Why more and more hairdressers, bakers or cafés are giving up

Dusseldorf Even with price increases, Kumanan Pulenthirarajah couldn’t save his bistro. “We made it through the difficult Corona period, but the current cost crisis makes a profitable business impossible,” says the owner of Crêpe & Baguette in Mülheim an der Ruhr. On December 1st it was over.

The bistro has survived for 30 years, two years ago it was taken over by Pulenthirarajah. Since the war in Ukraine, however, the purchase of goods has become so expensive that it was impossible to continue operating. The baguette supplier, for example, charged up to 1.80 euros instead of one euro per loaf. Added to this were the high energy costs. And he couldn’t raise the prices any further: “I can’t expect the guests to do more.”