Shops that do not sell food, medical goods or gasoline and do not offer basic services have to close. The Federal Council decided that today. That means grocery stores, pharmacies and drug stores remain open. The same applies to petrol stations, train stations, banks and post offices.
Books, clothes, electronic devices, garden supplies, furniture – the list could go on and on. In the near future, all of these goods will no longer be easily available in a specialty store.
Those who, despite everything, do not want to do without these things, or cannot do so, will not go away empty-handed in the near future. Online shops continue to be maintained where everything is still available.
Another question is that of the employees of the dealers. Shops such as Coop Bau + Hobby, Fust, Interdiscount or Livique, which now have to close, are affected. At Coop, they are “in the planning stage and are looking for good solutions together and individually with our employees,” as a spokeswoman says. In the area of non-food and gastronomy, short-time work is also an issue.
For example, this could mean the following: Since normal Coop stores are not affected, Coop is examining the employment of employees from other subsidiaries in the supermarkets. It is conceivable that employees from Interdiscount or the furniture dealer Livique will be deployed in regular Coop branches.
Migros knows the same regime. There, employees from closed companies – where support is needed – are used in supermarket branches or in logistics, as a spokesman says. With Ex Libris, Micasa, Melectronics, Migros is also heavily affected by the lockdown.
Manor and Weltbild apply for short-time work, others follow
It hits Manor even more. All shops except the supermarkets close there. Some of the employees from the non-food segment are employed in the food departments, says a spokeswoman. “But we will apply for short-time work for the majority of the employees,” the spokeswoman continued.
The bookseller Weltbild will also apply for short-time work for its branches, as a spokesman says. And it is expected that other companies will follow suit. Because not all employees will be able to be deployed to other locations.
At Exlibris, it is said that all employees affected by the closure at the headquarters in Dietikon would “continue to work in customer-oriented functions”. The additional commute goes to working time and ex libris cover the additional travel costs. There will be no layoffs, “on the contrary, it is assumed that orders in the online shop will continue to increase”.
Stop panic buying
The branch organizations of the retail trade Swiss Retail Federation and the IG retail trade have pointed out that hamster purchases are not necessary. All major Swiss retailers such as Coop, Migros, Manor, Volg, Lidl and Aldi are represented in these organizations.
The supply of goods is guaranteed, the dealers let them know in a short statement. The organizations are calling for “to make reasonable purchases”. and further: “If you buy more than necessary and make hamster purchases, you may ensure that others go away empty-handed”. And so the employees would be strained unduly.
If you were shopping in a grocery store on Monday morning, you have a completely different picture than at the weekend. After the storm on Friday and Saturday, the stores are already well stocked. However, this had apparently been done in many places again in the course of the day: Hamster purchases continue to be reported on social media.
In the meantime, grocers have reacted and are using various measures to draw attention to the rules of conduct when they are queuing. For example, red markings on the floor or leaflets indicate the federal rules on distance. In the canton of Graubünden, only 50 people are allowed to be in one shop at a time.
In a circular, the Swiss Retail Federation advised its members that traffic jams at the checkout should be avoided as far as possible. The idea behind it: In the queues in front of the cash register, customers are usually closer to each other than the federal government recommends, in order to minimize transmission of the infection.
Created: 3/16/2020, 5:30 PM
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