Ms. Strzelczyk, how is your shop looking right now?

Annina Metz

Editor for social media.

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Urszula Strelczyk: Catastrophic.

There is no more water in the shop and we have also drained the cellar, but everything has been destroyed.

There is mud everywhere, the cupboards are swollen, the furniture is destroyed, the accessories are unusable and many clothes can no longer be saved.

Everything stinks.

We are currently with friends and acquaintances, clearing everything out and putting it on the road.

The city of Hagen disposes of our garbage free of charge, which is a great help.

The water attacked your clothes too.

How many clothes were you able to save?

Around half of the stock, that is around 250 dresses.

We hope to be able to recycle it now with dry cleaning.

Nevertheless, they are then only suitable as second-hand pieces or examples.

You could sell them cheaper, but the question is whether anyone would still want to wear them.

They are no longer originals.

Our dresses usually cost between 500 and 3000 euros.

We haven't had time to figure out the actual loss in value, but it's a disaster for us.

The shop is our life's work, we've been running it for over 18 years.

Did a bride who is getting married in the near future have to cancel her wedding because her dress was destroyed?

No, thank goodness not.

One of our employees saved the sold clothes at the last minute, transported them away during the night and stored them safely.

We were on vacation in Poland at the time of the flood, but immediately got into the car and were in Hagen the next morning.

Where are the rescued clothes up-to-date?

They are divided up and hang with all of our acquaintances and friends.

Of course, nobody has that much storage space for all their clothes.

The rest is already in the trash.

When did the water get into the store?

In the night from Wednesday to Thursday.

During the day the water ran into the cellar and was about 15 to 20 centimeters high.

The cellar then filled up to the ceiling overnight.

We suspect that the water also came up through the cellar into the store.

But the big wave came through windows and doors and flooded 140 square meters of retail space.

Are you insured against such disasters?

No, you would need an elementary insurance for that.

We are insured against everything, fire, theft, burst water pipes.

But we did not expect such a natural disaster.

How can you be helped?

We have started an appeal for donations and have already received 4000 euros.

We are overwhelmed by how helpful the people are.

For example, a good friend provided us with a warehouse where we can bring the clothes we have rescued.

And currently we're always with eight to ten people in the store to help us tidy up.

After a year and a half of the pandemic, 4,000 euros should probably not be enough for reconstruction.

Yes, that's just the catastrophe.

We sold next to nothing for two years, maybe 20 to 30 dresses during the salable period in the pandemic.

In June we were able to gain a foothold again and just under a month later the floods destroyed everything.

The season would have started in autumn, two weeks ago we went to wedding fairs to buy new things.

We have all stopped the orders, these clothes will not be delivered until we have got the situation under control.

What's next?

First of all, we rely on the rescued clothes that we can still show the customers.

But that's only a small part, otherwise we have to start over with everything.