Another blockade hits distributors and hairdressers hard – Coronavirus Vienna

WKÖ Commercial Chairman Rainer Trefelik described the closing of the third crown as a “strong blow”.

The representative sees the “great success of our efforts” in the fact that it is now possible to collect the products ordered in the store (“Click & Collect”). Traders were not allowed to do this on the first and second locks. “For commerce, this way of selling products is a small ray of hope to give value to the industry,” Trefelik said in a broadcast on Friday night.

The trade association is dismayed by the renewed forced breakup. “The third hard lockout is the worst case scenario for our industry. December is by far the most important month of the business year with the highest turnover,” said Rainer Will, managing director of the trade association. In the non-food trade, sales are expected to fall by around 900 million euros per closing week. First, the international online giants without a permanent establishment in Austria, who hardly pay taxes in this country and contribute little to the common good, Will criticized. “Amazon’s financing program remains uncontrolled.”

The trade association demands sufficient help from the government. “The public was assured that no one would be left behind in the crisis. All distributors affected by the closure must obtain a replacement of 80 percent of the revenue by the closing week in December The arguments are now omitted”, so than the representative of interests. By January, the trade association is also demanding a replacement rotation to secure jobs. “A revenue replacement that expires at the end of the year, while the lockdown lasts well into the new year, is completely unacceptable,” Will criticized. Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) will present Corona’s other financial aid at a press conference tomorrow.

WKÖ Commercial President Trefelik demands clearer rules for the policy’s product range restrictions, so supermarkets cannot sell children’s toys, sporting goods, garden products and electronics in a difficult lockdown. “In a new blockade, it must be regulated more clearly what products can sell commercial companies that can open their stores,” said the president of commerce. “Supermarkets and pharmacies should only sell everyday products.”

In the second blockade there was a regulation to restrict the scope. Spar, Hofer, Lidl and the Müller pharmacy chain described the restriction on the product range as unconstitutional and illegal and did not change their range. “It is difficult to see why some grocery and drug retailers, for example, offer home appliances, while electricity retailers have to keep their stores closed,” Trefelik said.

The third lockdown will further exacerbate the economic situation in fixed retail. Retail researchers Ernst Gittenberger and Christoph Teller from the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (JKU) expect a daily loss of turnover in fixed retail of 140 million gross per day for the period from December 27 to December 31. For the shopping days closed in January, there would be a loss of sales of 100 million daily, since the level of sales in January is significantly lower than in December, according to scientists. In total, the third crown lockdown will cause sales losses of just under € 1.9bn gross for retailers. For comparison: According to the JKU retail researchers, the first crash caused a loss of sales in retail of 3.8 billion euros and the second breakout cost 2.2 billion euros in revenue. National retailers are estimated to have lost nearly € 8 billion in sales from the three closures.