The Bavarian Administrative Court has decided: clothing stores are exempt from the 2G rule. Find out if you can now shop at you favorite store.

No more 2G rule in Bavaria: The important ruling on the current Corona measures in Bavaria means that clothing stores, bookstores or flower shops, serve to “cover daily needs” and are therefore not subject to the 2G rule. The Bavarian Administrative Court decided on Wednesday (December 29, 2021). The decision is final.

Bavarian industry very pleased with the decision

The Bavarian city marketing professional association welcomes the “sensational” judgment by the Bavarian Administrative Court.

“The Bavarian Administrative Court has finally and irrevocably determined that even if you don’t have to buy new clothes every day, it is still important that every citizen always has the opportunity”

That’s why 3G instead of 2G will apply again in textile retailing with immediate effect. From Thursday (December 30, 2021), those who have been tested will again have the opportunity to go shopping in clothing stores.

Important development: clothing stores in Bavaria are now exempt from the 2G rule

At the beginning of December, the state government decreed that only those who had been vaccinated and those who had recovered had access to the Bavarian retail trade. Shops “to cover daily needs” are excluded. Clothing stores are not listed as an exception in the regulation.

▶ According to the judgment of the judges, however, they too are exempt from the 2G rule, “because their importance for the general public does not take second place to that of shoes, books, cut flowers or garden tools and the need for clothing can arise on a daily basis”.

The Administrative Court therefore rejected the urgent application by a clothing company against the 2G rule as inadmissible: clothing stores were not subject to the restriction anyway. 

Before Christmas, the judges had made it clear that toy shops were also exempt from this. How important and urgent a daily requirement has to be so that the business is not subject to the 2G regulation cannot be inferred from either the text of the regulation or the justification. In addition to grocery stores and pharmacies, the regulation names, among other things, book and flower shops, garden markets and Christmas tree sales.

No more 2G rule in Bavaria! Too late to save the 2021 Christmas sales

The Bavarian Trade Association reacted with satisfaction, but would have wished for clarity earlier. In the important Christmas business, sales in Bavarian clothing stores fell by 30 to 40 percent compared to 2019, because unvaccinated people were not allowed in and others were deterred by the long queues in front of the 2G controls.

It remains to be seen whether other retail sectors will also sue the 2G regulation and possibly get it right. The reasoning for the judgment allows so much room for interpretation and is so broad that other industries, such as the electronics industry, might also come up with the idea of ​​taking legal action. In all fairness, other industries could also be counted among the businesses for everyday needs.