Migros Cooperative Eastern Switzerland

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Migros Cooperative Eastern Switzerland

logo
legal form cooperative
founding 1998
Seat Gossau , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management
  • Peter Diethelm (Chairman of the Management Board)
  • Leo Staub (President of the Administration)
  • Peter Seitz (President of the Cooperative Council)
Number of employees 6,308 FTE
sales 2.39 billion CHF
Branch Retail trade , gastronomy
Website Migros Eastern Switzerland
Status: 2019

The Migros Eastern Switzerland is one of ten cooperatives of Migros , the largest retail company of Switzerland . It is based in Gossau and is a legally independent company within the Federation of Migros Cooperatives (MGB). Migros Ostschweiz was created in 1998 through the merger of the Migros St. Gallen cooperative and the Migros Schaffhausen / Winterthur cooperative . In terms of sales, it is the third largest of all Migros cooperatives.

Organization and key figures

The catchment area of ​​the Migros Ostschweiz cooperative includes the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Graubünden (excluding the Moesa region ), Schaffhausen , St. Gallen (excluding the See-Gaster region ) and Thurgau , the districts of Andelfingen , Hinwil and Winterthur in the canton of Zurich and the Principality Liechtenstein . It holds an 11.4% stake in the MGB's cooperative capital. In 2019, Migros Ostschweiz had 414,560 cooperative members, who are represented by a cooperative council with 58 members that is newly elected every four years. 14 of the council members are also delegates to the delegates' assembly of the FMC. In 2019, 6,308 employees generated sales of 2.39 billion francs . The headquarters of the cooperative is the distribution center in Gossau .

Business activity

Distribution center Gossau (2007)
Migros market in the center of Weinfelden

The Migros Ostschweiz cooperative includes:

The 15 MFIT fitness centers have belonged to the Migros Zurich cooperative since January 1, 2020 and are now operating under the Activ Fitness brand . 12 of the 15 Chickerias will be taken over by the BKTL Group, the largest Swiss franchisee of Burger King , on April 1, 2020 . They are to be gradually converted into branches of Burger King and Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits . The remaining 3 Chickeria branches are still for sale.

history

Migros St. Gallen

Migros AG opened its first shop in Eastern Switzerland on December 20, 1929 on Burggraben in St. Gallen . Since the processing of the application for outpatient trade that was submitted in the autumn was protracted, the vending cars left on January 8, 1930 without a permit, whereupon they were stopped and confiscated by the police. On January 13, the St. Gallen branch was entered in the cantonal commercial register. Meanwhile, Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler was negotiating with the cantonal and city government so that the cars could run with a permit from January 18. The government council of the canton of St. Gallen set the car fee at CHF 240 a quarter, which caused outrage among local grocers and their political allies. A year later, despite strong resistance, the vans served not only the city and its surroundings, but also the Rhine Valley , the Fürstenland and Toggenburg .

In November 1931, the Catholic-conservative Grand Council and the National Council urged Paul Müller with a motion to revise the Hausierergesetzes in the sense of "aggravation of goods sale in driving around." In January 1933, the board of the FDP formulated its own and somewhat more neutral motion, which was also directed against Migros. On the other hand, a petition signed by thousands spoke out in favor of Migros, as it had brought about a price reduction of up to 30%. The government council in turn tried to find a balance between the two camps, but the Migros opponents pushed through two increases in car fees to 1,800 and finally to 2,500 francs per year. In May 1935, the Grand Council decided to tighten the law again with fees of up to CHF 1,000 per month. By the end of June, Migros had collected over 9,200 signatures and thus successfully brought about a referendum . In the referendum of July 26, 1935, it prevailed with 28,235 to 22,289 votes and the fee rates remained unchanged.

Resistance was particularly strong in the canton of Thurgau . In 1930 the government council refused permission to sell cars. Two years later, Migros opened a branch in Frauenfeld and resumed negotiations with the authorities. The government council then approved three sales vehicles with an annual fee of 2044 francs. The cars drove out for the first time on April 1, 1932. At the end of December 1932, 15 members of the Grand Council supported the increase in the annual fee demanded by trade representatives, asserting the "need for protection of medium-sized groups of workers". Under the influence of the trade, the frontists and the middle class movement New Switzerland , the canton parliament decided in March 1933 and April 1934 massive increases, so that Migros had to pay 5500 francs per car per year. A bill introduced in January 1935 finally provided for annual fees of 48,000 francs. After an intervention by Migros suppliers, the Grand Council lowered the maximum rate to 10,000 francs in the second reading. Migros and its sympathizers brought about a referendum, whereupon the people on May 10, 1936, clearly rejected the tightening of the law with 14,736 votes to 8,569.

In the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , commercial groups and their representatives in the cantonal council demanded an annual wagon fee of up to 36,000 francs, as Migros "is in a position to seriously damage the local tax-paying industry". The government council bill was far less prohibitive and was content with 500 francs a month. The Landsgemeinde approved the bill in 1932; In view of the tight result, the government council set the monthly fee at CHF 300 - one tenth of the trade's original claim.

