The situation in the central Geltinger shop has probably never been so dramatic: “If the trend continues, our village shop will no longer be able to exist in this form at the beginning of next year,” wrote the board of directors, supervisory board and sales team to the 250 or so members of the cooperative in mid-November. Silke Noeller-Granget, who shares the board with Martin Goder, confirmed in an interview with the SZ how serious it is. “We had to pull the emergency brake,” she says, “and shake up the comrades.” Sales are currently more than ten percent below the previous year’s level – while operating costs are rising at the same time.
Thomas Vielreicher, deputy chairman of the supervisory board, explains that in previous years the shop had a monthly turnover of around 45,000 euros, but now it is only 40,000 euros. At the same time, because of the higher minimum wage, personnel expenses have increased by 1,000 euros per month. And all these calculations do not even take into account the higher energy costs. Vielreicher’s conclusion: “We need twenty percent more sales.” Recently, however, many customers have stayed away because the business has had to pass on the increased costs of its suppliers.
In 2017, the annual turnover of the village shop exceeded half a million and had fallen to 496,000 euros in 2018, the surplus had then fallen from 10,000 to 6,500 euros. But there can no longer be any talk of a plus. The village shop is dangerously negative.
The appeals that are now being heard are by no means new. In recent years, those responsible for the cooperative business have repeatedly complained that the majority of customers only buy individual products in the village shop and otherwise go to the supermarket or discounter. When asked what would help the store, Noeller-Granget says: “If people didn’t just buy their forgotten milk from us.” She emphasizes that many items in the Geltinger village shop are not even more expensive, such as Berchtesgaden butter or the products from “Unser Land” and La Selva.
The village shop started in 2008 with great enthusiasm. “It’s going great,” said the then managing director Helga Neumann at the beginning. At that time, between 200 and 250 customers came into the shop every day. “Super sales, positive feedback” from customers for the basic range of goods, fruit, vegetables, cheese, sausage, rolls and bread, reported the managing director.
Over the years, however, the trend changed, and there were occasional staff disputes. In the current fire letter to the comrades, however, it says that this summer the village shop was “in reasonably calm waters”. This only changed after the summer holidays. “The fact that sales drop immediately after the holidays is nothing new for the village shop team. But this year this trend is continuing.”
The letter ends with an appeal to the sense of responsibility of the cooperative members, who are co-owners, to shop there themselves, to give away vouchers and to motivate new customers. “Support us with your experience and your energy! We are already trying to make adjustments to all possible parameters from our side, but unfortunately none of this helps without sufficient sales!”