According to a survey by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the majority of Bavarian municipalities are satisfied with the opening of village shops. The future belongs to these shops with products from local producers, said Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW) at the presentation of the results on Tuesday. More than 260 municipalities took part in the local supply survey – 86 percent of them stated that opening village shops had paid off for them.
According to the survey, half of the municipalities see a local supply problem that is being exacerbated by age-related business closures. However, Aiwanger emphasized that local care in all regions of Bavaria is an important part of the quality of life in the Free State.
Currently, 41 percent of the 263 municipalities that answered the survey have one or more village shops. 45 stated that they are planning to open their own village shop. There are also 30 municipalities that want to start a digital mini-supermarket, it said.
According to the survey, the biggest challenges when running your own village shop included a lack of staff, no possibility of opening on Sundays and public holidays, high investment requirements and bureaucratic hurdles.