Simonetta Favretto is nerve-wracked. Her ice cream parlor “Venezia” at Ernst-Ludwig-Strasse 7 has been completely closed since the beginning of the week, and she has to stop the delivery service she offered after the street sale closed. “It is a disaster for us,” says the Italian, whose family opened the “Venezia” in 1934 as the first ice cream parlor in Darmstadt.
The fact that ice cream parlors must also completely stop selling is stipulated in the “Fourth Ordinance to Combat the Corona Virus”, which came into force on March 17. On March 18, Favretto then closed its ice cream parlor in the pedestrian zone and at least maintained the delivery service with its team. “Now that still turns out,” says Favretto. The problem is that the goods are ordered for the season, the rent has to be paid and, above all, the staff who should work in the “Venezia” until September. As much as she grants the other stores their sales, she wonders why kebab stalls, bakeries and other stores are allowed to continue selling their goods over the counter, and not them. “It’s the same situation,” she says.
“No understanding for strict interpretation
Carlo Lovatello also sees it that way, who is equally astonished with his Darmstadt ice cream boutique empire (eleven shops, 50 employees). “I have no understanding for this strict interpretation, my people need the work, they are in dire need,” he reports.
And while ice cream can still be delivered diligently in the neighboring country of Rhineland-Palatinate, the explanation of why this is no longer possible in Hesse comes from the Ministry of Economics of Tarek Al Wazir (Greens): “The difference to catering businesses that have a pick-up and delivery service is allowed to offer, that these serve the basic supply of the population with whole food, “spokeswoman Franziska Richter.
