North Rhine-Westphalia: Rhenish costume dealer wants to gain a foothold in more regions

Whether jogging suit from the 80s, clown costume or cowboy outfit: carnival is big business for the trading company Deiters.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Rhenish costume dealer wants to gain a foothold in more regions

Whether jogging suit from the 80s, clown costume or cowboy outfit: carnival is big business for the trading company Deiters. Now the company from North Rhine-Westphalia is also aiming for other parts of Germany.

Frechen (dpa / lnw) - After a corona-related slump in business, the costume retailer Deiters is back on an expansion course. "We will significantly increase the number of branches this year," said company owner Herbert Geiss of the German Press Agency dpa in Frechen near Cologne. There are currently 29, soon there will be five to ten more. The demand for costumes for carnival celebrations, theme parties or Halloween events is high.

Even far away from the carnival strongholds in the Rhineland, Geiss sees great potential. This is known, for example, from a high number of online orders from these parts of Germany. Geiss estimates that business will increase significantly with local branches. Initially, a new branch is planned in Dresden (Saxony), Braunschweig (Lower Saxony), Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg), Viernheim (Hesse), Münster (NRW) and Munich (Bavaria). A second location is to be added in Berlin. In addition, an expansion of the branch network to other EU countries is possible in the coming years, he says.

In the niche branch of costume retailers, Deiters is by far the largest company. According to the information, Deiters currently has around 400 permanent employees and a good 300 seasonal workers. Competitors include the much smaller company Karnevalswierts from Heerlen near Aachen, as well as purely online retailers. According to Deiters, two-thirds of its sales are made during the carnival season, with the remainder coming from costume parties in other seasons, the Oktoberfest and Halloween.

Deiters has most branches in the Rhineland, i.e. in the strongholds of the carnival, whether in Düsseldorf, Bonn, Cologne or Mainz. Does Deiters even have a chance in regions where carnival plays only a minor role? Geiss refers to existing company locations in Hamburg or Stuttgart, which were doing well. However, other parts of Germany are still quite a blank slate for the costume retailer. "We want to provide a kind of development aid in terms of partying and dressing up." He is convinced that business will be good there. "People also want to throw parties there - and the best way to do that is with costumes."

Because of the corona pandemic, carnival celebrations were canceled for two years, which made Deiters difficult to manage - in the meantime, according to Geiss, company sales have dropped by up to 95 percent. He does not give absolute figures. According to the Federal Gazette, Deiters made a profit of 1.3 million euros in the 2019/20 financial year, which ended at the end of March. In 2020/21 it was a loss of 3.7 million euros.

Since the corona restrictions have now been lifted and carnival is being celebrated like it was last in 2020, demand is very high. "In the current fiscal year, we are back to the pre-crisis level or maybe even slightly above it." Geiss does not expect long-term consequences - such as people moving away from the hustle and bustle of the carnival after experiencing the pandemic.

When it comes to carnival costumes, Deiters is currently selling Ahoj Brause and Schoko-Bons disguises particularly well. According to Geiss, looks from the 80s and 90s are also popular, such as tracksuits in neon colors and hot pants with sweatbands. In addition, the demand for costumes on the subject of love is announced, i.e. clothes with hearts on them.