Intersport Germany and Rose Bikes are reportedly representing a group of 4,500 stakeholders in Germany that is grouping retailers, trade associations, journalists and economic experts in their opposition against the German government’s Dec. 2 decision to allow only vaccinated people to enter non-essential retail stores.
The requirement, which is being referred to as the 2G norm, became applicable all over the country on Saturday, Dec. 4. The state of Bavaria, which had adopted it earlier, has decided to make an exception for shoe retail stores, along with opticians, flower shops and some other types of brick-and-mortar retail operations – but not for sporting goods stores.
Considering the measure as being discriminatory against the retail sector, Alexander von Preen, CEO of Intersport Germany, also criticized the fact that the retailers themselves are being asked to check the visitors’ proofs of vaccination rather than the police or other government authorities.
The German Retail Federation (HDE) is claiming that the 2G regulations are unconstitutional. It is asking to government to increase the subsidies that it has decided to grant to retailers because of the related sales losses. It wants them to benefit from the compensation if their monthly sales fall 15 percent below the normal level, rather than 30 percent as during a previous retail lockdown, because of the additional costs in terms of personnel needed to control the customers’ health passes.
Deichmann, the largest shoe retailer in the country and in Europe, reportedly noted that the verification of the health passes is creating big and dangerous clusters in front of the stores, in addition to discouraging people from visiting them.
