An elderly woman enters the store, she has an apparently defective faucet seal with her and is looking for a replacement. An employee will take care of your request immediately. A man in his sixties follows her, he urgently needs silicone, “transparent for grouting,” as he emphatically explains. He too is helped quickly. With this customer-friendliness, the Rettenberger workshop in Ottobrunn has not only made a name for itself in the community itself but also in the neighboring towns over the past few decades and, above all, has pleasantly set itself apart from the large hardware stores. But this gem among the dealers for DIY supplies will not exist for much longer: On Monday, the managing directors, the twin brothers Klaus and Bernd Rettenberger, announced that their shop on Alte Landstrasse would close its doors forever at the end of July.
There are several reasons for this step, the family writes in a press release: “In order to make our shop modern and competitive for these new challenges, large and long-term investments would be necessary, which we can no longer generate for reasons of age,” it says. There is no successor from the family. “Even in the diverse DIY store sector, we were unable to convince any of the interested parties to risk these investments.”
Farewell to the family business: Bernd, Ingrid and Klaus Rettenberger.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Ingrid Rettenberger, Klaus’ wife and Bernd Rettenberger’s sister-in-law, goes into detail when asked: “The building is getting old and doesn’t look up to date. The expectations of our customers are higher,” she says. In fact, the main building dates back to the 1970s, and the new building is already 20 years old. Emergency exits and fire protection are therefore no longer up to date, “even the roof is no longer 100% tight in all places,” says Ingrid Rettenberger. Couldn’t the retail space have been temporarily reduced and the building renovated? “We didn’t get that far in our considerations,” says Ingrid Rettenberger.
The Werkmarkt Rettenberger is popular with customers in south-east Munich.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Investments in the six-figure range would have become due for the family; however, since the two twin brothers are slowly approaching retirement age, their old-age provision would have had to be used for this. And it wasn’t even guaranteed that the company would continue to be successful: after renovation, the car park, storage areas and market would have been too small, says Bernd Rettenberger. “Online trade and the competition from the big markets are giving us problems. We can no longer make the high investments and long-term debt.” The next generation – the two brothers have a daughter and two sons together – have “taken a different career path,” adds Ingrid Rettenberger.
And so it comes to an end with a traditional business that for so many years has served as a point of contact for many Ottobrunners when it came to all sorts of things in the house and garden: from tools, lawn mowers, batteries and light bulbs to individual wood cuttings in our own carpentry workshop, The Rettenbergers offer everything from mixing colors to the possibility of purchasing screws, nuts and nails of every shape and length individually. There is hardly a craftsman from the district who does not spontaneously head straight to the shop in Alte Landstraße from a repair appointment when a spare part is missing.
“It’s our life’s work,” says senior manager Hans Rettenberger
Ingrid Rettenberger has already received the first feedback from regular customers who were informed about the impending closure on Sunday evening. Tenor: “Where should we go when we need something?” She says with a sad look. The hardest hit by this development, however, is senior manager Hans Rettenberger, who, even at the age of 90, still comes into the shop and helps out every day. In 1955, together with his wife Anni, who died in 2012, he founded the “retail business for timber”, as it was called at the time. First at Rosenheimer Landstraße 31 ½ and later at the current location at Alte Landstraße 1, the two were able to use the do-it-yourself trend that was then emerging for their business.
In Ottobrunn you can still get screws individually. In the picture: Employee Franziska Obermaier.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Over the years, the do-it-yourself shop emerged from the wood trade. Especially in the 1960s, many people in Waldperlach, but also in Neubiberg and Ottobrunn, built their houses themselves in the evenings and at weekends. And they got the material from Hans Rettenberger. “It’s our life’s work,” he says. Back then, he and his wife “started with almost nothing and put all our energy into building up the company”.
40 years ago, the twin sons, master carpenter Bernd and business economist Klaus, took over the management of the business. In 1997 they joined the European network of “workshops”, several hundred owner-operated do-it-yourself shops are connected here in order to be able to offer low prices with joint advertising measures.
The clearance sale is coming up in the next few months, with various items from the huge range being offered at discounts every week. What will become of the property has not yet been clarified, says Bernd Rettenberger. The priority is to secure the future of around 20 employees. “Many of them have been with us for decades. Our success would not have been possible without your active cooperation,” says the managing director, referring to their excellent training. “That’s why they are in demand on the job market,” says Bernd Rettenberger. His sister-in-law Ingrid adds that two of his colleagues have already found work at local companies. Two or three older colleagues will probably take early retirement – with the market.