The bridge has symbolised Migros ever since Migros was founded by Gottlieb Duttweiler. It has appeared on all Migros packaging and most Migros publications for some 75 years. “The first package of goods Migros sold, the first advertisement, the first Migros flyer all carried the image of the bridge. It was more than an emblem; it is the symbol of an idea for which we have unreservedly stood from the very first moment up until today, and will do so in to the future. Migros – the bridge between manufacturer and consumer. That is what we want to be.” These notable words from Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler appear in the autumn of 1927 in the first edition of MIGROS – DIE BRÜCKE, the intermittently published first newspaper from Migros AG. It is not surprising that it becomes known to friends and enemies alike as the ‘Brückenbauer’.

The Migros logo shows Duttweiler’s communications talent, as it represents the basic ideas behind the company, and is also simple to understand and easily remembered. It is used from the very first day: on the doors of the sales vans, on the first flyer, on all packaging. Even the soap, which is sold unwrapped, is stamped with the bridge. Over time, the bridge is used in various ways and undergoes some changes, and by the new century its days are numbered. With the Brückenbauer relaunched as Migros Magazine and Migros’ visual presence updated by corporate identity specialists, the Migros bridge is now just history.

Migros AG sold soap right from the beginning. But before long, soap manufacturers refused to supply the young company because their other customers threatened a boycott. Only Rieder & Co., a soap maker in Oberrieden along Lake Zurich, remained loyal to Migros. Gottlieb Duttweiler purchased the company in 1934 and moved production to Basel.

Migros AG sold glycerine-free soap as one of its six products. But soon its suppliers’ other customers, who were selling the same soap at a higher price, threatened to boycott. This is how soap maker Friedrich Steinfels explained the situation in 1927: «I stopped supplying Migros because I had to take seriously the tacit boycott by the members of the soap and detergent trade association.» In the end, only the soap makers Rieder & Co. remained. Every week delivery vans travelled from Oberrieden to Zurich where the heavy soapboxes were unloaded at the Migros warehouse.

To keep up with the increasing demand from Migros, in 1930 Rieder & Co. moved to a vacant power station in Rüschlikon, Gottlieb Duttweiler’s hometown. In addition to soap bars, the company also began to produce sheets of soap, which were used in the production of Ohä, the first Migros washing powder. Duttweiler bought Rieder & Co. in 1934. He dismantled the machines and enormous boilers, brought them to Basel and, together with GIFA AG, built a company to manufacture all of Migros’ soap products.

The Migros vans rolled into action without government authorisation. The drivers handed out flyers to the housewives, describing how Migros planned to sell their products as quickly, efficiently and inexpensively as possible.

On 10 August 1925, Gottlieb Duttweiler puts in an application to the Zurich police department for permission “to offer for sale” foodstuffs on public property. The purpose of his new company is to sell the products in the “fastest, most efficient and thus cheapest” way, using sales vans in the districts of Zurich. This method would allow him to sell the products for 10 to 30 percent less than “overpriced brand articles”. He proposes a trial with non-brand products, selling them as Migros products: “The only advertising should be the quality.” He anticipates any reservations by explaining that the sales vans are “hygienically impeccable, completely enclosed” and that all products “are packed extremely well and dust-proof”. In addition, he provides a list of the almost 200 planned stops of the Migros vans.
Migros AG is founded on the same day with more than CHF100,000 in share capital, five sales vans, an office and two storage facilities. Its greatest capital, however, is its founder, with his wealth of ideas and inexhaustible energy.

Shopping at the Migros sales vehicles is part of the daily routine for many Swiss housewives. Even bad weather doesn't prevent them from visiting the vans. In fine weather, shopping at the Migros vehicles provides a welcome opportunity for a quick chat. To free up some time, housewives often send their children to do the shopping for them. However, the real reason is often that they don't want to be caught shopping at the much-maligned Migros, especially in rural areas.

After about a year, Gottlieb Duttweiler added to his sales van concept by opening his first shop. He set up a makeshift location in Zurich’s industrial district, where he sold fresh produce for the first time.

In December 1926, 15 months after the founding of Migros AG, Gottlieb Duttweiler opens the first shop. It is in the middle of Zurich’s industrial district at Ausstellungsstrasse 104, just a stone’s throw from the first sales depot. The building is the new headquarters of Migros and has an office, a garage for the sales vans, a warehouse and a packaging facility in the cellar, in addition to the shop premises.
Duttweiler invests a total of CHF 200 in fittings for the shop. They consist of crates and planks; the cash register is an old cigar box. The shop opens with 48 products on offer, including fresh fruit and potatoes, which are not available from the sales vans. A few months later, Migros receives permission from the police department for the “sale of meat and sausages” and begins to sell smoked sausages and bacon.

3 March 1927 – the only work day in the history of Migros AG that the sales vans didn’t leave the depot. On that day, the unionised drivers went on strike to demand higher wages.

In the early morning of 3 March 1927, all 12 of the Migros AG sales vans stay in the depot. The drivers explain that they are on strike. Migros refuses to negotiate and threatens that anyone who does not return to work within half an hour will be sacked.
Before this incident, there have been two months of negotiations between Gottlieb Duttweiler and the drivers’ trade union, VHTL. Duttweiler wants to replace the drivers’ fixed wages with a commission system. The VHTL demands a fixed wage of CHF340 plus commission, as well as shorter working hours. The negotiations are still taking place when the drivers receive a surprise by post: notice of dismissal and a new contract of employment that does not include any of their demands. They unanimously decide to strike.
The strikers are well prepared: the housewives waiting for the Migros sales vans find a flyer pushed into their hands instead of coffee or pasta. In the afternoon, the cantonal mediation office reports that Migros has agreed to the strikers’ demands and that the working week will be reduced to 56 hours. Migros has even promised, after the company is reorganised, to further reduce the working week to the 48 hours demanded by VHTL. The union newspaper happily reports: “The battle was stopped in the evening, and the next morning the drivers returned to work with their usual discipline.”

