hall square in Partenkirchen.
“Here in town, everything is concentrated in a few central spots like the GEP.
If you're not there, it will be difficult.” Five and a half years ago he moved there courageously and full of hope.
From the mini-store on Bankgasse in Garmisch, where decades ago Thomas Meyer sold his skis, tennis rackets and ice hockey equipment.
Stiller grew enormously, but was in good spirits.
“It's actually a good address, you have a great parking space in front of the door.” Half a decade later, he thinks differently.
Everything was going well until Corona
Hopes that a retailer would move into the former shoe yard across the street and attract more visitors were dashed.
A notary stayed there.
Otherwise there is a pharmacy next door and numerous doctors in the building as well as a bookstore on the other side of Bahnhofstrasse, which is difficult to cross.
“The locals have already come to us, but they know exactly what they want and won’t take anything else with them.”
Everything was going well until Corona.
“And if we hadn’t had the pandemic, it probably wouldn’t have gotten this far,” speculates the owner.
But he has to think about the future, and he sees more potential in Murnau.
The sale in Garmisch-Partenkirchen will run until the end of March, then it should continue relatively seamlessly at the new location.
A lot has been invested in Murnauer Obermarkt to prepare the store.
“I hope it works out by April 2nd.”
Frequency in the store has decreased
With Sven Karrer the situation is a little different.
In 2008 he took over the main business of the former Sport Meyer - also on Bankgasse.
At the same time, he has always been active in the distribution of sporting goods, acted as a general importer for goods from certain manufacturers, and has his central warehouse in Oberau.
He kept putting off the decision to close the shop in the heart of Garmisch.
“You don’t like doing that,” he says clearly.
“Because it’s a shame.” And yet he can’t ignore the developments in the scene.
“Over the past few years, the frequency in the store has simply decreased more and more.” Not in high season, when many tourists populate the place.
But probably over the entire stretch of a year.
“At the same time, sales figures on the Internet have increased.
This is a trend that apparently can no longer be stopped.” Curious: He even has customers from Garmisch-Partenkirchen who order from him via Amazon.
In your own place.
“You’re starting to think about it.”
“Everything has to go”: The Sport-Garmisch Meyer store will close from the second week of April.
© Fellner
Now it's clear: the end of the Easter holidays is over and the sale will run until April 6th.
But the Sport-Garmisch Meyer company will not disappear.
It lives on as an online shop.
It is not yet clear which range Karrer offers.
Certainly something on the golf collections, for which he acts as importer for all of Germany and Austria.
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Karrer also sees an unfavorable development for the Garmisch pedestrian zone, for example.
Christoph Ostler also pulled the ripcord with his fashion business.
Only Paulisch and the Buchwieser stores are still managed by entrepreneurs in the fashion sector.
At the same time, competition in the sports sector remains fierce.
Stiller confirms this.
“The cake that is distributed is not small in the area, only more and more people want some.” This calculation no longer works.