Development in the City English Shop in Bonn city centre closes
The operator of the English Shop is closing his branch on Friedensplatz in Bonn at the end of the year and concentrating on his business in Cologne. The Merzenich bakery in the Maximiliancenter, on the other hand, has been open again since Monday.
For all friends of the English way of life, this should be a hard blow. The English Shop on Friedensplatz is withdrawing from Bonn. At the end of the year, in nine days time, the branch will close, an employee confirmed on Monday. Both the Corona crisis and Brexit had led to significant declines in sales, they said.
Tea, beer and jam particularly popular
Recently, it had happened again and again that ordered goods "got stuck" at customs and thus did not reach the shelves. The numerous English teas, beer, orange marmalade and chocolate of English origin have always been particularly popular with regular customers. The English Shop in Bonn employs two full-time staff, one part-time staff member and five freelancers.
The full-time staff will move to the company's headquarters in Cologne, where the shop not far from Schildergasse - as well as the online shopping options - will remain. For all other Bonn colleagues, employment will end this year. "That was already a hard blow," says one employee about the news of the closure. He was not able to say who would succeed him as tenant in the shop on Bonn's Friedensplatz.
Meanwhile, Jannis Vassiliou from the retail association and Karina Kröber from the Bonn City association say they are not aware of any other changes in the business world. According to Vassiliou's information, eight shops are currently empty in Bonn's city centre, and a boutique on Friedrichstraße has announced its withdrawal for the coming summer.
Maximiliancenter: First rolls in half a year
Meanwhile, the Maximiliancenter, which has been empty for half a year, is at least partially coming back to life. After months of forced closure, the ground floor branch of the Merzenich bakery reopened its doors to customers on Monday morning. "We were missed," stated Mirjam Kröll, area manager, on Monday.
In order to cover the entire opening hours as well as preparation and follow-up work, the branch team consists of 16 people. In other parts of the Maximiliancenter, however, whose pipe system was affected by heavy rain in June, operations are still at a standstill. Only the Primark shop has been open again for a few months, and a kiosk in the basement since the beginning of October.