The young Migros AG took its first steps beyond the borders of Canton Zurich when it opened several shops in Aargau. Its successful growth was slowed down in 1933 by a Federal Council decision that prohibited retail companies from expanding across Switzerland for the next 12 years.

Migros AG expanded into Aargau in 1928 and the business went so well that it quickly owned six shops. However, in 1933, a Federal Council decision known as the «branch ban» prohibited department stores and retail companies from opening additional branches. This meant an abrupt stop not only to Migros’ policy of further expansion, but also of further expansion of its product range. The Aargau bakers’ association protested against Migros’ introduction of Total IV, a new wholegrain bread, onto its shelves. Migros was forced to stop selling the bread in Aargau, despite the petitions and countless letters from Migros customers unhappy with this decision.
After World War II ended and the ban on branches was lifted, things moved quickly for Migros. The Migros Aargau Cooperative, established in 1942, had opened around 20 shops by 1955 and built a modern operations centre in Suhr. This meant independence from the regional cooperatives in Zurich and Basel, which had supplied Aargau until that time. Together with Cantons Bern and Solothurn, it has been a part of the Migros Aare Cooperative since 1985.

Gottlieb Duttweiler didn’t think much of advertising, but Migros nevertheless developed its own slogans, always emphasising the quality and low prices of Migros products.

When it is founded, Migros AG promises housewives that it will sell goods as cheaply as possible. Unlike the manufacturers of brand articles, it would do without expensive advertising and extravagant packaging. But even Migros cannot do without advertising entirely and in 1927, an advertising slogan appears for the first time on the sales vans ‘Migros – the fresh quality’. This slogan competes with that of the Zurich consumer association, which advertises ‘fair & advantageous’ on its vans.
In the post-war period, and with the introduction of a central advertising office in 1951, Migros’ slogans increase in number. But they remain straightforward and reflect Gottlieb Duttweiler’s opinion “that the emotional landscape of the housewife, when seen from the purse’s point of view, is the same everywhere”. Accordingly, the advertising slogans always focus on the low prices and savings, in addition to the quality. It is not surprising that one of the long-standing slogans takes the form of a mathematical calculation: ‘Quality + Price = Migros’.

Boycotted by suppliers, Migros began making its own products. The first factory, Produktion AG in Meilen, manufactured cooking fat, jam and stock cubes, as well as Tschips. Today it’s known as Midor.

The alcohol-free wine and tinned goods factory in Meilen is the first manufacturing operation of the young Migros AG. Its purchase in the spring of 1928 is Gottlieb Duttweiler’s answer to the food manufacturers that boycott him.
The small factory, next to the train station, specialises in the alcohol-free fermentation of fruit juices, and also produces tinned goods for a few years. Duttweiler renames it Produktion AG Meilen, PAG, and expands production. In addition to apple and grape juice, it starts producing Meilener Süssfett, a cooking fat with a high proportion of butter. A cooking oil refinery is added soon after. In 1934, however, the entire fat production operation is relocated to Basel.
In Meilen, jams and compotes are also produced, in addition to stock cubes, smoked bacon, tinned fruit and vegetables, and “thin potato slices fried in fat” called Tschips. But all these products are just episodes in the history of PAG. Only the production of baked goods, which starts in 1930, is permanent. This production is increasingly rationalised and automated after the war, and is still today the core business of the manufacturing operation that since 1996 has been called Midor.

A bitter battle erupted around Migros in Schaffhausen as well. In 1934, Gottlieb Duttweiler fought a new tax on mobile vendors designed to stop his sales carts and even ceased all sales activities for three days. Yet he lost the referendum and mobile sales did not resume in Canton Schaffhausen until 1959.

Almost as soon as Migros AG went into business in Zurich, the large retailers instituted a policy of «predatory pricing». They sold the top-selling goods cheaper than Migros did to win over its customers. Gottlieb Duttweiler fought back with a two-fold expansion: he expanded Migros’ product range, making predatory pricing more costly for his opponents, and he expanded into more cantons. He opened the first shop in Schaffhausen in 1928 and launched two sales carts there in 1933. But then a new battle began: because of pressure from small business owners, a mobile vendors’ law was brought to the people for a vote. It would impose such excessively high taxes that Migros vehicles could not operate. In a leaflet sent to every home, Migros warned that: «All prices will go up. It will be worse than ever for consumers if Migros is made to disappear.» To give the people of Schaffhausen a taste of what was to come, Migros shut down its activities for three days. Nonetheless, it lost the referendum – and there were no mobile sales in Canton Schaffhausen until 1959.

Migros branched out into food production in 1928 with Meilener Süssfett. The cooking fat was a great success and competitors were quick to copy the name. Gottlieb Duttweiler fought them all the way to the federal court, but unfortunately his efforts were in vain.

