Norli has at times halved its turnover since the book chain had to close down 65 stores at most. Now CEO John Thomasgaard thinks enough is enough.
Friday responded Nille boss Kjersti Hobøl strongly on what she believes appears to be a “very strange overall picture” in the debate on closed shops.
While both flower shops, grocery stores, health food stores, kiosks, hairdressers, pharmacies and liquor stores can remain open, still more stores – such as Nille and Norli – must remain closed in both Oslo and some municipalities in Viken.
In many places, only these two shops are closed, while there are often queues outside Vinmonopolet.
Thomasgaard in Norli agrees with Hobøl’s statements that it is out of the question. Last week, they still had 40 stores closed, which is more than a third of the chain-owned stores measured in turnover.
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– Means minimal
– There are centers where practically only we and a few others are shut down, and it seems that Oslo in particular has only stuck to the fact that this is the solution without an impact assessment, he says to Nettavisen.
The Norli boss says that from time to time there has been quite a lot of traffic on the “click-and-get” solutions in the closed shops, but describes the solution as cumbersome – with constantly new “restrictions” on what is allowed and what is not.
– Especially in Oslo, where there are such large variations in infection conditions, there are closed areas where there is very low infection. When there are so many other stores that are open in the shopping centers, we mean minimal for the traffic transfer, says Thomasgaard.
At the same time as the shops in the metropolitan area have to struggle to keep the wheels in motion, Norli stores in the peripheral zone have seen doubles and triples in turnover in recent days.
– At Mysen, for example, we have had a tripling of turnover in the last week. So people naturally travel where there are open shops. In Nittedal, we have also had a two-fold increase, he says.
Watch the video that makes the Nille boss react:
Lost 20 mill
He emphasizes that he has no basis for commenting on whether the closed shops are working against their purpose, but maintains that there is no reason to stay closed any longer.
– That they chose to keep them closed until Easter, I understood, to get a certain overview. But when you see this stabilization in the infection numbers now, and can not prove that shops and malls are spreading, it seems completely unnecessary, says Thomasgaard.
He estimates that Norli has lost approximately NOK 20 million in the first four months of the year, compared with the same period in 2019.
– We do not come under the state’s cash support, so rent and more we must mainly pay in full ourselves. The losses must also be borne fully by us, says the CEO.
The Norli boss adds that fortunately they seem to be doing well with the operation so far.
– It is not urgent for us, but it is clear that we are talking about significant losses. Fortunately, we have a bit to go on, so it is not urgent in that sense, says Thomasgaard, who adds that he has no faith in reopening in the very first place.
– I have thought it will open again now so many times, so I dare not have high expectations anymore.
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Led to lower infection rates
Senior communications adviser at the Ministry of Health and Care Services, Elisabeth Johansen, writes in an email to Nettavisen that they refer to their statements in The Nille case.
There, State Secretary Saliba Andreas Korkunc (H) said that the measures they have taken have been to reduce the total mobility in society as much as possible.
– The order to close stores therefore also applies to stores where there is in itself a low risk of infection. Exceptions have been made for some shops because the population must have access to necessary goods such as food, pharmacy goods and agricultural goods. The introduction of new exceptions or the extension of existing exceptions requires a special justification because it could weaken the overall level of measures, he said.
– Have closed stores at chains such as Nille, Europris, Norli, etc. actually contributed to lower infection?
– All the measures to reduce contact between people have collectively led to the infection numbers being on the decline. The new virus mutants are highly contagious, and we do not have a full overview of where people become infected.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health has not responded to Nettavisen’s inquiries, but Director of Health Bjørn Guldvog supported Korkunc’s statement on Friday:
– Assessments have been made by the country’s best infection control experts that such a system is the one that best manages to control the infection. That is also what has contributed to the infection being on the way down, he told Nettavisen.
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