Full city centers, customers keen to buy: unlike in many parts of Germany, retailers in Lower Saxony drew a positive balance on the fourth Saturday in Advent. “We had a significantly increased customer frequency in the larger cities,” said Mark Alexander Krack, general manager of the Lower Saxony-Bremen trade association, on Sunday.
However, sales are still 25 to 28 percent below the value on the fourth Saturday of Advent in 2019 – before the pandemic. People came with clear purchasing wishes and often spent large sums of money. According to Krack, there was positive feedback from Hanover, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück and Emden, among others.
The Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Lüneburg surprisingly overturned the 2G rule for retailers on Thursday, which had only come into force in Lower Saxony five days earlier. In neighboring countries, on the other hand, only those who have been vaccinated and recovered are allowed in many shops. However, the Lower Saxon retailers had not observed any shopping tourism from North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen or Hamburg, said Krack.
From Tuesday, an FFP2 mask requirement is to apply in the entire retail sector in Lower Saxony. The state government announced this on Saturday in response to the OVG decision. The change should apply to all shops – including, for example, supermarkets. A medical mask is then no longer sufficient. (dpa)