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Unique in Germany
“In the past, the wholesale market was built by the city of Dortmund as an urban wholesale in the wake of the so-called “services for the public”, Wilmer explains. Service for the public meant that the government took responsibility of the basic services for its citizens. “In 1976, the Dortmund wholesale market was one of the first wholesale markets to be privatized in Germany”, shared Wilmer, “Its ownership moved from the city government to private wholesale companies, that were established during that time. Those companies founded a cooperative called the ‘Großmarkt Dortmund eG’. The cooperative acquired the complete wholesale market from the city of Dortmund and has run it ever since. That is something unique in Germany, as it exists nowhere else in the country.”
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Market entry of discounters leaves its traces
The wholesale market and its customer structure has changed over the years. Ingo Wilmer said; "We observe that the frequency of the customers coming on a regular basis to the wholesale market is decreasing. Many customers receive deliveries from the market companies. Many merchants now offer this service. The result is that direct purchases are decreasing in the market area. Thereby our customer structure changes. The change has not been huge in the last couple of years, but it has changed a bit." Wilmer sees one reason for the change, amongst others, is that discounters are increasingly influencing market prices in Germany: “The increasing market influence of the discounter on the fresh supply is something that didn't occur ten or fifteen years ago."
Gastronomy is important
An important and increasingly growing market for the wholesale markets is the gastronomy. "In the past, this was not as strong as today," the manager says, "Sales to gastronomy companies is mostly handled by delivery. It is very difficult to buy during our opening times for these customers. Therefore, gastronomy establishments are rarely seen at the wholesale market. "The total importance of wholesale markets has generally decreased," Wilmer resumes: "Business has unfortunately declined in the past 10 years. Nevertheless, we have achieved a level at which the business has stabilized in the last two or three years. However, the market is still strongly under pressure."
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Good occupancy at Dortmund wholesale
The Dortmund wholesale market is currently at full capacity. Twenty-eight companies are located in an area around 32.000m2. "The capacity is good and we are rented to full capacity. If we have free space, it does not take long to find someone who wants to rent the vacant booth. Our ambition is to rent our booths to companies who want to remain here for the long term", the manager reports. "The business is not as easy as it was. If someone today decides to enter the wholesale market, he will not be automatically successful. Unfortunately the business doesn’t work like that any more. Without the experience and the proper contacts, failure is almost guaranteed."
The offer attracts customers
"The catchment area of our wholesale market extends over the Ruhrgebiet, the Münsterland, the Sauerland, the Siegerland and the Westphalia range up behind Bielefeld", Wilmer says. The catchment area is bordered by other major wholesale such as Bremen, Hanover, Essen, Duisburg and Cologne. "Beside us are also the wholesale markets of Essen and Duisburg, located in the Ruhrgebiet", says the director of the wholesale. "Usually, someone who lives in that area also prefers to buy there rather than here in Dortmund, but we still have quite a lot of customers from this region."
Also, open on Saturday
The Dortmund Wholesale Market is officially opened from Monday through Saturday, from 3 am to 11 am. The managing director explains; "The wholesale market is also open on Saturday. This has gained acceptance over the past years and is pretty popular among our customers. In most cases, all our wholesalers are here, but it can also happen that some wholesalers are closed on that day. We do not required our companies to be open."
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For more information:
Ingo Wilmer
Geschäftsführer
Großmarkt Dortmund eG
Heiliger Weg 60, 44135 Dortmund
Tel: +49 (0)231 522 143
info@grossmarkt-dortmund.de
www.grossmarkt-dortmund.de