20.03.2020 07:01
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Many landlords are fighting for their livelihood: will Corona trigger pub deaths?
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By Katrin Koch, Juliane Morgenroth, Anneke Müller
Dresden – Solves the Corona-Krise a big pub death? The following applies to restaurants since Thursday morning: opening times only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. In Dresden the police promptly made it serious.
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Marcus and Nicole Blonkowski from the starred restaurant “Genuss Atelier” want to shake up local and state politicians with an open letter. © private
Officials forced three innkeepers (two in the old town and one in the new town) who had not complied with the tattoo. In Dresden restaurateurs there is now existential fear.
The Dresden star chefs Marcus and Nicole Blonkowski from the “Genuss Atelier” (Bautzner Strasse) wrote an open letter to the city of Dresden and the state of Saxony: “We have to close our operations partially or completely. We still have to bear the fixed costs. Rent, lease and wage costs continue to run. “
Hosts without income could no longer meet these obligations. “As a result, we are more and more doomed from day to day,” said the Blonkowskis in the letter (facebook.com/Restaurant.GenussAtelier.Dresden). They demand: instead of deferral – waiver of tax payments. Immediate financial aid instead of loans.
Three examples show how serious the situation is:
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1: After 24 successful years, Mr. Bou Hamze closes his “Sindbad”
“Sindbad” host Issam Bou Hamze was hit so hard by the Corona crisis that it had to close for the time being. © Lutz Hentschel
The Corona crisis hits him hard too. Issam Bou Hamze (60) has closed his Lebanese restaurant “Sindbad” on Huebnerstrasse for the time being.
Reservations should be made here on normal days. The 70 seats are often used to the last chair. But nothing is normal at the moment. “We have never experienced that before,” says Issam Bou Hamze, who has been running the “Sindbad” with his wife for 24 years. The guest room is empty. Everything is being cleaned in the kitchen. “Even with the Elbe flood it was foreseeable.”
Fewer and fewer guests have come since Friday. One or two tables were only occupied in the evening; it looked similar at noon. The people from the surrounding offices are no longer coming. Bou Hamze decided on Wednesday not to open for lunch and not to set up a delivery service. The effort doesn’t pay off, says the landlord.
At the weekend he would have had several celebrations in his restaurant: everything was canceled. “I hope help comes as promised,” he says. “The concern is great because I have a lot of fixed costs.”
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2: Claudia Greifenhahn is fighting for the survival of her “LadenCafe aha”
Claudia Greifenhahn (53) from “LadenCafe aha” is combative despite the crisis. © Steffen Füssel
The “LadenCafe aha” on Kreuzstrasse is also struggling with the effects of the Corona crisis. At the beginning of the week, customers were already rare.
Managing director Claudia Greifenhahn (52) speaks of 80 percent fewer customers than usual. “We are like everyone else, the tourists stay away. We can only survive through solidarity.”
But she does not want to give up, on the contrary: she has launched an appeal on Facebook, asking that customers pre-order food and products and collect them or have them delivered.
She also asks for donations that will be used to pay the 18 permanent employees and twelve flat-rate workers. It would also help if vouchers were bought now and redeemed after the crisis.
Your appeal has already been heard: “I have a lot of reactions. The people are great and want us to stay,” said Claudia Greifenhahn. “Our ‘LadenCafe aha’ would like to be 25 years old this year.” In addition, she hopes for a concession from the state.
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3: Maik and Janet Kosiol: We have closed all our restaurants
The restaurateurs Janet and Maik Kosiol have closed all of their Dresden restaurants. © Sven Ellger
The hosts of the “Italian Village” on Theaterplatz were also hit hard: Maik (53) and Janet Kosiol (47). For months they have had a mega construction site in front of the house, which put off many guests. And now Corona.
“We have completely closed all of our restaurants: the Italian village, the Elbterrassen Wachwitz, the Brunetti in Striesen and the KITZO-Alpenstüberl in Gompitz. Quite simply to protect our employees and our guests,” said Kosiol. The result: complete loss of income. All 70 employees are set to zero-hour short-time work.
The costs continue. “I have to pay 250,000 euros in debt by the end of April,” says Kosiol. “That’s why I’m only on the phone to get all creditors to postpone. DREWAG, for example, was very accommodating with the deferral. But for three days I’ve been trying in vain to reach someone at the Sparkasse. I have to prevent my accounts be blocked. “
Nevertheless, Kosiol does not let himself get down: “I just hope that we can open again on May 1st – and then the Dresdeners come back to us.” But he also knows: “For many, the money won’t sit so easily any more.”
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