Concerns about the city center

Business migrates to the east of the city of Spittal

The town hall is concerned about the development of Spittal's town center. More and more stores are closing. Some owners are demanding unaffordable rents.(Bild: Elisa Aschbacher)

Vacancy register, pop-up store campaigns, talks with owners - vacancies still paint a bleak picture.  

Unfortunately, the trend of vacancies is virtually unstoppable here - as in all other district towns," regrets Mayor Gerhard Köfer. The city is doing everything it can to fill the eleven vacant stores in the city center: "There is a vacancy register and pop-up store campaigns. The owners are dealing with them proactively."

"The owners don't care"
Many shop windows are run-down and give little cause for hope. Windows are dirty, the furnishings are dilapidated. Köfer: "The owners don't care." Everything has changed since the pandemic anyway. Prices have also risen dramatically. Köfer is concerned about this development: "Who can afford such horrendous rental costs these days?"

The city boss sees economic development moving further and further to the east of the city, where an enormous economic upswing is taking place over a length of 1.5 kilometers. Talks between the city marketing department and the owners are doomed to failure: "Even the campaign to put beautiful pictures in shop windows is hardly accepted."