In his very first flyer in 1925, Gottlieb Duttweiler speaks of his suspicion of brand articles and excessive advertising. His motto is: “Factual examination, not advertising cult.” Migros, as he explains to the housewives, does not pay “for labels, names and packaging” and is therefore able to sell its goods cheaper.
He is bothered by the monopoly of the generally international concerns, and hence of the best-known brand articles. Using the terminology of the time, he calls them ‘trusts’, and they are his favourite enemy.
The longest and most bitter battle Duttweiler leads is against Unilever, including Sais, its representative company in Switzerland. When he launches Meilener Süssfett in 1929, Unilever immediately starts “battle procedures”. It lowers the prices of its coconut fat Palmin and butter fat Palmina, and starts what Duttweiler calls a “real avalanche of advertising”. When the foreign company advertises nostalgically in Swiss German, Duttweiler asks sarcastically: “Why do you choose an old-fashioned lady with a head full of hairpins for your advertisements instead of, for example, a cunning chemist in a white coat?”

In 1931, Gottlieb Duttweiler moves to open provocation, launching the cooking fat Alpha, with a name similar to the well-known Astra produced by the Unilever concern. When nothing happens, he launches Nussgalminaa few months later. This name is a combined attack on the two Unilever products Nussgold and Palmina. To Unilever, this is a step too far and its Swiss subsidiary, Sais, demands on its behalf that the name Nussgalmina be removed from the brand register. Duttweiler has achieved his goal: a lawsuit that gives his concern a public hearing.
When Duttweiler loses at the commercial court, he takes his appeal to the Federal Court. But he also loses there, as the judges note the “confusing similarities” between the two product names and are convinced that the choice has been made “quite clearly”, so that the two brands are confused with each other.
Duttweiler changes the name of the sweet fat to Santa Sabina and sneeringly summarises the decision: “Nussgalmina is too similar and completely dubious”, because the public does not notice the ‘Nuss’ but only the ‘galmina’. And that upsets the “poor 6 billion oil trust” doing its “milking”. His fighting spirit is unbroken: “Downhearted, yes, but give up, no; once again, no.” And, in fact, he fights in almost half a dozen more cases against Unilever before 1954, seeing it as his “duty and destiny” to make Migros “a counter-balance to the power politics of the oil trusts”.

Migros opened its first branch in St. Gallen shortly before Christmas in 1929. The new, low-price vendor was only taken seriously when, one month later, police impounded its two sales vans and took the drivers away. But unlike in other cantons, the St. Gallen authorities backed down.

In the middle of the night on 20 December 1929, ten tonnes of goods were secretly delivered and quickly unloaded so that the first Migros shop in St. Gallen could open without any hassle the following day. But housewives took hardly any notice of the new shop. It was only when the two sales vans set out that «the first Migros dance in St. Gallen» began, according to manager Otto Kreis. The police promptly impounded the vehicles, which didn’t have a permit. «The strong hand of our police has shut down the modern sales machine», mocked Gottlieb Duttweiler. «There is only one motive, and what is in the public’s best interests remains on the other side.» Even the leaflet was confiscated. This was an «act of violence», something «Mussolini-esque», denounced the Volksstimme, referring to fascist Italy. «Do we still live in a free Switzerland?» The authorities backed down under public pressure and permitted mobile sales, allowing Migros in St. Gallen to gradually expand into Appenzell, Thurgau and Graubünden. These regions now make up the Migros Eastern Switzerland Cooperative.

In 1929 Migros successfully launched Eimalzin, a copy of the brand-name product Ovomaltine. This pick-me-up produced by Haco AG quickly became a Migros classic, and today sells a quarter of a million packages annually.

“After almost three years of searching for the best, we bring you today...” In the summer of 1929, Migros AG announces its latest product, the fortifying tonic Eimalzin, like a big show performance. This “nutrition for the nerves and muscles” is made mainly of “eggs, malt, cocoa and fresh milk” and is “rich in vitamins and minerals”.
Eimalzin, is quite clearly a well-made copy of Ovomaltine. Not only are the ingredients confusingly similar, but so is the packaging. And the name Eimalzin is nothing other than the German translations of ‘ovo’ and ‘malt’. Migros cheekily refers to the competition itself in its advertisements: “The credit for the introduction of this type of malt preparation is due to a well-known company from Berne [Ovomaltine] – the lower price is due to the Migros system.” This changes the “luxury product” from an “only occasionally enjoyed quasi-medicine into an everyday food with a regular food price”.
The rival product costs CHF4.20, but Eimalzin is just CHF2.50. The customers thank Migros: within three months, 800 tins are being sold daily in the Zurich region. Thus, Eimalzin has, according to Migros, “outstripped all other similar products”.

The Migros malt drink is produced in Gümligen by Haco-Gesellschaft AG, which has produced the breakfast drink for some time under the brand name Hacosan. Gottlieb Duttweiler praises the work of “our friends in Gümligen” and never tires of emphasising that Eimalzin is not merely of the same quality as the rival product, but is even better because “it doesn't really taste of malt, but develops an extremely pleasant aroma”. It is therefore particularly suitable for children, who “enjoy it with visible physical and indirect emotional pleasure”.
Just one year later, Migros launches the Haco product Migro-Malt as a cheaper version of Eimalzin. The reason for this is given as: “It is so sad that poorer people are not able to afford such fortifying tonics and are thus not able to return to full health!”
Unlike Migro-Malt, which soon disappears from the shelves, Eimalzin becomes a classic. It is soon offered as ‘Type A sweet’ and ‘Type B bitter’. In the 1950s, Eimalzin kalt, which is mixed with cold milk, follows, along with its little sister Vitalzin.
Eimalzin is still as popular as ever. A quarter of a million packets are sold each year.

