It‘s a dog‘s world

For the past 13 years, Carolin Conde at Hundekuss 36 has been supplying furry friends with fresh, custom-made meals in reusable containers instead of generic canned food. However, one day, she receives a notice requesting her to vacate the business on Kreuzberg’s Wrangelstraße. The reason? None is given. Communication? Only through a local member of parliament. Although such a procedure is legal under tenancy law for small businesses, the neighbourhood and dog community are outraged. “Hundekuss 36 must stay!” and “Leash the evictors!” they demand, staging a protest in the form of a community dog walk. Despite the support of customers, neighbours and tenant initiatives, the location cannot be saved.

Conde is lucky, though, and finds a new location just a few hundred metres away. “We’re making the best of it now,” she says. As the new shop is closer to Görlitzer Park, she soon realizes that this may bring more passing trade. Still, it does not feel like a victory: the rent per square metre is higher and the size of the place is only a third of the old one, forcing her to scale back her product range. And the old location? Like so many places that were vacated, it now stands empty.