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Rural revival

February 13, 2010

Many small German towns used to have a local convenience store where residents met to shop and gossip. Most of these were forced out of business by supermarkets, but the concept is now being revived, with a modern spin.

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A typical sight in a Tante Emma shop - an old storeowner packs a bag of sweets
Tante Emma shops were the mainstay of most small villagesImage: picture-alliance / dpa

Heinz Frey makes a coffee first thing in the morning after opening his store in Barmen, a small rural village in the west of Germany. He knows it'll be a busy day - because his is the only shop in town.

"You can buy all you need for daily life here, food, fresh products, fruits and everything you need," he says as he sips from his cup.

Heinz Frey, co-founder of the DORV Zentrum Tante Emma shop in Barmen-Jülich, stands by the meats counter as an employee looks on
Heinz Frey, right, co-founded the store in Barmen-JülichImage: DW

Until this store opened, Barmen had no other business. But Frey and other locals rallied to bring back to the township the old German institution of the Tante Emma Laden, or Aunty Emma store, the German equivalent of the corner shop.

Frey says the shop in Barmen was opened not only out of nostalgia for the way village life used to be, but also because locals wanted to help their community reengage.

"I think the Tante Emma concept is a great idea," Barmen resident Adriane says. "When I was growing up we had a Tante Emma shop, and it was a meeting point for locals. There were also things for kids, you could eat there, and it helped you save money."

Not only do the locals no longer have to drive long distances to make their purchases, but they actually get an extra value by shopping in town.

"The personal contact that locals can have through this shop is very important," another resident, Paula, says.

Rural revival

A view from the meats counter with a shop worker in the background on the phone
The town shop sells meats, baked goods and fresh fruits and vegetablesImage: DW

For decades, the Tanta Emma shop was a central meeting point for locals, where they could gossip and pick up groceries at the same time. It was a key pillar of village life. But these stores became an endangered species once large supermarkets moved in. In recent decades these mom-and-pop stores have edged ever closer to extinction.

But a movement was born in Barmen to revive the Tante Emma concept in small villages with some new services and features.

"Now you can get a driver's license, drink a coffee, and have a cultural event here," Frey says.

The shop in Barmen is called DORV by its German acronym, which translates roughly to Service and Local All-Round Supply store. It was set up entirely using donations from Barmen's 2,400 locals. With the money, Frey and his partners were able to take over an old bank building, renovate it, and buy enough local produce to get started. Any profits are redirected back into the business.

The shop also offers medical services, tourism information, and a place just to catch up and have a chat. Frey says it is this clustering of services under one roof that makes the modern Tante Emma concept work, Frey says.

Tante Emma's future

Because the Barmen shop has proved to be such a success, Heinz Frey and his colleagues now run a consultancy business educating other communities on how they can open and manage their own village shops.

A view from inside the new Temma shop in Cologne
REWE's new Temma shop is much larger than a traditional Tante Emma storeImage: DW

"We are going around Germany and in 17 villages there are people doing the same," Frey says, adding that he expects the first community stores in other villages to open this year.

Even large supermarket chains are catching on to the revival. A few hours from Barmen in the sprawling city of Cologne, German retail giant REWE has opened a prototype "Temma" store, a play on the name Tante Emma.

At nearly 1,000 square meters, the new store is a far cry from a traditional, tiny Tante Emma, but the the idea is to have a more olden-style organic market that services the local community.

"We have two subjects we took over from Tante Emma," said Christiane Speck, who heads the new concept store. "One is the store being a meeting point, and the other is the personal service and atmosphere between customers and people working here."

For some small villages, the return of the Tante Emma represents a chance for renewal - an opportunity for a community to reengage itself, and learn some lessons from how things were done in years past.

Author: Darren Mara

Editor: Toma Tasovac