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Open Despite Hard Closing: Some branches of the Douglas perfume chain opened their doors on Wednesday. The reason: the company considers itself a pharmacy.
The tough lockdown is forcing all stores that don’t sell essentials to close. All? Not quite!
Despite the state ban, several branches of the Douglas perfume chain opened across the country on Wednesday. Initial internal company rationale: Douglas also sells pharmacy items, similar to Rossmann or dm, and is excluded from the retail close with this range.
Literally in a letter to the Douglas branches in Hesse that t-online is available and that the newspaper “Bild” reported for the first time: “We open our stores in the context that we are a pharmacy because we have the range of daily necessities and supplies basic “. Employees must comply with the usual hygiene measures.
Employees should write down the names of the police officers.
He goes on to say, “Remove the following items from the sales area before opening your store: decorative items and jewelry, eg Douglas Bear, Tosh except reading glasses, tree decorations.”
In the entrance area, “mainly our range of drugstores should be presented so that it is clear that we are a drugstore.” Specifically, the branches must display “shower gel, body care, body lotion, hand cream, cotton pads” on the display.
In addition, the management responsible for the Douglas division gives advice in case the police enter the stores. “Talk to officials. Please do not have aggressive conversations and avoid arguments,” the letter said. “Have the IDs shown to you and put the names on the minutes. If the officials want to close the store, please file an oral objection.”
“Douglas deliberately steps out of line”
How many Douglas branches in Germany had opened in this way on Wednesday? Douglas did not say in the t-online request, a spokeswoman spoke of a “small part of the branches.” According to the dpa news agency, one in four stores remains open, and the newspaper “Bild” reported on the stores in Fulda and Frankfurt, among other things. A Berlin branch that visited t-online on Wednesday, on the other hand, only offered to pick up previously ordered items.
A Douglas branch in Berlin: Here it is only possible to collect items that have already been ordered. (Source: Sebastian Berning / t-online)
According to the Verdi union, stores in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony are also affected, in addition to locations in Hesse. Verdi’s official Horst Gobrecht is very upset. “From our point of view, the store opening is a sham,” he told t-online. “Douglas deliberately steps out of line. We think it is very problematic if the lockdown is bypassed in this way.”
Douglas refers to the rule of exception
A tweet that Douglas’s boss, Tina Müller, had dropped on Tuesday, and in which she supported the blockade, also caused a stir on the network. “We support decisions to contain the pandemic!” He wrote. Even if the measures are a “hard blow” in the Christmas business, the health of employees and customers takes priority. “If everyone contributes, we can do it!”
Douglas’s boss, Tina Müller, tweeted Tuesday that she supported the shutdown. (Source: Twitter)
How is it that one day later Douglas seems like he is no longer exactly taking these words? A spokeswoman justified the stores opening in response to a t-online request on Wednesday with reference to the exceptions that the Chancellor and Prime Ministers had decided for retail.
Other perfumeries also remain open
“These exceptions explicitly state that pharmacies can remain open,” he said. “The term pharmacy itself is not legally specified. In common parlance, the term pharmacy is understood as retail establishments that sell personal care, beauty, cosmetic and hygiene products, among other things.”
At some of the branches that remained open, Douglas offers “most of the classic pharmacy range” that, according to a government resolution, can be sold. “That is why some of the Douglas stores with a range of pharmaceutical products will remain open for purchases,” the spokeswoman continued. “Other large pharmacy chains offer a comparable range.”
In fact, Douglas is not alone in this approach. For example, the Berlin perfume chain Diamant interprets the retail closing rules accordingly. The company’s website says: “Our branches will remain open!”