In 1930 Migros AG expanded into Basel, where the Basel Cooperative Union dominated the retail trade. The left-wing cooperative fought fiercely against the «capitalist» Migros. But the Basel authorities and courts proved to be more liberal than those in other cantons.

«Migros! This word is constantly buzzing around our ears», complained the Basler Arbeiter-Zeitung in May 1930. «You would almost think that the solution to social issues is at hand.» When Migros opened two branches in Basel and sent out its sales vans shortly thereafter, it found itself with a strong opponent: The Cooperative Union A.C.V. had over 48,000 members and annual sales of CHF 60 million, and it had the support of the Social Democrats and their press. They attacked Migros, calling it a «foreign» corporation whose sole focus was to «secure profits for the capitalists who control it».
The third power in Basel was the authorities. They went after the Migros sales vans for not having vendors’ licences and demanded a mobile vendors’ tax of 150 francs per vehicle per month. After lengthy legal disputes, the tax was lowered to 100 francs, which Gottlieb Duttweiler referred to as «manageable and fair» in contrast to other places. «No one can help the working class. It has to free itself», stated the Arbeiter-Zeitung. Only 60 years later, sales at the Migros Basel Cooperative exceeded a billion francs for the first time ever.

Migros customers were socially ostracised for a number of years, especially in villages, where social control is strong even to this day. Small business owners used tactics such as exclusion and boycotts to try to bring the new retailer down.

Whenever Migros opened a shop in a community or neighbourhood, local grocery retailers, fearing for their financial security, tried vigorously to exclude the intruder. The grocers were supported by small business owners, who had a great deal of influence in the communities. Among the most effective weapons used against Migros were the social ostracism and boycott of its customers. Owners of Lucerne’s Gränicher & Co., «tailored clothing for men and boys», experienced this first-hand in 1930. Rumours circulated that their wives had shopped at Migros – rumours they feared would harm their business. They immediately published an advertisement in Vaterland which stated that «our family members have not obtained goods, directly or indirectly, from the outsider company in question. On the contrary, we make all of our purchases from local businesses in the Lucerne town square.»
Social control, including the threat of ostracism, is one reason why Migros shops in small backstreets were often more successful than those on bustling streets. Many housewives even stopped shopping altogether and would send their children, who would be less likely to be recognised, in their place.

In 1931, Migros starts producing yoghurt. Because the standard retail price is reduced from 45 cents to 25 cents per glass, consumption of yoghurt increases rapidly. The launch of disposable packaging in 1960 triggers another huge spike in sales.

The new distribution centre at Zurich’s Limmatplatz opened in 1931 and included a «display path». This aerial walkway was open to the public and allowed visitors to see how goods were processed, filled and loaded into the sales vans.

Today, we would speak of transparency; in the image film Familie M in 1949, it is called laconic: ” We have no secrets. The more we see of our work, the more we like it.“ Gottlieb Duttweiler implements this principle in architecture when he rents a textiles factory on the Zurich Limmatplatz in 1931 and has it converted into the new Migros AG distribution centre.
In the central hall, a walkway is constructed, accessible from the street and ”always unguarded“. From this ”display path”, visitors can observe the loading of the sales vans, how the cooking oil is bottled and the coffee roasted. There is also a telephone which allows ”any comments and suggestions to be passed on to the management“. Since 1947, an additional brochure with information on the history of the company and a plan of the display path is also available.
The façade on Limmatstrasse has large display windows allowing passers-by to see how the employees pack the butter and cooking fat.
At the stairway to the display path, Gottlieb Duttweiler has positioned the first sales vans as an effective advertisement. A notice board announces to the visitors: ”He got it done.”

The Migros yoghurt packaging has had a colourful history. The containers evolved steadily over their first thirty years: from the first jars that required customers to pay a deposit, through free jars labelled «Property of Migros», to automatically filled disposable tubs made of polystyrene.

In 1931, Migros AG installs the first filling plant for yoghurt. Previously, yoghurt has been a luxury product. Thanks to Migros, it now costs just 25 centimes per jar – plus 25 centimes deposit. The success is so great as to cause logistic problems. Migros advertises: “please bring yoghurt jars back immediately” - due to an “extreme lack of jars, we are not able to deliver enough yoghurt”.
Twenty-five years later, the Zurich and Schaffhausen Cooperatives do away with the deposit charge. This helps to further rationalise the distribution of the goods by eliminating the need to collect and return the deposits. It is, however, a large risk, as Migros has invested CHF100,000 francs in the jars. But luckily, “we here in Switzerland” have a “very well developed” concept of ownership, exactly like the “mutual trust within the Familie M”. The cooperatives, however, do not trust their customers completely: the jars are manufactured marked: property of Migros.
At the end of the year, Migros reports that the experiment has been “very positive” and is “pioneering similar measures in other sectors”. On the other hand, it is “very depressing when the rubbish collection department of the city of Zurich tell us that unbroken yoghurt jars can be found in the rubbish bins of certain people. One can imagine what the nice men collecting the rubbish think about such households...”
However, the days of the yoghurt jar are numbered. In 1958, the Aargau Cooperative is the first to change over to disposable pots. These are not cheap: 7.5 centimes each. The supplier, the Milk and Butter Central Suhr, does not have an automatic machine to put lids on the pots, so they have to be “lidded by hand”. This accounts for the expense. These teething troubles are soon overcome, and two years later the Migros yoghurt jar is already history.

