The announcement by Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP) that the lockdown will probably not end until December 17th is met with incomprehension among the Wels economy.
Retailers in particular had hoped that the shops would be allowed to open on Monday. After yesterday’s government announcement, there is disappointment: “We would have wished it otherwise, but saw it coming. The decision is bitter and the dealers do not understand it. But it is to be accepted ”, says Thomas Brindl, managing director of the Wels Chamber of Commerce.
Chairman Franz Edlbauer made an urgent appeal to the state government on Tuesday: “The incidences are falling massively. Upper Austria ranks fifth behind the southern and western federal states. The trade is supposed to open on Monday. “There is no point in the fact that stationary trade in Upper Austria continues to be closed while the shops in the neighboring federal states are open again.
City Councilor for Economic Affairs Martin Oberndorfer (VP) put it a little more cautiously, but he also advocated opening the shops on Monday: “The trade is not the driver of the infection”, Oberndorfer addressed his message to the governor, with whom he also discussed the topic had discussed personally. It is clear, however, that an opening is only possible for vaccinated people. “As the economic advisor in Wels, I would like to see the Wels trade opened as quickly and uniformly as possible,” emphasized Oberndorfer even before the government announced yesterday.
Politics prefer chains
Oberndorfer criticized the preference given to retail chains over stationary specialist retailers: “While large companies are allowed to sell anything, retailers are told that they will remain closed even though all hell is going on elsewhere. That is no longer comprehensible. “
If other federal states open up before Upper Austria, a massive loss of purchasing power is to be expected: “In Wels it is about 20 million sales per week, because buying behavior knows no national borders,” warned Managing Director Thomas Brindl.
This also annoys Michael Wipplinger from the Wels merchants: “The different opening times in the federal states will lead to consumer tourism. You damage the local specialist trade here. “
As a lobby group, the chamber has been under great pressure in the past few days: “We receive emails from many members every day asking us what our fighting measures are like. But we want to convince with factual arguments, ”said Brindl.
What yesterday’s announcement means for the Christmas markets is still unclear. Peter Jungreithmair from Christkindl GmbH recently prepared a small Christmas market variant in combination with the ice trapeze for the time after the lockdown on the Wels town square.
Source: Nachrichten
