{"id":25784,"date":"2025-07-16T16:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/?p=25784"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:51:42","slug":"from-looking-through-the-lens-to-looking-at-the-shelf-how-konstantin-tonnies-is-rediscovering-retail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/press-and-media\/newsroom\/stories\/from-looking-through-the-lens-to-looking-at-the-shelf-how-konstantin-tonnies-is-rediscovering-retail\/","title":{"rendered":"From looking through the lens to looking at the shelf: how Konstantin T\u00f6nnies is rediscovering retail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It’s late morning at the REWE supermarket in Hanover. The vegetable section is gleaming. Konstantin T\u00f6nnies positions a magnificent cauliflower between the romaine lettuce and fennel, checks its freshness, breaks off a leaf and smiles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\n \"theodoros-lazaridis\"\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n
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Story<\/p>\n

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20 August 2025<\/p>\n

With heart and hammer: Theodoros builds on toom<\/h2> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/button>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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He stages the goods with a practiced grip. Almost like a photo shoot – and indeed: a few years ago, T\u00f6nnies was still behind the camera, working as a freelance photographer for ministries, medium-sized companies and magazines. Today, however, he is in the middle of the market, a trainee with by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus. As soon as the cauliflower is arranged, a customer approaches him. Where can I find the good olive oil?<\/q> – Next to the flour, just over there on the left. Come on, I’ll show you.<\/q> Friendly, present, quick on the uptake.<\/p>\n

T\u00f6nnies loves these moments. Direct contact with people – that’s what I also appreciate about photography. It’s just that here I experience much more directly how I can make a difference.<\/q> He hasn’t given up the camera completely. But now he is focusing on other things: Customer needs, employee motivation, product range design, sustainable processes. Potrykus calls him a “career changer with a plan”. Someone who questions many things – and provides answers that are often surprisingly simple and pragmatic.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n \"Portrait\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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About:<\/h2>

\n Konstantin T\u00f6nnies <\/p>\n\n

Trainee by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The world through the camera – and then: back to the roots<\/h2>\n

It was not foreseeable for a long time that his path would eventually lead him into commerce. Yet T\u00f6nnies comes from a family of retailers. His parents have been running a REWE store in Odenthal in the Bergisches Land region for over 25 years. As a child, Konstantin dreamed of running the store together with his father later on. It was written on a piece of paper that I filled out in third grade. My mother still has it today.<\/q><\/p>\n

But initially, he deliberately chose a different path. After graduating from high school, he completed his community service, tried his hand at studying business administration in the Netherlands – and ended up backpacking through Australia and New Zealand for a year. There he worked in melon fields, drove trucks through the outback, lived in hostels and collected stories. Stories that led him to the camera. He began studying “Photojournalism and Documentary Photography” in Hanover, financed himself as a freelancer for NDR, photographed weddings and for organizations such as the SPD and gave photography workshops for the state association for cultural youth education.<\/p>\n

His passion was for long-term projects: In Jokkmokk, north of the Arctic Circle, he accompanied a Sami reindeer herding family for years. That’s where I learned what it means to build trust, to keep at it, to look closely. Skills that still help me in the market today.<\/q><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I felt that I was taken seriously, even with my not-so-straightforward CV.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n

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Konstantin T\u00f6nnies, Trainee by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Portrait\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

Konstantin T\u00f6nnies, Trainee by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From the camera to the cash register – and to the office<\/h2>\n

The switch back to the retail sector was not sudden – but consistent. In photography, you often have to make advance payments and hope that a magazine will print your project. The uncertainty became too much for me over time. At the same time, I realized how much I missed working with people – not just as an observer, but as part of a team.<\/q> An internship at an agricultural publishing company provided the impetus: T\u00f6nnies was fascinated by how far agricultural production has moved away from the supermarket experience – and how great the potential is to create proximity again.<\/p>\n

Instead of joining his parents’ business, he made a conscious decision to make a fresh start – in Hanover, where he has lived for over a decade. His children Paul (6) and Suri (2) are at home here. His son lives with his ex-partner, alternating between his mother and father. Parental leave was a matter of course for me. But it’s still rather unusual in retail – especially for men.<\/q> REWE encouraged him in this, however. I felt like I was taken seriously, even with my CV, which wasn’t straightforward.<\/q><\/p>\n

He applied for the trainee position to become an REWE independent retailer, which is only advertised once a year in the North region – and was successful. T\u00f6nnies is now right in the thick of things at the store. He helps with the merchandise, organizes secondary placements, talks to suppliers, but also takes part in management meetings. In one of these meetings, he sits in the boss’s small office. On the monitor: last week’s sales figures. T\u00f6nnies concentrates on analyzing the development of individual product groups. Frozen products have picked up, but fresh produce needs to do better again.<\/q> He contributes his ideas calmly but firmly. His store manager praises his perspective: He comes from outside, asks good questions, thinks creatively and in a structured way. He brings in lots of ideas, which is how we continue to develop. Standing still is a step backwards.<\/q><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Between responsibility and vision<\/h2>\n

Konstantin T\u00f6nnies is not someone who simply takes things over. Neither familiar expectations nor standardized processes. He wants to understand, improve and create. He has already done this in his photography work – and today in the fruit and vegetable department or in product range planning. He and his store manager Florian Potrykus are united by their desire to develop retail further – without losing sight of people. It is important that the employees feel seen, that we are a team. And that our customers feel that too. <\/q><\/p>\n

T\u00f6nnies often thinks beyond the individual location. Sustainability, inclusive teams, new ideas for product range design – all of this is on his mind. In one store, he used old pallets to build a special wine area in living room style, with a carpet, floor lamp and poster design. I’ve learned that you can’t buy atmosphere – you have to create it.<\/q><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It is important that our employees feel seen, that we are a team. And that our customers feel that too.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n

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Konstantin T\u00f6nnies, Trainee by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"Portrait\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

Konstantin T\u00f6nnies, Trainee by REWE independent retailer Florian Potrykus<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The roots: a market with heart – and family<\/h2>\n

It is obvious that he did not learn this attitude in a textbook, but at home. Anyone who visits his parents’ store in Odenthal immediately senses what it means when customer proximity is more than just a concept. People still greet each other here. People know each other here. Here, help is given before anyone asks. Dietmar T\u00f6nnies (64), Konstantin’s father, describes the store as a “food meeting place”, while his wife Franzis (65) radiates a warmth that makes many customers want to come back. Grandma (90) also drops by regularly to help or simply say hello. Humanity is not a strategy here, but an attitude – and an everyday reality.<\/p>\n

The store was awarded the Supermarket Stars Award as the best team in Germany in 2024 – a recognition of diversity, social responsibility and cooperation that goes far beyond the usual. 65 employees from eleven nations, including people with disabilities, are a close-knit community.<\/p>\n

Konstantin T\u00f6nnies learned a lot there. An eye for detail. The demand for quality. But above all, a sense for the essentials: If you like people, you are automatically helpful and friendly. You can learn the technical side. You have to have the right attitude,<\/q> says his father. Dietmar T\u00f6nnies has no problem with his son not taking over the market – on the contrary. Konstantin should go his own way. The fact that he is doing so – with heart and attitude – makes us proud.<\/q> The family name remains part of the business. But the story is being rewritten (in Hanover).<\/p>\n

First I went out into the world and got to know them. Now I’m inviting them into my home – with the products, with the employees and very different customers. And I’m really looking forward to that.<\/q><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Join the discussion on <\/h2>\n
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    Our LinkedIn feed has all the latest information from the REWE Group and the sector, with the most important developments from the worlds of retail, e-commerce, food, CSR and policy.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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