Gottlieb Duttweiler made it his business to fight against brand products that he saw as over-priced. With deceptively similar yet more affordable products, he prompted litigation that generated publicity for Migros’ consumer-friendly ideology.

No sooner has Migros AG moved to its new headquarters at Limmatplatz in Zurich in the summer of 1931, than Gottlieb Duttweiler throws himself into a battle that will keep him on his toes for the next 20 years. As he openly declares, he is thinking about bringing “light and air into the stuffy atmosphere of brand articles”. This means launching Migros products that attack the dominant positions of well-known brand products. His targets are trusts: foreign, generally multinational, large companies with monopolistic characteristics.
Thus, the washing powder Ohä competes with Persil from Henkel and the decaffeinated Kaffee Zaun goes against the market leader Kaffee Hag. Nuss-Galmina and Alpha, the cooking fats from Migros, compete against Palmina and Astra from Unilever. The same goes for Vim, the cleaning agent from Unilever, which competes in the market against Migros’ Päng, which is later renamed Potz.

In the battle against the trusts, Gottlieb Duttweiler always follows the same pattern: Migros’ products are of excellent quality, yet are still cheaper than the equivalent brand articles. He launches them with names or packaging that are confusingly similar. In populist articles, he attacks the competition and implores housewives to show their solidarity with him as his allies. In return, he promises to fight “like a lion” for their interests. He then waits patiently to see if he will be prosecuted. If nothing happens, he adds fuel to the fire. And waits again, while swearing: “Whether we lose or win is not particularly important to us.” What is important to him is the lawsuit – which he generally loses – a stage created for his fight against the “excesses of brand articles”. This process also save him thousands of francs in expensive advertisements.
Between 1932 and 1937 alone, Migros is involved in about a dozen lawsuits. “They give him the opportunity,” a long-term employee remembers later, “to make public his consumer ideology, the practical expression of which is the Migros system, with an extremely severely presented polemic.” Gottlieb Duttweiler formulates it in the 1930s in a more poetic manner: “The freest freedom should prevail in demanding performance for good money, and the brightest daylight should shine in where performance is lacking or is faked.”

The young Migros AG circumvented the boycott against it by helping to build a chocolate factory in Wald in the Zurich highlands. JOWA began supplying Migros with chocolate in 1931 and then later with sweets, ice cream and fresh pastries, too.

Gottlieb Duttweiler was forced to sell imported chocolate products to his customers because Swiss chocolate producers were boycotting Migros. Foreign chocolate in the birthplace of chocolate! Heinrich Spoerry, an entrepreneurial textile manufacturer, stepped forward to help extricate him from this absurd situation. Given the crisis in the textile industry and the resulting unemployment, Spoerry began producing biscuits in a disused mill and delivering them to Migros. The two men jointly established the «Jonatal AG chocolate factory in Wald», known simply as JOWA. The first chocolates, Finarom and Bonarom, the «people’s milk chocolate», were launched in January 1939. At only 25 Rappen, a bar cost half as much as a commercial brand’s bar.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that the factory in Wald was soon bursting at the seams. Production was moved to Meilen in 1941 and ten years later, JOWA built the first of many subsidiaries in Zurich-Albisrieden. At the same time, it handed over some of its chocolate production to Chocolate Frey, which Migros had recently acquired. This meant that JOWA could increasingly specialise in baked goods.

In Migros’ first years, its competitive pricing meant that it could only afford the most basic shop window displays. During the “economic miracle” the Federation of Migros Cooperatives first set up an advertising department, which, from 1952 on, was also responsible for dressing the shop windows.

As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Swiss department stores employ window-dressers to display their goods magnificently. The small grocers, however, use only the simplest arrangements for their display windows. Gottlieb Duttweiler’s tight price calculations and his aversion to lavish advertising mean no extravagant window displays in Migros. And so the branch managers do the best they can with the goods, arranging them symmetrically – particularly popular displays feature non-perishable goods, such as beverages, tinned food and washing powder.
It is not until 1952 that the newly established advertising department of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives supplies the branches with promotional material for their display windows. These are now designed professionally and more expensively – even including moving installations. It is a sign of the economic miracle and abundance that the goods are no longer merely displayed, but instead whole product worlds are staged.

Because of a slimming bath product called Peng, Gottlieb Duttweiler had to change the name of his new cleaning agent from Päng to Potz. Shortly afterwards, he was accused by Unilever subsidiary Sunlight of imitating their brand product Vim and convicted of unfair competitive practices.

In January 1932, Gottlieb Duttweiler announces a “record reduction in prices”. Migros AG will “supply a product guaranteed to be of equal quality to a well-known brand product” for a third of the price. In the following week, he launches the cleaning agent Päng, the packaging of which is clearly similar to the brand product Vim from Unilever. A chemical analysis also shows that Päng contains the same ingredients as Vim, but in different proportions. Migros cheekily launches the rival product under the slogan: “Wim-mern Sie nicht mehr wegen dem zu hohen Preis, sondern Päng-en Sie nach Herzenslust.” (Don’t complain about the price being too high, but Päng away to your heart's content.)
No sooner is the “universal cleaning agent” Päng launched than the owner of the slimming bath product Peng complains about the choice of name. Duttweiler has to rename his product and chooses a new name that is equally catchy – Potz.

