Oberweis shops in Luxembourg were due to reopen on Friday, with the exception of the Cloche d’Or location. Outlets were forced to close their doors following the floods on 15 July, which struck at the heart of the Oberweis network: its production workshop in the Cloche d'Or district.

The entire basement--covering an area of 2,000m2--was flooded to the ceiling, says the SME, which employs 330 people in Luxembourg. It suffered heavy material damage to its fridges, freezers, ovens, slicers, compressors, crockery and event equipment. The damage left the company unable to produce.

“For the first time in our history, we were forced to stop production and close all our shops,” says Tom Oberweis. After being hit by the consequences of the pandemic, his company now has to deal with a natural disaster.

However, the pastry chef also sees some grounds for optimism: on the one hand, in the commitment of his employees, who have been working hard to get the production site back into operation; and on the other hand, in the mutual support system set up with suppliers.

“On the evening of the disaster, La Provençale provided us with refrigerators to store our goods and raw materials,” explains Oberweis, who is also president of the Chamber of Trade. Moreover, construction companies came to help him with cranes and pumps in order to restore the basement of his headquarters.

A little more patience for the Cloche d’Or and Trier

In total, the loss is estimated at €2.5m for Oberweis, which was forced to close all of its seven Luxembourg outlets in addition to the one in Trier. The latter is due to reopen on 2 August, adds the company, which plans to reopen most of its Luxembourg shops on Friday. The Cloche d’Or location is scheduled to reopen on Monday, 26 July.