German retail federation does not expect customer rush after reopening of shops

Source: Xinhua | 2020-04-21

Despite the reopening of first shops in Germany, no "giant customer rush" was expected, German Retail Federation (HDE) Managing Director Stefan Genth told public broadcaster ZDF on Monday.

HDE also wanted to "prevent a scenario where the city centers are full," Genth stressed.

After weeks of shop closure due to the coronavirus crisis in Germany, shops with a sales area of up to 800 square meters were allowed to reopen on Monday.

German customers would behave "very prudently" and have learned the minimum distance measures that were already introduced in supermarkets and food retailers that have been open throughout the crisis.

The spread of COVID-19 in Germany still has to be contained further and "hard restraints" would be required. But Genth also noted that HDE wanted to "go back to normal." It would be a matter of "putting safety in the shops first," said Genth. This required "hard conditions" in terms of hygiene and distance measures.

Last week, HDE had already spoken out in favor of a "non-discriminatory opening" of shops in Germany, regardless of the size of their sales areas. It was clearly visible that a "rift" was running through the inner cities, said Genth.

According to Genth, retail trade in Germany was "very strongly" disadvantaged by shop closures and had already lost 30 billion euros (32.6 billion U.S. dollars) in sales over the last four weeks.