Vim, a product from the international Unilever concern, is represented in Switzerland by Sunlight. In the name of the parent company, Sunlight sues Migros AG for unfair competition, demanding CHF20,000 in compensation. Thus, Gottlieb Duttweiler's plan pays off: the legal process guarantees him the publicity he needs in his fight against the overpriced brand products. By staging the process as the battle of little Migros against the powerful, foreign Unilever, he cannot lose. In the Brücke, he coaxes customers: “We want to show the international concerns that their powerful methods fail to change the insight and solidarity of the Swiss housewives, and that they may win processes, but in doing so they may greatly forfeit the sympathy of the housewives!”
In the summer, the Zurich commercial court decides in favour of Migros, but Sunlight takes the case further to the Federal Court, which orders Duttweiler to pay CHF1,000 in compensation for unfair competition. The coverage of the process in the Swiss daily press and the advertising it brings Migros is, however, worth much more. And sales of Potz are already more than 3,000 kilos, or 6,000 packets, a day.

The first Migros store in western Switzerland was opened by Migros Bern in Neuchâtel. When the people of Neuchâtel formed the Neuchâtel Société Coopérative Migros in 1941, they still remained under the influence of Bern. They then fought with Bern and Valais over who would control the neighbouring canton of Freiburg.

Migros Bern opened the first Migros shop in Neuchâtel in 1932. Migros Bern was also responsible for supplying them with all goods until 1949. Only then did the Neuchâtel Cooperative build its own distribution centre. Although its catchment area also included Canton Freiburg, this didn’t stop Bern from opening a branch in Sugiez, Freiburg. And Valais was expanding into Bulle, Freiburg at nearly the same time, claiming that the interests of the people were more important than «rivalry or egocentricity». But Neuchâtel feared that its distribution centre was reaching its capacity and called on the cooperative to arbitrate. Alluding to the Burgundian Wars of the 1400s, they admitted that while it was unlikely that «a new ‹Murten battle› will erupt around this town», they were not ready «even in full friendship» to cede a part of Canton Freiburg. The disagreement lasted more than a year and the results of the arbitration council are not on record. But today, Bulle belongs to the catchment area of the Migros Neuchâtel-Fribourg Cooperative and the store in Sugiez no longer exists.

Although Gottlieb Duttweiler protected the Migros brand, many retailers misused it regardless. He sued three such freeloaders and the cantonal courts came to different conclusions. However, the federal court ruled definitively in Duttweiler’s favour.

The success of the young Migros AG is to blame: An ever-increasing number of retail businesses use the word ”Migros“ in their advertising or in their company names. They use it as a promise to their customers that they sell good quality but low-priced products. It does not seem to bother them that Gottlieb Duttweiler has entered the company name in the commercial register in 1925, nor that in 1931 he ensured ”Migros“ being protected as a word brand for ”all foodstuffs and semi-luxury foods, washing and cleaning agents and commodities“ by the Office for Intellectual Property.
The list of free riders is long and Duttweiler fights on many fronts: In Bern, shortly before the opening of the Migros AG branches, around seventy grocers join up to form ”Kolonial-Migros“ and almost simultaneously, a ”Textil-Migros-Gesellschaft“ appears.
In Zurich, there is a ”Möbel-Migros“ and the ”Migros-Schuhhaus AG“ of the shoe retailer Carl Dosenbach. A certain ”Migros-Genossenschaft für Textil- und Seidenwaren“ even cheekily advertises an ”urgent plea“ that they ”might not be confused with other companies with similar names“. Three of these companies even have their names entered in the commercial register.

In 1932, Gottlieb Duttweiler sues three companies that have used the word ”Migros“ in their names. The result is a paradox: In Zurich he wins twice, and in Bern he loses. As all the losers take their cases further to the Federal Court, all three cases are then processed in Lausanne on 7 March 1933. For Gottlieb Duttweiler it is a nail-biting event, as normally the judges do not protect universally usable terms. Together with ”en gros“ and ”en détail“, ”en mi-gros“ is an existing term in retailing. But the majority of the judges decide in his favour. In the court's opinion, Migros AG has ”through intensive and clever advertising and through the originality and traditionalism of its business principles, ensured that the word "Migros" has become the catchword for its business within a relatively short time“. Accordingly, the term ”Migros“ has become an ”individual name“ which is worthy of protection as a trademark. Gottlieb Duttweiler is very relieved: In Switzerland, the word ”Migros“ now belongs only to him and no one can take it away in the future.

Unlike the Migros AG regional divisions in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Migros Ticino began as a cooperative. The «Migros Società Cooperativa fra produttori e consumatori» began operating shops and sales vans in 1933, while also promoting the production of locally-grown vegetables, especially tomatoes.


To help fight the effects of the economic crisis, the government came to the aid of Ticino farmers and subsidised tomato farming. When Migros AG realised this bountiful harvest needed buyers, it took the opportunity to start selling them in its shops in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. This led to the establishment of the «Migros Società Cooperativa fra produttori e consumatori» in 1933.
The other regional divisions of Migros were public limited companies; this was the first cooperative that Gottlieb Duttweiler initiated. As its name suggests, it aimed to support not only consumers but producers, too. In Mendrisiotto, for instance, it gave farmers tomato seeds and guaranteed buyers for their harvest and in five years production rose from 100,000 to 800,000 kilos. Potatoes and spring vegetables, for which Ticino became Migros’ most important supplier, were the next to benefit.
For Duttweiler, the Società Cooperativa was a way to experiment with how to transform all of Migros into a cooperative. He said in 1940 that it was «truly a unique model and inspiration for the now emerging Swiss cooperative.»

