Over the past few weeks, most of the Bicycle shops and bike shops in Germany only offer a repair service or by telephone. Only in the three federal states Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, stationary bicycle sales were also permitted during the tightened corona measures. But that is now set to change. In agreement with the federal states, the federal government is extending the existing contact restrictions for citizens until at least 3 May. However, shops up to a maximum size of 800 square metres will be allowed to reopen from Monday, 20 April, albeit under certain conditions. However, the restriction on shop size does not apply to bicycle shops and bike shops, which are all allowed to resume sales from 20 April - regardless of size. This is stated in the Declaration by the Federal Government:
"Shops with a sales area of up to 800 square metres and, regardless of the sales area, car dealers, bicycle dealers and bookshops can reopen. They must comply with hygiene requirements, access control and the avoidance of queues."
On the one hand, the number of customers is to be limited and, on the other, hygiene rules must be observed. This means that not only smaller bike shops and bike shops benefit from this regulation, but also larger bike shops and branches of national retailers such as Stadler or Fahrrad XXL.
Does this also apply to bike shops in Bavaria?
However, it could take even longer for bike shops in Bavaria to be allowed to reopen for the sale of bikes and mountain bikes. This is because Minister President Markus Söder has announced that in Bavaria "somewhat delayed" to the regulation of the federal are allowed to open. The Bavarian cabinet will discuss exactly what this means and how long Bavarian bike shops will have to wait on Thursday.
Update 16.4.2020 / 13:00 h
As expected, Bavaria is easing its measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic with a time lag compared to other federal states. At a press conference at lunchtime, Markus Söder announced that shops up to 800 square metres in size would be allowed to reopen from 27 April. However, businesses such as bike shops and car dealerships are exempt from the size restriction. This means that Bavarian bike shops to reopen from 27 April, but only under prescribed protective measures and mask requirement.
