The German Retail Association (HDE) renewed its call for an extensive aid package to make inner cities more attractive on Monday. The industry organization referred to the results of a survey of 700 retail companies. It had shown that, especially in the inner cities and in the non-food trade, sales and customer frequencies “despite slight recovery effects and the omission of many corona measures” are still far from the level they were before the outbreak of the Covid-19 -Pandemic had reached.
“Retail remains in crisis mode. While the pandemic is not over yet, the economic impact of the Russian war in Ukraine poses additional challenges for the industry,” said HDE CEO Stefan Genth in a statement. Specifically, the survey conducted by the association in the twentieth calendar week showed that sales in non-food shops were on average 13 percent and customer frequencies 21 percent below the corresponding level of 2019. In addition, the frequencies in the inner cities had “only reached 80 percent of the pre-crisis level”, explained the HDE.
In view of these sobering findings, the association continues to rely on a “special program for inner-city development”. This should have a term of five years and pay out 500 million euros annually to promote “concepts and measures” that “contribute to increasing the attractiveness and modernization of existing and new shops and inner-city facilities”. Attractive city centers need “strong retail,” emphasized Genth. “We have to shape the city centers of the future now. This can only succeed with a joint commitment from politics, trade and municipalities.”