Owner-managed shops are currently struggling with soaring energy costs, and customers are becoming increasingly hesitant to buy. How hairdressers, florists and gym owners deal with these problems.
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Helena Ott and Patrizia Tensing
“Before the pandemic, a rose cost 2.50 euros, now I have to ask for four euros,” says Daniel Leupold, pointing to the fist-sized rose heads. His regular customers still come, but buy fewer and smaller bouquets. The tall, gaunt man with the faded cap usually stands alone behind the long counter of his Munich flower shop. The utility bill for 2022, which is due next fall, will be really bad, he believes. Apart from a 450-euro employee, the florist cannot pay any staff at the moment. That’s why he has to work 76 hours a week himself, and the 54-year-old calculates that he needs four hours on Sundays for bookkeeping. 17 years ago he and his partner opened “Peters Blumenladen” in the east of Munich. It had never been as steep as it is now before the pandemic.