Germany: Opening of florist shops in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen permitted

Since 23 March 2020, florist shops in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen (DE) had been allowed to (re)open under certain conditions until 19 - 20 April 2020 respectively. Furthermore, the operation of hardware stores and garden centers will continue to be permitted. Districts and independent towns may lay down other regulations if necessary. Unfortunately, Veiling Rhein-Maas does not have a complete list of handling in all districts and independent towns. Please contact the website or contact person of your district or independent town for further information.

Acting together
"We are glad that florist shops in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hessen will be allowed to reopen under certain conditions and would be pleased if other Federal States follow this example. In this difficult situation for all of us, Veiling Rhein-Maas is doing everything possible to organise the sales in Straelen-Herongen in a safe way. This is why we have taken various protective measures. After extensive purchases of food and drugstore items, people hopefully have a stronger need to decorate their homes with joy bringing flowers and plants again! It's great that there are already various initiatives in our industry that are boosting the sale of flowers and plants. Together with our employees, suppliers and customers we will master this challenging situation", state Günther Esser and Cees Hoekstra, Managing Directors of Veiling Rhein-Maas.

Conditions for opening
Please note that a (re)opening is only possible under strict safety precautions to protect against infection:

Ensure a minimum distance of 1.50 meters, e.g. by marking the floor
Protective devices for cashier/counter staff, e.g. partition walls
Hygiene precautions, e.g. provision of disinfectants
Access controls
Avoidance of queues