99 percent have a grocery store in town.

The Vorarlberg food retail group has been checking the connection of Vorarlberg residents to food retail stores since 1970. Since then, the sales areas of mass food retailers and, since 1990, also discounters have also been surveyed annually.

Six less stores

According to the current survey, there are currently 234 stores in Vorarlberg offering a comprehensive range of food and everyday goods on a total area of ​​134,495 square metres.

However, last year there were six more stores. This decrease is due to the withdrawal of the REWE retail chain. The former Billa Plus locations are now being managed by Sutterlüty and the Billa stores have been taken over by ADEG retailers – however, some locations have been closed.

On foot or by bike

When it comes to local supplies, this has no impact on the population, as Daniel Drechsel, chairman of the specialist group, emphasized in a press release from the Chamber of Commerce. The population's access to a grocery store is “excellent.” “The next store is within a kilometer or twelve-minute walk for 79 percent of Vorarlberg residents,” Drechsel emphasized.

However, there are regional differences: The lowest value for accessibility on foot is 66 percent in the Bludenz district, which includes many rural areas, and the highest in the Dornbirn district with 88 percent. The Bregenz district, which also includes many rural areas such as the Bregenzerwald, has 76 percent, and the Feldkirch district 82 percent.

By bike, a distance of up to three kilometres can be reached in twelve minutes, making the nearest store accessible to 98 percent of Vorarlberg residents, according to a statement from the Chamber of Commerce.

156 bakeries and bread outlets

The 234 stores are made up of 202 so-called full-range grocery stores and 32 discount stores. The Chamber of Commerce emphasizes that many bakeries, butchers and gas station stores in particular will contribute to the basic food supply in Vorarlberg.

There are currently 156 sites with 3,456 square metres of bakery and bread outlets. There are butchers and specialty meat shops on 55 sites.

6300 employees in food trade

Around 6,300 people work in the food trade in Vorarlberg and around 260 apprentices are being trained.