End of an era: Café Sacher in Graz closes after 22 years!

End of an era: Café Sacher in Graz closes after 22 years!

The Café Sacher in Grazer Herrengasse, a branch of the famous Viennese original, will close after 22 years. This decision, which mainly has economic reasons, also affects 16 employees: inside who are to be offered new professional opportunities. CEO Matthias Winkler explained that despite careful examination, no approaches to the profit zone could be found. Neither sales increase nor a significant reduction in costs were possible. Winkler thanks the guests for their support and emphasizes the importance of the café in Sacher history. The closure will be completed in the coming week, and an exact date has not yet been determined. There is still no defined successor for the restaurant, but several interested parties have already shown interest in the empty premises. The closure of the café caused a sensation in the city, in which there have been some changes recently, such as the move of the Mac Shirty gift shop to the South Tyrolean Platz or the new opening of the Tapas-Bar Cielo on Kaiser-Josef-Platz.

A piece of Graz story comes to an end

The Café Sacher was opened in 2002 to establish the Sacher brand outside of Vienna. It was popular with locals and tourists and was an integral part of the Graz catering landscape. The closure is not only an economic, but also a cultural event that moves many people in Graz. The Café Sacher represented the combination of traditional Austrian coffee house culture and culinary delights.

However, the catering industry faces challenges. The decline in business activities is not only due to local problems. Statistics show that in September 2023 the number of employees in gastronomy in Germany was 6.7 % below the level of 2019. The entire gastronomy turnover was also 12.6 % lower than in the same month of 2019. This clearly shows that the industry must continue to recover from the effects of global events, including the COVID 19 pandemic. During the same period, the drinks bar recorded a drastic decline of 12.0 %.

The future of gastronomy

The closure of the Café Sacher is only an example of the challenges that the catering industry faces. Despite these difficulties, restaurants in Germany generated a total of 50.1 billion euros in 2021, which underlines the economic relevance of this sector. The biggest catering businesses in Germany like L 'Osteria and Hans in Happiness show that there is still potential for growth and success.

Gastronomy also changes in relation to trends and consumer needs. More and more guests prefer restaurants with regional products, while the popularity of Asian kitchens and cloud kitchens is steadily increasing. These developments could offer new opportunities for future gastronomy concepts and redesign the industry in the coming years.