How are German bicycle dealers doing in times of Corona and the political appeal for "social distancing"? Tim Böhme was at one of the largest bike dealers in Hesse, Fahrrad Denfeld Radsport GmbH in Bad Homburg, and spoke to junior manager Marc Denfeld about the current situation.
Mr. Denfeld, due to the current press situation, it was not clear to me whether bicycle shops are now "systemically relevant" and will remain open or be closed. What is the current situation?
I can only speak for our location in Bad Homburg. Our shop is open for the delivery and collection of repairs. The pick-up and delivery service as well as the workshop will also continue. I can't say how it looks in other federal states or even regions, because there are different regulations. In Berlin, for example, bike sales are still open. I would recommend everyone to find out more about their homepage before visiting the bike dealer.
Anyone who wants to use a bike can still buy one from you or have it repaired in the workshop?
Yes, our answer to the corona crisis is called Click & Collect. Customers can order their bike from us online and pick it up at the goods issue, or we can take it to the customer's home ready to ride with our delivery service. This applies to customers in our region; We ship throughout Germany via a forwarding agency.
It seems like you are well prepared for this situation.
Well, I would say we face this special situation as best we can. Our sales team is now shifting its performance more into the digital and telephone area. This is how our employees currently advise customers on the phone. We have also increased the number of employees from the new wheel assembly department in the workshop in order to be able to guarantee quick repairs.
That sounds reasonable and as if you are also making a contribution to containing the corona crisis. Politicians and doctors often recommend using the bicycle now.
In times of "social distancing" in road traffic and the strengthening of the lungs through light physical activity, the bicycle is assigned an important role in containing the corona pandemic, that's true. Of course we also want to make a contribution here and help people to cycle with good advice and fast workshop service. From a purely economic point of view, however, we are struggling with the crisis just like many other large companies. We have over 90 employees and fixed costs and this service allows us to maintain part of our activities.
How has the crisis affected your company and how are you dealing with it?
We already noticed a noticeable drop in customers in the week before the store closed. People became more cautious and avoided big stores like ours. Of course, this means that a large part of the turnover is lost to us, which cannot be offset with the workshop operation. We are currently discussing internally whether we need to switch to short-time work. However, our employees show a lot of solidarity in this situation and take excess vacation days, for example. We undertake increases within the framework of legal possibilities so that all employees can make their living with as few cuts as possible in the psychologically stressful phase. But we don't know how things will continue and are preparing for a curfew. We cannot estimate what effects this will have. But we stand behind our employees; for example, just a few days ago we hired new employees who we had already given a job offer. You have to hire good people – at some point the crisis will be over.
What would you like from politics? Do you get help from the two-wheeler purchasing cooperative (ZEG) of which you are a member?
We would like to see a clear signal for a "Pro Fahrrad" from politicians. After all, with our workshops we are part of the crisis mobility supply. The sale of bicycles should also be reopened in order to give access to people who have not yet been mobile by bicycle. We actually get a lot of help from the ZEG! Our board member, Mr. Honkomp, is campaigning for us bicycle dealers on a broad political level and has approached the top politicians Altmaier, Laschet and Spahn directly.
In which form?
The board of the ZEG with Mr. Honkomp and Mr. Hageböck wrote a letter to the mentioned politicians and pointed out the relevance of the bicycle to the mobility system. More and more people are now getting on their bikes to be mobile without the risk of infection. However, in order to continue to ensure this, the board of directors asks that bicycle companies with workshops in Germany, as well as in neighboring European countries, be exempted from the closure decisions.
What would you personally wish for in this crisis?
That people will continue to stick to stationary trade and order bicycles and accessories online from regional dealers instead of simply switching to online shops. And that it is also communicated more clearly in the media that the workshops in the bicycle retail trade are open and that bicycle mobility is guaranteed.
Marc Denfeld, thank you very much for this candid interview. All the best to you and your employees - and stay healthy.
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