Five years of Flowpo - Every shop must try to become authentic

Danny Szillat

Many people didn't realise that Chemnitz has around 500 pubs to offer. One of the most famous is celebrating its fifth anniversary next Friday. The Flowpo in Terminal 3 right on Brückenstraße opposite the Karl-Marx-Kopf. Owner Danny Szillat is a passionate restaurateur. He not only owns Flowpo, but also Absinterhia and, since last week, Hopfenspeicher. Both are right in the city centre - Innere Klosterstraße. That's where we meet the #MakeroftheWeek.

You're celebrating your fifth anniversary with Flowpo on 1 April. Would you have believed it when you took over the shop?
Danny Szillat: (without thinking) Yes!

Because you're an optimist?
Yes. (laughs) Before we came to Chemnitz, we did a bit of market research. We looked at everything, which clubs are there, who goes partying where and what opportunities there are. It has to be said that Chemnitz was a bit clueless in that respect. There were relatively few clubs, which surprised me somewhat despite the size of the city. For the target group that goes to a Flowerpower/FlowPo, there was nothing else in that sense. And we thought it would work and went for it. It involved a lot of maths and looking left and right.

What are you planning for your birthday?
Our ACDC cover band Sapid Steel will be playing. There will also be 100 litres of free beer and a few other spirits-related specials.

Will you be celebrating the whole weekend?
We will be celebrating on Friday. Saturday will continue as usual on the 1st Saturday of the month with Rockabilly Rumble and this time Mr Ray Allen.

What is special about Flowpo?
The special thing about Flowpo is the great guests, we have a fabulous mix of people from quite a few generations. People always like to tell me that the place is authentic. I think that sums it up quite well. It's a disco and a pub in one, and there's no entrance fee. We basically just sell drinks and organise a party around it.
The music we play here, mainly 60s, 70s, sometimes 80s and 90s, gives it a basic flair. There's little aggression, people don't have to make a name for themselves here. As a result, we have an audience from 18 to 65 years old and everyone can get on well with each other.

Danny Szillat took over Flowerpower in 2011, back then as a franchisee - there are seven Flowerpowers. After 4.5 years, the predecessor in Chemnitz closed in summer 2010. We can only speculate about the reasons. "The problems of the former Flowerpowers were: not thinking ahead and driving the concept forward. We realised relatively quickly at the beginning that we couldn't cope with the pure Flowerpower concept. We had the largest Flowerpower shop in the Franchise chain, we are in the centre of Chemnitz, we had to develop," says Danny Szillat. No sooner said than done. With party concepts that were knitted around the Flowerpower concept, with live music, 70s and 80s parties and much more. "At some point, my patience with the franchisor broke. Because nothing happened. We just paid and there was nothing in return," says the owner of Flowpo, explaining the name change and the new look in July 2015. "Last year, we had another complete remodelling: With new furniture, the stage and DJ booths were changed."

You are known as the Chemnitz party king in the local media. You don't like this title, as you can see from your reaction?
That's also just rubbish. We have Flowpo and a small party venue called Absintheria. But that doesn't make me a party king. I would describe Olaf Walter from Club FX (Fuchsbau) as such. He has been running a discotheque business in Chemnitz for 35 years. He is the real party king.

What do you think of the party scene in Chemnitz?
It's really buzzing at the moment: I think it's good that the Brauclub is currently being remodelled and refreshed to bring in new momentum. It's nice to have the Atomino back in the city centre, just around the corner from the Weltecho, and the new Pentagon3 is also finding a target group. Everything has become very centralised in the city centre. At the moment we are quite well positioned. There's something for everyone to experience in the city centre at night.

"Absintheria" (since December 2013), the music pub "Flowpo" and now, since 21 March, the "Hopfenspeicher". There's a lot of work waiting for you. Where is your favourite place to be?
In my beer shop at the moment. As a beer fan, I think my beer shop is very neat. I'm really enjoying introducing people to the drink at the moment.

