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Bautzen. Klaus Banner still has to answer the customer's letter. "Where is the frog from the fountain in the Kornmarktcenter?" the questioner wants to know. The temporary center manager is happy to take care of the matter. "I can reassure him. The frog is still in the decoration," says the 68-year-old. He has been in charge of the shopping center in the heart of Bautzen since 15 September 2024. His employer - the ECE Group - brings the retiree back from time to time for short projects.
Klaus Banner is sitting in his office on the second floor this morning. The shopping streets are still moderately busy at 9 o'clock in the morning. The photos on the wall on the office floor tell of times when carnival and other festivities were celebrated in the Kornmarkt-Center. Banner calls himself interim manager. He knows that his time in Bautzen will be over on January 30, 2025. But he wants to use these months to hand over a well-organized building to his successor. "The new colleague comes from Dresden and is currently being trained. He will look after Bautzen in the long term," says the retail specialist. Born in the Palatinate, he has been working for the ECE Group for more than 20 years - seven stations in his professional biography.
13,000 customers per day at the Kornmarkt-Center in Bautzen
His home is now Ribnitz-Damgarten. Klaus Banner moved to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for work in 2010. He initially managed the Schlosspark-Center in Schwerin, and from 2020 to the beginning of 2024 he worked as a Center Manager at the Kröpeliner Tor-Center in Rostock. He still remembers the start of the family business with around 200 shopping centers throughout Germany very well. His first stop in 2001 was the newly opened Promenaden at Leipzig Central Station. At that time, 174,000 people strolled through the shopping arcade every day.
There are currently 13,000 customers per day at the Kornmarkt-Center in Bautzen. Klaus Banner got to know the city on the Spree during his time in Leipzig. "One of my first tasks was to organize the Easter campaign for the Sorbs," recalls the center manager. He gets the Sorbian National Ensemble The Sorbian Museum is hosting an exhibition at the Sorbian Museum. "What excites me about the job? I want to have an impact on a city beyond the Center. A center is a magnet for a city. The two belong together," says Klaus Banner.
The temporary ECE manager brings this credo with him. On his first day at work in Bautzen, he did as he always does. First, he stops at a certain location and feels the atmosphere in the center. His impression of Bautzen: down-to-earth, calm with a positive atmosphere - and above all with a first-class team behind the scenes. Among other things, they are already preparing a campaign for customers. With "Batmann - Heroes in Training", superheroes will be guests at the center from 10 to 19 October 2024. Visitors can look forward to seeing through the Batman's eyes with virtual reality goggles and hunting down bad guys together.
Klaus Banner also wants superpowers. His Predecessor Alexander Kuckshaus told him about the difficulties facing the retail trade in Bautzen. Karl-Marx-Straße, Innere Lauenstraße, Reichenstraße, even the Kornmarkt-Center - store vacancies are rampant. "I want to talk to business development and city marketing," says Banner. The center and the city need to pull together. His task is to prepare for the year 2025. That's when the Bautzen shopping center celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Many rental contracts in the Kornmarkt-Center expire in 2025
But even in the House are tasks to do. The tobacco store on the first floor is currently on sale. "We'll be moving on to a new operator straight away," says Klaus Banner. The vacancy rate on all levels is currently six percent. Inflation and insolvencies, such as at Esprit, are causing abandoned stores. In addition, many leases in Bautzen will expire in 2025. However, these are not figures that the interim manager wants to leave as they are. "There will be a major upheaval in the coming year. We are now determining the future sector mix. That's why we currently prefer to leave something empty so that we can then perhaps turn two stores into one large unit," says the center expert.
And what will Klaus Banner do after his time in Bautzen? Then he will go on vacation, and he also wants to look after his grandchildren and the property in Ribnitz-Damgarten again, which does not mean that he will retire completely. He also wants to continue to be available to his company as a replacement. "I've never been one to pull on the sleeves and I love communicating with people. As a businessman, you have the advantage of being able to think about what customers want. I simply need this variety," he says. Then Klaus Banner has to get to his desk. His range of tasks also includes writing the letter about the whereabouts of the fountain frog.
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