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Pharmacist Abdulrahim Hamoud (left) with local mayor Dieter Kugelmann (right) and Andreas Nickel from the action alliance. becht © bt
Sales slump after the complete closure of the L 3011 / Lorsbach Action Alliance seeks successor
Hofheim – Whether there will still be a pharmacy in Lorsbach in the future is a question that no one can answer with any certainty at the moment. One thing is certain: pharmacist Abdulrahim Hamoud will not be able to continue his work. A successor is now being sought.
According to Hamoud, what many Lorsbach residents feared because of the complete closure of state road 3011 has happened – customers have stayed away and have not returned since the road was reopened. According to him, only one in three of his former customers has come recently. Accordingly, a large part of the turnover is missing.
This cannot be proven, but it is plausible. The location of the pharmacy on the main road suggests that many customers came from outside the area. It is unclear why they did not take the previous route again. It is quite possible that many drivers want to avoid long waiting times at the traffic lights at the construction site in the sewage treatment plant curve and are still using diversion routes from the time of the full closure.
Problems with the wholesaler
Hamoud says that his income has dried up. He took out a loan because of this. But there were also problems with the wholesaler, who did not want to wait any longer for outstanding debts to be settled and cleared out Hamoud’s stock, the pharmacist reports. Then there were differences over the value of the material. With the result that this dealer no longer wants to supply and another one only wants to step in if there is financial security. But Hamoud cannot provide this, and he cannot get a new loan either.
That sounds hopeless. “I would like to continue here,” says Hamoud, who has been running the pharmacy since 2016. Not least because of the good relationship with the customers. It is also about supplying the Lorsbach residents with medicines. And it is about jobs. After all, there are five part-time employees on the payroll.
For a while there had been talk of a fundraising campaign. This would have provided security for the wholesaler, who had promised to take over the supply to the pharmacy. But that is no longer an issue. Also because Hamoud has not been idle in recent weeks and has successfully looked for a new job.
The problem has brought Lorsbach’s mayor Dieter Kugelmann (CDU) and Andreas Nickel (FWG), spokesperson for the action group against the complete closure of the L 3011, to the fore. They want to try to find a successor for Hamoud. Is that easy or difficult? A new pharmacist in this position must also ensure that he gains enough customers. Hamoud reports that two pharmacies in Kelkheim have closed, one of them in Fischbach. Are some customers therefore moving from there to Lorsbach? That could be the case, but it is not certain.
One problem in the search for a successor is that there is time pressure. Anyone who wants to open a new pharmacy in this location must comply with all the regulations and requirements currently in force. Anyone who takes over an existing pharmacy, on the other hand, enjoys what is known as protection under building law. The idea is therefore that Hamoud will continue to run the pharmacy, at least formally, until the end of August. But then a successor would have to step in.
The State Chamber of Pharmacists has, at least according to Hamoud’s impression, verbally stated that it would agree to this solution. Now it is a matter of finding a pharmacist.