How did you come up with the idea of "Hopfenspeicher"?
It goes back to the whole craft beer movement that has arrived in Germany in the last five years or so. There are already these stores in my home town of Leipzig or in a city like Dresden. They've been running for years and they're all about great beers. I used to drive all the way to Dresden to buy beer. So I thought to myself, a store like this must also be possible in Chemnitz. The opening on 21 March showed us that it is possible. It was sensational.

With Stairways (a former discotheque in Terminal 3), which opened on 2 March 2012 and closed just under six weeks later, you "fell flat on your face", to put it bluntly. Do you have to go through that once to be successful?
No. I wouldn't wish something like that on anyone. You don't really need it. The main problem was my own fault. I was naive, had just opened Flowerpower for three quarters of a year and was floating on a cloud of success. On this cloud, I accepted the landlord's offer to lease the biggest and greatest property in the whole city. I made a milkmaid's calculation, said and done - let's do it. I just didn't have the experience. Of course, that went so badly wrong and I more than overstretched myself financially. It cost a lot of money, but I didn't want to go down the insolvency route for myself and Flowerpower. So I paid the bill bit by bit and now we have the fiasco behind us.

Why is it so difficult to run a club in Chemnitz?
Over the past twenty years, clubbing in general has logically changed. Putting people in random halls, playing music there, setting up a bar with bottled beers - that phenomenon is over. Every venue, every club has to try to be authentic. Like the Brauclub is doing right now. They're reinventing themselves again. It's no longer just the normal, simple club business, but is being expanded with special events and live stories. Each club is given its own unique character.
You have to get people to come to you from everywhere because of your shop. Or as my Gerd Sommer (artist from Dresden, responsible for the design of all Flowerpowers) once said: "People have to feel more comfortable in your shop than at home on the sofa!"

In 2011, the 35-year-old moved to Chemnitz because of the shop, as Danny Szillat calls his Flowpo. "I fell in love with the Flowerpowers concept in Leipzig." After ten years of marketing experience in a private school company, the first "midlife crisis" came at the age of 30 and with it the desire to make a career change. Having always focussed on gastronomy, he began to plan and develop several concepts in Leipzig. "Especially in Leipzig's city centre, you probably have to put down a suitcase full of money if you want to view a property first," says Danny Szillat. "A lot is still possible there, but if you want to go straight into the city centre or towards Connewitz, the market is saturated. As a lateral entrant, the risk was too high for me." The market in Chemnitz was different. "Then came the first negotiations, property viewings, a lot of enthusiasm and, with a little help from breweries and catering experts, we decided to go for it." Success was not long in coming. Over 5,000 people came to the new Flowerpower on the opening weekend. The owner never expected that.

Do you feel at home in Chemnitz after five years?
(Reflects) After several relocations, we have now found a nice home in the Stadtpark. We've been able to build up a very cool circle of friends here, so you can say that we feel at home: We feel at home.

When you have visitors from out of town, what do you show them in Chemnitz?
I recently went on a little tour of the city centre with a DJane from Berlin. I walked through the city centre with her from Flowpo to Absintheria. The most important thing, of course, is the Karl Marx Monument, where you generally take the "I was here" photo. Apart from that, many of my visitors find the Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology very interesting. They are always fascinated by this amazing museum.
What I personally find annoying about our city centre is that some of it is so incredibly modern. The new buildings ruin the old city centre. Chemnitz had the misfortune of not having much left of the old city centre after the Second World War. But when people visit me, they think the mix of old and new is pretty crazy. I no longer see that. But maybe my perception is also clouded. I'm no longer on the outside, I'm right in the centre of things in this city.

Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
I think, to come back to the topic of Kraftklub in this context, they have made Chemnitz known beyond its borders in a positive way. The band has created a really positive hype for the city. And so I have the impression that the people of Chemnitz are also starting to think about the fact that the city isn't so bad after all. Judging by my guests at Flowpo, hardly anyone there talks badly about their city. They think Chemnitz is great the way it is. I also have friends who have moved to Chemnitz from Leipzig or Munich and they think the city is a great place to live.
I don't think Chemnitz residents need any convincing that their city is great.