Retail energy costs are up 150 percent since the beginning of the year. In a survey by the German Retail Association (HDE), every second company sees its existence threatened.
Retailers are now using energy-saving measures to get through the winter. For example, the shops are heated less. “Every degree less can reduce energy consumption by up to six percent,” says Patrick Schütz from the German Trade Association. The first supermarkets are even considering shortening their opening hours.
Voluntary measures are one thing. But the federal government also relies on coercion. She issued a regulation that has been in force since September 1st: The sales rooms of the shops may only be heated to a maximum of 19 degrees. Illuminated outdoor advertising must be switched off from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., and shop doors may no longer remain open all the time.
“Door closed, shop open”
Carina Peretzke from the North Rhine-Westphalia Trade Association is very critical of closed front doors: “If the door is closed, fewer customers come in.” Psychologically, closed doors would be perceived as a barrier.
An open shop door is inviting, but also causes high heating costs
In order to lure people into the shops anyway, the climate offensive of the HDE, on the initiative of the trade association of North Rhine-Westphalia, started the poster campaign “Door closed, shop open”. The colorful posters are intended to indicate that the shops are open despite the closed doors. So far, the campaign has been very well received by retailers, says Patrick Schütz.
Most of the customers also show understanding for the measures, as the topic of saving energy is also becoming increasingly important for them privately. This is shown by a DW survey in downtown Bonn: “It’s the right thing to do to save energy. It does make the city center a bit sadder. But I don’t think we have a choice to think too much about it,” said a passer-by.
Purchasing power at an “all-time low”
However, the basic problem for retail is somewhere else at the moment, believes Carina Peretzke, because after more than two years of the corona pandemic and rising costs, purchasing power is currently at an “all-time low”. Stationary retail in particular is suffering from this: “Basically, there are no more reserves, they have been used up. Now we have higher costs, and the customers also have these costs, so they hold back when shopping.”
Loss of purchasing power: Customers hold back, take advantage of special offers, go to discount stores
This also becomes clear when you talk to people in Bonn city centre. Many now pay more attention to what they are buying and whether they really need it. When it comes to groceries, too, people are increasingly turning to offers and tending more to go shopping in discounters.
lighting and security
Dortmund urban developer Stefan Kruse sees another important aspect: the inner cities are becoming darker due to less lighting, especially where the days are now getting shorter in autumn. This is also a question of security.
For example, if you go home after a visit to a restaurant, “then maybe next time I’ll think twice about walking through these dark alleys,” says Kruse. An employee of a textile shop near the main train station shares this assessment. “It makes me a little queasy,” says the young woman.
Rethink downtown
The number of small, owner-managed shops in city centers has been declining for years. A trend that has already intensified due to the corona lockdowns and the associated loss of income is now likely to continue due to the energy saving measures.
Even during the Corona lockdowns, the retail trade suffered from enormous sales losses. The recent crisis could be the death knell for many small shops in particular
The same shopping chains can be found almost everywhere in the inner cities of German cities. This makes the inner cities “boring” and “interchangeable” for Stefan Kruse.
But not only the small shops are withdrawing. Large chains have increasingly relied on online trading since the pandemic. Therefore, more and more large areas are becoming free. For the urban developer it is clear that the inner city concept must be thought of differently in the long term. Especially when large department store chains vacate their locations, huge empty spaces are created, from which, in Kruse’s opinion, multifunctional areas should be created.
Spaces in which trade, education, gastronomy and culture come together. But such plans cannot be implemented overnight, and especially in the current situation, there is a lack of money for such projects in many places.
An elderly man strolling through Bonn’s Friedrichstrasse with his wife in the early evening is cautiously hopeful despite everything: “I think people also have the ability to deal creatively with things that aren’t so pretty. We won’t let that get us down .”
