Shops Survive in German Towns

I am prompted to write to mention something, which may be of interest to people against Tesco or any other major supermarkets opening stores in their towns.

I have just returned from Ottendorf, where I went with members of the Ottendorf/Sheringham twinning association. During my stay I was able to visit Stade and Cuxhaven, both of them the size of Sheringham, as is Ottendorf. Ottendorf has three supermarkets, all of which are quite large and sell everything you can imagine. They sell all kinds of meat and meat products, fresh, frozen and canned: they also have well-stocked fish counters and baked-goods counters, all manner of breads, the like of which we never see, fancy cakes and pastries to make your eyes pop out.

Yet all the shops in the High Street are bustling, selling many of the things that are on sale in the Supermarkets. Butchers, bakers and confectioners, a fishmonger's, shoe shops and fashion houses, gent's outfitters, florists, jewellers, photographers, chemists, newsagents and tobacconists, book shops, ironmongers, glassware and china, electrical, TV and hi-fi dealers, bathroom and kitchen fitters, furniture shops, fancy goods and gift shops, sweet shops, who also sold postcards and cigarettes and tobacco, coffee shops, cafes and restaurants - all thriving.

I asked how it was that they could keep trading in spite of the supermarkets. Those I asked said: service and treating our customers as friends, many of whom have been coming to us for many years, long before the supermarkets came.

Stade and Cuxhaven were just the same. There, the shopping precincts were crowded, the bakers cum coffee shops and snack bars were packed out. In all of the shops that I visited, the assistants were most helpful and went out of their way to make sure I got exactly what I was looking for. All with a smile and a genuine caring attitude. When I had my shops in Sheringham, I made sure that my customers were satisfied with their purchases and if I didn't have what they wanted, I would get it for them or tell them where they could get it elsewhere. I really cared about the customer and the goods that I sold.

Finally, the supermarkets in Cuxhaven are enormous and yet the town is doing very well. The size of the store that Tesco wants to build in Sheringham would fit twice into the stores in Ottendorf or Cuxhaven. Stop whining and let them come, that is what I say to protesters.
Ken Jackson
Sheringham

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