Faced with fuel rationing during the Second World War, Migros subsidiary Hotelplan came up with the «holiday on a bike» idea in 1941. It was yet another offer that followed Hotelplan’s «all-inclusive» formula.

With the start of the Second World War, tour operator Hotelplan’s business completely collapses. In Switzerland, the mobilisation of soldiers, fuel rationing and uncertainty keep most people at home and guests from abroad stay away entirely. Instead of making some Hotelplan employees redundant, Gottlieb Duttweiler employs them in other Migros operations. Those who remain develop a new tourism concept for wartime: in cooperation with the Swiss cyclists’ association, the ‘holiday on a bike’ is launched in 1941. Again, the motto is ‘everything included’: 420 hotels, 21 beach resorts, 30 transport companies and 14 cinemas, halls and dancing establishments join in. Gottlieb Duttweiler himself writes the introduction to the brochure and promises, in the terminology of intellectual national defence, that the ‘bike spirit’ is creating a new community: “The bicycle balances the social highs and lows, just as skis do.” Five thousand guests complete their personal Tour de Suisse, assisted by a breakdown service from Hotelplan. Instead of the ‘holiday on a bike’, the Hotelplan customers may also choose ‘sport arrangements without lunch’, a national park programme or ‘rucksack tourism’.

In the "Zeitung in der Zeitung" on 3 July 1937, Duttweiler shares his latest idea with the public – the giro service. Independent retailers are to be supplied with Migros goods which may be sold at a predefined margin of no more than 12%. The retailers retain complete freedom in terms of their procurement and sales policies. The idea goes down well: 538 retailers show an interest in Migros' attractively priced goods, although there is strong resistance from some associations. Despite bans imposed in some cantons amidst fears of the prohibition of chain stores being circumvented, by December 1937 the company has joined forces with 30 retailers to establish the "Waren-Giro-Genossenschaft."

Even before the outbreak of war, Gottlieb Duttweiler was pushing for emergency stocks as a precautionary measure. At the time, critics accused him of merely wanting to boost food sales in his shops. But with Switzerland switching to a state-led wartime economy at the start of the Second World War, it became clear just how well founded his call for action had been.

During the Second World War petrol was strictly rationed. Because of the significant impact the rationing had on Migros’ mobile sales concept, the company refitted many of the vans to run on wood or methane.

During the Second World War, Switzerland experiences a dramatic fuel shortage. Petrol is strictly rationed as soon as war starts, many private cars are requisitioned by the government and private traffic comes to a complete standstill.
The Migros, with its business model of the mobile shop, is even more affected by the petrol rationing than other retailers. In order to maintain its distribution network, Migros converts a significant portion of its fleet to alternative energy. Migros Cooperative Zurich alone converts 45 of its 56 sales vans to wood gasification systems during the war. The conversion entails building generators – carburettors or gas generators – on the outside of the vehicle body. Similar to the way in which charcoal is produced, the generators are filled with fuel and gently heated, creating a gas that is directed to the motor for burning.
The wood gasification motors have two significant shortcomings: they require an enormous amount of hardwood in small pieces – three kilos of wood for a performance equivalent to that of one litre of petrol. Additionally, the motors get very dirty very quickly, making their maintenance extremely expensive. Because of these disadvantages, Migros also uses methane gas generators and gives up on the wood gasification method as soon as the war ends.

In 1941 Migros was converted from a public limited company to a cooperative. Gottlieb Duttweiler and his wife Adele essentially gave away the company to their customers. The motivation behind this extraordinary move is still not entirely clear. Migros is worth an estimated CHF16 million when founder Gottlieb Duttweiler and his wife Adele decide to change it to a cooperative in 1940 and thus, as it were, give it away. At the end of the year, about 75,000 shares at CHF30 each are given to Migros customers. Many are puzzled by this decision. Historians understand the change as a reaction in particular to the world situation and quote Duttweiler’s statement that if the Nazis were to occupy Switzerland, it would be more difficult for them to “expropriate from hundreds of thousands of small cooperative members than from one single millionaire”.

But this explanation falls short as Duttweiler has been occupied by the thought for a long time. In the spring of 1933, he lectures at a “public conference on the subject of the economy” in Binningen on the question: “Migros – a future cooperative?” In the same year, the Migros subsidiary in Ticino constitutes itself as a cooperative, and soon after Duttweiler establishes both the packaging company Sabina and Hotelplan as cooperatives.

Duttweiler is a politically minded and engaged person with high ethical standards. But he is also a private person. In the year Migros becomes a cooperative, he is 52 years old and has no heirs to whom he can pass on the business.

In summer 1942, Gottlieb Duttweiler launched the cooperative publication Wir Brückenbauer, for which he regularly penned the lead story. The weekly newspaper also solved the problem Migros was facing with their ads: the press frequently refused to run them.

After the change of Migros AG to a cooperative, Gottlieb Duttweiler wants to launch a newspaper “for our over 100,000 cooperative members”. But the timing, in the middle of the Second World War, is inappropriate. Paper as a raw material is scarce, and Duttweiler fights for months with the authorities in Berne for permission.
At last, on 30 July 1942, the first edition of Wir Brückenbauer appears. It carries the title Wochenblatt des sozialen Kapitals and is free to cooperative members. Week after week, Duttweiler writes the leading article, which is usually strictly edited by his colleague, the economist Elsa F. Gasser. Initially, the newspaper has just four pages, but it grows step by step into a comprehensive newspaper. In addition to Migros themes, social, political and cultural matters are examined from the viewpoint of Migros. A special service offers a page for women with advice and letters, and a page for children; later comes a feature page on entertainment. Thus, the Brückenbauer is an important contributor to the inclusive feeling of the ‘Familie M’.
The cooperative’s newspaper solves the problem of the refusal of many newspapers to take Migros advertising. Here, almost unlimited and cheaper advertising space is available. And so, the simple text advertisements of the early years are soon replaced with whole page, often multi-colour advertisements.
In May 2004, the now relatively tired Brückenbauer gets a major overhaul and is reborn as Migros Magazine.

