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"We are still there for you": Furniture retailer XXXLutz uses this sentence to attract customers on its homepage and refers to several possibilities for consumers to still get the goods and services they want despite lockdown.

Online orders are possible, for example, and the goods issue is open.

And in fact, customers in most federal states can personally pick up the goods they have ordered.

Only Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony prohibit this service in their corona protection regulations.

At least in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, however, there is a fast delivery service as a replacement offer, the company assures.

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Thirdly, the baby stores in the XXXLutz branches are open regularly, the houses concerned can be found on the website.

And finally, there are still consultation appointments for buying a kitchen.

Above all, this point is causing a heated argument in the furniture world.

There are two groups: One interprets the requirements of the federal states very strictly and says that, in principle, no customers should come into the business premises.

The recommendations of both the Living Trade Association and the Working Group Die Moderne Küche (AMK) also go in this direction.

"Any form of personal contact must be restricted," says AMK managing director Volker Irle.

Instead, telephone or video conferencing should be used.

Book an appointment in lockdown without any problems

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The other side, however, still considers services on site to be possible - and covered by the corona protection regulations of the federal states.

This also includes XXXLutz.

"Apart from the usual retail business, which is defined by offering goods for sale to the end consumer, according to the current legal situation from now on it is also expressly permitted to provide planning or advisory services," wrote a spokesman for WELT.

And the company also acts according to this principle.

This is shown in a current case in Munich.

A customer there had turned to a smaller kitchen studio to arrange a consultation on site.

When the owner refused, referring to the lockdown and the resulting closed studio, he was met with incomprehension - and the information that at XXXLutz he was invited to a personal consultation in the branch.

And the self-test from WELT also shows: You can easily select an appointment for kitchen advice for the lockdown time on the homepage, but you have to provide your personal data.

The customer service that is subsequently called then confirms the appointment again in a branch in North Rhine-Westphalia and insures:

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"Consultations continue to take place, after all, that is a service." However, only two people are allowed and a face mask must be worn.

“The advisor will pick you up at the entrance.” And when you are already in the house, you can certainly go through the exhibition briefly to take a look at individual kitchens.

Checking "whether there are violations that have been fined"

Quite a few kitchen dealers are outraged, although none of them want to reveal their names publicly.

According to the managing director of a retail chain with many small studios, for example, this is not okay under competition law and, above all, from the point of view of infection protection.

Other competitors have even sent cease and desist letters to XXXLutz through their lawyers.

Now it depends on the assessment of the authorities on the subject of on-site advice.

But that is inconsistent.

North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, is almost outraged.

"Furniture stores are to be closed," says a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs.

“The consulting service in the area of ​​kitchen planning is an essential part of the kitchen sales process.

Retail outlets that are not explicitly named are to be closed, however.

This applies to the furniture store as a whole. ”Only advice on the phone is permitted.

Accordingly, the speaker announces a clarifying discussion, combined with a check to see whether there are any violations that have been fined.

Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, is much more flexible.

"The Corona Ordinance, which has been in force in Baden-Württemberg since December 16, 2020, prohibits certain retail businesses from opening to the public for infectious reasons.

This is intended to reduce contacts among the population.

However, manual work or the use of services are not prohibited, ”says a spokesman for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration.

“This also includes using the services of architects and interior designers.

Therefore, in the case described, the opening for private customers would be permissible, provided that no furniture is sold, no access to the sales area and only the implementation of the planning service. "

XXXLutz also refers to this regulation for North Rhine-Westphalia, specifically to paragraph twelve, paragraph one, sentence one of the Corona Protection Ordinance.

It reads: “Facilities in the trade and the service industry (for example dry cleaners, laundrettes, car workshops, bicycle workshops, car rental) will remain open.” The coming days will show whether it will help.