As reported, retailers, hairdressers, beauticians and catering businesses in our state are preparing for the opening on Friday. Whereby the joy of unlocking is clouded, because a regulation, which areas of the trade may exceptionally open next Sunday, is still missing. It should be allowed to unlock those who have previously been affected by the lockdown, i.e. essentially those who do not sell food or everyday goods. So far the state regulations are missing.
That already leads to complaints, says Thomas Krötzl, Center Manager of the Varena in Vöcklabruck: Cell phone providers and opticians, for example, do not see why they should keep open during the low-frequency times and fall over to an opening permit on Sunday. Because – so their argument – there wasn’t much business in the lockdown either.
“No Golden Sunday”
The Sunday opening will bring additional sales to the non-food trade, but it will not come close to a Saturday in the run-up to Christmas, expects Christoph Teller, head of the Institute for Trade, Sales and Marketing at the Kepler University in Linz. “It will not be a golden Sunday. What is not learned will not be lived,” says Teller.
According to a survey carried out by the institute, the majority of the Austrian population (83 percent) will not go shopping on the fourth Sunday in Advent. For 58 percent of those surveyed, Sunday is a day for the family. 54 percent have already planned other activities, such as sports, and 48 percent reject a general Sunday opening in principle and therefore do not want to go shopping next Sunday.
It would also be problematic if, for example, only half of the shops on the country road were open. “Something like this can be organized better in shopping centers. But ultimately, the success of an open Sunday is driven by supply,” says Teller.
The managing director of the Linzer City-Ring, Ursula Fürstberger-Matthey, counters this by saying that her member companies and the inner-city shopping centers will have practically all of them open. A number of restaurants would also open up. “We will have a busy country road,” said Fürstberger-Matthey.
You can expect a customer frequency that is comparable to December 8th. This day is also controversial among the population as a shopping day.
Incidentally, one in four people has concerns about a possible infection with the corona virus in retail. A fifth stated in the survey that they are not allowed to shop anyway because of the 2G rule.
The prognosis of the Marketing Institute is correspondingly: While on an average weekday in Advent in the trade 220 million euros, it should be 400 million euros next Saturday and then only 150 million euros on Sunday.
There will also be customers who just want to avoid the fuss on Saturday, adds Peter Jungreithmayr from Wels City Marketing. He expects “nine out of ten” dealers to open up in downtown Wels. However, a number of family businesses will provide the staff from relatives because the regulation for employees (double salary and day off) is very expensive for smaller traders.
It will definitely be exciting, said Krötzl. There has never been such a constellation before. It was different in the previous year too, because after the lockdown the catering was not yet allowed to open. (sib, hn)
Source: Nachrichten