After the political struggles were over, the St. Gallen branch took over the branches in eastern Switzerland that had previously been managed from Zurich , including in Appenzell , Buchs , Chur and Herisau . On May 2, 1941, it was converted into the Migros St. Gallen cooperative . Sales and the number of branches increased from year to year. With the Pizolpark in Mels , Migros St. Gallen opened the first shopping center of the Migros Group on November 19, 1970. When the Federation of Migros Cooperatives (MGB) pushed ahead with expansion abroad in 1993 and entered into a cooperation with Konsum Austria , Migros St. Gallen took over the management of 35 Familia branches in Vorarlberg and in western Tyrol . However, the engagement in Austria ended in a financial debacle for the MGB only two years later. Migros St. Gallen therefore sold its shares in the Familia stores on October 1, 1996 to the Spar group.

Migros Winterthur / Schaffhausen

Migros branch in Seuzach (2009)

In the canton of Schaffhausen , sales vans first left on January 30, 1933, after which the government council set a monthly fee of CHF 250 on May 10. In November 1933, the Cantonal Council passed a new peddler law with a maximum fee of 800 francs per month. The people accepted the bill on May 6, 1934 with 5,704 votes to 4,585. The government council then set a monthly fee of CHF 500, which Migros accepted. On February 10, 1941, the Migros Schaffhausen cooperative was founded , whose shops and sales vehicles were still managed operationally and organizationally from Zurich.

During the rapid growth phase of the 1950s, the Migros Zurich cooperative reached the limits of its capabilities. For this reason, the members of the cooperative decided in 1957 with 34,916 votes to 2,033 to split up their catchment area. The new Migros Winterthur cooperative was to take over the shops and sales vehicles in the eastern part of the canton of Zurich around Winterthur and in western Thurgau. It was founded on June 12, 1958 and incorporated into the MGB on October 4. The distribution center in the Grüze district of Winterthur , which opened on April 23, 1958, also enabled delivery to the Schaffhausen branches. Since the operational cooperation proved itself, an organizational merger was necessary. After the members of the cooperative had approved this step with 20,071 votes to 378, the two organizations merged on January 1, 1967 to form the Migros Winterthur / Schaffhausen cooperative .

Merger to form Migros Ostschweiz

The increasing number of synergies resulted in an ever closer cooperation between the cooperatives Winterthur / Schaffhausen and St. Gallen over the years. In the ballot of 1998, the members of the cooperative decided to merge with retroactive effect from January 1st to form the Migros Ostschweiz cooperative, which became the third largest within the MGB. At Migros Winterthur / Schaffhausen the approval was 86.9%, at Migros St. Gallen 91.1%.

As early as 1937, Migros had intended to open a branch in Vaduz , whereupon the Principality of Liechtenstein introduced a department store ban based on the model of the Swiss branch ban to protect local businesses . The measure failed because the Liechtenstein population increasingly went shopping across the border; the ban lasted until 1969. In June 2013, Migros Ostschweiz opened a supermarket in Schaan , and later two partner shops were added in Balzers and Ruggell . Another supermarket is being planned in Eschen .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Migros Ostscheiz Cooperative. Commercial register of the Canton of St. Gallen, accessed on November 8, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Annual Report 2019. Migros Cooperative Eastern Switzerland, 2020, accessed on March 5, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Facts and Figures 2019. Migros Cooperative Eastern Switzerland, 2020, accessed on March 5, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Stefan Borkert: Turbulent year at Migros Ostschweiz: tumbling prices and shrinking sales. In: tagblatt.ch . January 4, 2020, accessed January 11, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Migros hands over 12 Chickerias to new owners. In: migros.ch. March 2, 2020, accessed March 2, 2020 .
  6. ^ Alfred A. Häsler : The Migros Adventure. The 60 year old idea . Ed .: Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Migros Presse, Zurich 1985, p. 297 .
  7. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. Pp. 137-138.
  8. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. Pp. 138-139.
  9. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. Pp. 141-142.
  10. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. Pp. 142-143.
  11. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 139.
  12. ↑ a b Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 309.
  13. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 339.
  14. ^ Migros -Genossenschafts-Bund (Ed.): Chronicle of Migros 1925–2012 - Portrait of a dynamic company . Zurich 2013, p. 79: 83-84 ( online ).
  15. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 143.
  16. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. Pp. 325, 327.
  17. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 186.
  18. ^ Häsler: The Migros Adventure. P. 336.
  19. ^ Chronicle of Migros 1925–2012. P. 89.
  20. ^ Günther Meier: When the Liechtensteiners resisted Migros. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , August 21, 2017, accessed on November 1, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Migros takes the Schaan branch into its own hands. Liechtenstein Fatherland , January 23, 2013, accessed on November 1, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Construction of Migros is being planned. Liechtenstein Fatherland , July 5, 2019, accessed on November 1, 2019 .