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It's still true: if you want to meet the people of the country in the smallest of spaces, you have to go to a Migros restaurant. In a corner: a meeting of old people with a coffee and a cake, next door, a slightly neglected man, scratch the money together; chubby teenagers buy energy drinks; At the bar table, a banker shovels the cheese into three pieces in his mouth. Background noise is provided by families with young children. It does not bother anyone if the little girl is in a bad mood and is crying. Everyone is welcome.
Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler would have liked that. 56 years after his death, the Migros is still an institution. Social, connected to the homeland, inclusive – these are values that "Dutti" put above all else. His business should be more than a big shop.
Is this still true, beyond the idyl restaurant? The Migros Cooperative Alliance (MGB) is changing. It expands: you do not need an orange shopping cart to be a customer at Migros. The Molino pizzeria chain with 18 Affoltern restaurants in Zermatt? Heard Migros. The Digitec / Galaxus online store with ubiquitous advertising campaigns? Part of the Migros. Sports shops SportXX and Bikeworld? Migros. Medbase and Santémed health centers, fitness centers of Activ Fitness? Migros. The fast food chain Chickeria? Denner and globe? Câlin Bakery? Migros, Migros, Migros. The group is an empire with 28 billion francs in turnover (2017) and the largest private employer in Switzerland
The profit last year was 503 million Swiss francs – 24% less than in 2016. As with any for-profit company that lacks targets.
Please no secular company
"Migros" and "profit" – this is a bad choice for many. In the eyes of fans, Migros is a special economic zone of Swiss capitalism. It can be anything, bank, gas station, travel agency. Duttweiler had done it. But please no profane group of margins and managers.
"Of course, Migros is no longer Migros like 70 years ago," says Peter Birrer (76). He worked for the company for 33 years, most of the time in various positions at Migros Lucerne, most recently as Director of Migros Zurich. "For me, she was more than an employer." Birrer says that he learned "the art of the retailer" because, as a young man, he had entered "Duttweiler's writings" . This inspired him.
Gottlieb Duttweiler (1888-1962) made his fortune as a grocer in the distress of the First World War. When peace came, he almost lost everything, the Migros was his second attempt. His approach would probably be called disruptive today: in 1925 he sent five vans, cheap and good quality goods brought directly to the customer. The established industry hated it, protest unions, but consumers were convinced. The first store opened in Zurich in 1926 and in 1932 Migros was in Basel, Bern, St. Gallen and even Berlin. During the Second World War, Duttweiler made his company a cooperative and donated it. The cars led to 1997, to today countless Swiss have a picture of the market stalls rolling in the head. The case that comes to people
For Migros to live in his mind, the company founder and his wife created the Gottlieb Foundation and Adele Duttweiler. Birrer, the long-time employee of Migros, was elected to the company after his retirement in 2004. Since 2012, he is their president and therefore something like the guardian of Dutti's ideals. He and the other seven members of the Board of Directors are reviewing whether the articles of incorporation are being respected. The foundation is independent, the president can get involved in the meetings of the MGB – even if only with "recommendations". Birrer was also present during the administrative sessions where job cuts were recently decided.
"Every business needs profits," he says. But he adds: "Duttweiler had a different view of the economy." What Birrer means is the percentage of culture: part of the retail business turnover has to be spent according to the statutes of culture and social affairs. This currently represents around 120 million francs a year. This money has to be won first. The Cultural Percentage is unique and creates an identity for the Migros, so Birrer. Even the bonuses have received the best team of Migros not today.
Would it be in the sense of Duttweilers that Migros earns money with alcohol and tobacco today? In fact, they should give up these millions in the name of "public health", they say in the statutes. Nevertheless, the MGB took over Globus and Denner, where wine, beer and spirits are central. Alcohol is also sold in the 313 small stores Migrolino
On such issues, the chairman of the Peter Birrer Foundation becomes a diplomat – like other former executives who do not want to be named. The gentlemen remind the clergy who must interpret the writings of Duttweiler according to the needs of the time. "In the long run, everything that exists is no longer up-to-date and you have to think about how to stay true to your ideals," says a retired Migros executive.
Competition Kills Ideals
On the theme of alcohol and tobacco, the reinterpretation works like this: "Alcohol at the time of Duttweilers has suffered a great deal for many families. That's why he did not want to sell alcohol and tobacco, "says Birrer. This continues to apply to Migros outlets, ie supermarkets. "The Migros companies, which offer alcohol, but did it before the takeover." A waiver – for example, at Denner, which acts independently on the market – would be "not in the interest of customers".
The ex-Migros team becomes clearer. There was certainly resistance in the ranks. "But at some point, you have to admit that we can not depend on competition."
The intensity of competition shows in Migrolino stores and Coop Pronto stores, which in some Swiss cities around every street corner bellows. The clientele is not only satisfied. Many shops seem ramshark, the staff seems attracted by long positions and low wages. Plus: Stores move small shops. Signatures have recently been collected in the Langstrassenquartier Zürich against a new Thai fast food restaurant run by Migros. With high rents, she had surpassed a shoe store and bookstore. There is already a Migrolino and a Chickeria on Langstrasse.
They love Migros in China
In addition to Coop, the discounters push Migros. Lidl Switzerland, for example, has registered a growth in its business turnover of 10.4% in 2017. Migros' market turnover has decreased by 0.7%, Denner has grown by 39%. about 3%. This is why Migros is calling for cost reductions and looking for new sources of revenue. Also internationally: The M-Industry division does not generate nearly 15% of its turnover in Switzerland. It manufactures not only in the 25 local manufacturing plants, but also abroad. For example sweets in the USA with Sweetworks or skincare products in England.
Business in China works differently. Since the end of 2017, Migros has been selling Swiss Migros products such as shower gel and toothpaste under the name of Orange Garten. Customers buy online, Migros cooperates with Chinese online giant Alibaba. Most products are much more expensive than here: an all-purpose cleaner, available here for 3.05 francs, costs 16 francs more in China. Migros justifies this with transport and logistics.
Apparently business is good, Chinese people love traditional Swiss products. The myth of Duttweiler, for example, is being revived on the other side of the world: an advertisement for the Orange Garden begins with a historical film about the old Migros sales cars. Trust Migros. The store that comes to you. In China.
(Tages-Anzeiger)
created: 11.07.2018, 23:25
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