BTE writes fire letter to Economics Minister Habeck
In view of the dramatic developments in energy prices, BTE President Steffen Jost and BTE General Manager Rolf Pangels – in addition to a letter from the HDE – wrote a fire letter to Federal Minister of Economics Habeck demanding support and relief for the textile, shoe and leather goods retailers, who have been particularly hard hit after two years of crisis . In view of the low returns, large parts of the industry are already working at the limits of their profitability and are therefore by no means in a position to bear the exorbitantly rising energy costs or even pass them on through end consumer prices. An excerpt:
“The stationary textile, shoe and leather goods trade is experiencing the third crisis year in a row. After 2020 and 2021 were already marked by the corona pandemic and the forced closures of shops, in which the three sectors lost around 30 percent in sales and suffered high operational losses, the entire fashion retail sector is now also suffering massively from the effects of the pandemic this year Ukraine war with the resulting energy price increases. According to our calculations, the sales of the shops are currently on average more than ten percent below the level of 2019. No retail industry has experienced similarly catastrophic, existence-threatening sales losses since 2020! Many companies in the fashion industry have long since used up their reserves to save their existence and hundreds of thousands of jobs. Especially the many self-employed merchants who are liable with their assets have often dissolved their pension schemes during this time. Many companies are desperate and fear for their existence. In addition, because of the sometimes exorbitant rise in energy prices, consumers are also able to spend less money on clothing and shoes, among other things; a consumer crisis has already developed from the energy crisis.”
Against this background, Jost and Pangels are appealing to Minister of Economics Habeck to let the stationary textile, shoe and leather goods trade participate in the planned aid and support measures to cushion the rise in energy prices. After all, there is not only a lot at stake for companies, but also for numerous inner cities. The outfit industry represents a significant economic factor for the cities. More than every second shop in German inner cities is (still) a textile, shoe or leather goods shop and thus as a whole plays an outstanding role as a frequency generator and customer magnet. As a so-called center/downtown-relevant product range, the fashion industry would thus make a significant contribution to the multifunctionality and attractiveness of inner cities. As is well known, this important function is also assigned to it by spatial planning and land use planning.
In the letter, Jost and Pangels expressed the fear that without support or financial help for the increased energy prices, many fashion, shoe and leather goods retailers would soon have to go out of business and there would be a drastic increase in vacancies in the city centres. This would further promote the desolation of inner cities as places for shopping and places for encounters and social exchange. And there is justified doubt that the resulting vacancies can be adequately compensated for by new business and/or other uses.