Dream job with hurdles

How rocky the road to owning your own tobacconist’s is

Petra Röszler took over a tobacconist in Lower Austria at the beginning of June.(Bild: Peter Wiesmeyer, Krone kreativ)

Stacks of Gauloises, lottery tickets to fill out and magazines as far as the eye can see. And the lucky tickets are also just waiting to be gently removed from the scratch-off layer. Spending time in a tobacconist's is characterized by pleasures and hopes, but sometimes also by disappointment. Incidentally, both customers and tobacconists feel the same way. Krone+ has taken a closer look at the "dream job" of a tobacconist and shows the rocky road to opening your own shop.

Petra's heart is no longer the fittest and her spine can no longer cope with everyday life without pain. A job in retail or even in the office is unthinkable for health reasons. Her solution? Her own tobacconist! Because that's exactly what Petra is perfect for. A 50 percent disability is a prerequisite for being allowed to take over one of the approximately 4600 tobacconists in Austria. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule: it is only possible to pass on the business to a child without a disability once.