In the three years since the pandemic began, significantly more retailers have closed in Bavaria. According to the trade association, there were a total of around 6,500 shops in 2020, 2021 and 2022 – almost 800 a year would be normal. Of course, the pandemic is not to blame for all closures, said Managing Director Bernd Ohlmann of the German Press Agency. But she is the cause of the “dramatic increase”. The number of retailers has fallen to below 58,000, although some of the closures have been offset by start-ups, Ohlmann said.
Overall, however, far fewer businesses gave up than feared. In the spring of 2021, the association had seen around 19,000 shops in existential danger. He attributes the fact that it was much less bad, among other things, to the state corona aid and the simplification of short-time work. In addition, medium-sized companies in particular often used private reserves.
Typical inner-city ranges such as clothing, shoes or watches were particularly hard hit – often also from large chain stores. In contrast, the food retail trade came through the crisis comparatively well. Online trade is the winner of the pandemic: In the three years, its sales have increased by a total of around 60 percent. Whether the trade is over the mountain is difficult to say, said Ohlmann. There is an “anxious hope – but with worry lines”. The reasons for the latter range from the energy crisis to fears that there could be new production outages in China and supply difficulties.