“More than manageable”: First shopping Saturday in Corona crisis proceeds calmly

The calm run after the reopening of large parts of the retail sector in the Corona crisis continued over the weekend. In most places, the crowd on Saturday remained subdued as it was during the week.

“The majority of the companies have been on, many have taken the opportunity,” said the trade association Niedersachsen-Bremen. In the inner cities, however, there was still much less going on than on normal Saturdays.

The impressions were similar in the other federal states – for example, Hesse, where the police presidiums on Saturday also expressed satisfaction with the behaviour of the people. “Everything is more than manageable for the area of Central Hesse,” said a spokesman for the police in Gießen.

In Berlin, too, the onslaught was limited. Only in front of some electronics stores of the Saturn chain, sometimes longer snakes formed. However, many shops remained closed on Saturday. On the shopping street Kurfürstendamm, which was well-attended in ordinary times, especially on Saturdays, it seemed comparatively empty. In the neighbouring state of Brandenburg, the inner cities were busier than in the previous weeks. In many shops, customers looked around, but there was also no rush.

Since the beginning of the week, shops in most federal states have been able to reopen a sales area of up to 800 square meters. On Friday, the German Trade Association drew a first conclusion with regard to sales. “Despite opening up, only 40 percent of the normal business volume is achieved on average,” the association said. According to the HDE, 767 trading companies nationwide surveyed 767 trading companies for the statements.