Stores in Austria Share Different Services…not Only Internet

A customer withdraws money from an ATM at a Societe Generale bank branch in Marseille, France, September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
A customer withdraws money from an ATM at a Societe Generale bank branch in Marseille, France, September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
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Stores in Austria Share Different Services…not Only Internet

A customer withdraws money from an ATM at a Societe Generale bank branch in Marseille, France, September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier
A customer withdraws money from an ATM at a Societe Generale bank branch in Marseille, France, September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Have you ever thought you would shave your beard or cut your hair in a bank? Or buy a medicine from a post office? These options have become possible in many Austrian cities.

In light of competition driven by e-commerce and customer services, many traditional stores have been urged to reduce their expenditures by sharing their headquarters with other businesses that provide totally different services.

In this context, the State of Burgenland witnessed such measures based on extensive studies which asserted that with automation and online services, companies do not need huge branches anymore, and that they may benefit from their large establishments located in the heart of cities if they share it with other businesses, which will bring them and their clients more benefits.

To implement this vision, a bank with a huge mall-like headquarters has rented out a part of its base to a beauty salon, barber shop, travel agency, along with a medical clinic, and an office for passport applications.

Another branch has limited its activity to ATMs, which provide many services like money withdrawal, transfer, and bill payment. It has dismissed its employees and rented out their large offices to provide other important services for citizens.

For its part, the Austrian post authority has closed many branches after launching its services on social media websites and smartphones, and kept only a few of its offices in pharmacies or banks.

It is known that post offices become highly active during this period of the year with the delivery of Christmas parcels.

These changes and co-services are not limited to large institutions. Last week, two artists organized an exhibition in a Kebab shop, taking advantage of its unique location facing the neighborhood's museum in one of the most important shopping streets in Vienna, especially as kebab shops have become a popular choice for fast food lovers.

Modern cafes are not only providing drinks and food, but are selling their furniture. Other shops sell books, and allow customers to browse and listen to CDs on their cellphones, so they can buy them.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”