Gottlieb Duttweiler was not only a cunning salesman, but also a tireless publicist. Week after week he spread the word about the Migros ethos: in ads that he dubbed newspaper in newspaper, in flyers and in Die Brücke.

Gottlieb Duttweiler is a particularly smart communicator. As his drivers take to the street for the first time in August 1925, he gives them a flyer to hand out explaining the programme of Migros AG. Eighteen months later, he buys advertising space for the first time in the Zurich Volksrecht, in order to make Migros news public. In it, he denounces the police department, which fined one of his drivers for “continually hooting, apparently for the sole purpose of attracting customers”. With this text advertisement, Duttweiler fights against the arbitrariness of the police department head, who is president of the shareholders’ meeting of the consumer association and therefore opposed to Migros. At the same time, Duttweiler establishes with this first publication a successful model of public relations, known in advertising jargon as argumentation advertising, and by Duttweiler as the “advertisement which wants to give the reader something”.

For the first time on 21 December 1927, Gottlieb Duttweiler buys advertising space in the three largest Zurich daily newspapers for Zeitung in der Zeitung. In addition to announcing Migros products, it also contains articles he has written on the development of Migros and on economic, political and ideological subjects that interest him. Not satisfied with “mere slogan advertisements”, he wants to “get into a discussion with the audience” and be “explanatory and advisory”. Later he lovingly calls the weekly Zeitung in der Zeitung a “little imp and big caller who all by himself lifts the lid on which ten thousand quietly sit, and who with rage and humour calls out the truth to the world”.
But the ‘imp’ does not always appear. Sometimes the reason is that its father, Duttweiler, is overloaded; mostly, however, it is the pressure Migros’ opponents put on the publishers. They refuse to publish the Zeitung in der Zeitung in order to avoid an advertising boycott by the brand article manufacturers and retailers. In reaction to this, Duttweiler hands out a flyer under the title Die Brücke, which is almost a first, small Migros newspaper. Zeitung in der Zeitung actually outlives its founder: in the 1970s, it appears in 33 daily newspapers in Switzerland and is discontinued only in 1996.

After Migros became involved with Praesens-Film, the Brückenbauer started advertising the production company’s films. When their post-war refugee drama Marie-Louise was struggling at the box offices, the newspaper started a promotion offering free tickets, which helped the film take off.

The year that the Federation of Migros Cooperatives acquires shares in the film production company Praesens-Film AG, the company shoots the film Marie-Louise. It tells the tragic story of a French refugee girl who stays with an affluent Swiss family for three months in order to recover from the horrors of the war. Despite a star cast, including Heinrich Gretler and Anne-Marie Blanc, it gets off to a slow start in the cinemas in autumn 1943. Like a knight in shining armour, Gottlieb Duttweiler launches an advertising campaign in the Brückenbauer: all housewives who shop in Migros during poorly frequented, off-peak times receive free cinema tickets. The word-of-mouth propaganda of these cinema-goers functions perfectly: just five days later, the film showings are regularly sold out.
In Switzerland alone, Marie-Louise is seen by a total of one million people. It is the start of an international success story that brings Praesens-Film full houses in London and New York, and even an Oscar for the best original script. Marie-Louise and Gottlieb Duttweiler are therefore major contributors to the revival of the Swiss film industry after the Second World War.

In 1947 Brückenbauer encouraged members of the cooperative to underwrite shares in Praesens-Film AG. With this financial backing, Praesens produced the post-war drama Die Gezeichneten (The Search), an Oscar-winning Swiss film with Gottlieb Duttweiler as its unofficial godfather.

In 1947, Gottlieb Duttweiler makes a forceful request to the readers of the Brückenbauer: “If the Swiss film industry is important to you, then help with the further expansion of Praesens-Film AG.” The company, with which Migros has been financially involved for four years, builds a new studio and makes preparations for the film Die Gezeichneten, a co-production with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Star actors such as Montgomery Clift and Fred Zinnemann, later the director of High Noon, are taken on for the film.
For this ambitious project, Praesens-Film requires new capital. Three thousand minority shareholders respond to Duttweiler’s appeal and a total of CHF600,000 is raised. “It is heart-warming that here something big has been achieved by little people,” rejoices the Brückenbauer: “It is a step on the way towards the world reputation of Swiss films!”
And it is a fact that Die Gezeichneten is the most successful Swiss film ever. The story of a boy who survives Auschwitz and becomes friends with an American soldier moves the audience and is praised by the critics. The New York Times writes: “Our earnest wish is that it might be seen by every adult in the United States.” The film received four Oscar nominations, an Oscar for Best Motion Picture Story and a special prize for the child actor, Ivan Jandl. Without Gottlieb Duttweiler and his belief in the power of the little people, there would not have been the financial resources for this success.

Migros drivers who served in the army during the Second World War were in some cases replaced by women. However, when unemployed drivers protested against their new female competition, Migros promised to revoke these «emergency measures» once the war was over.

At the end of 1944, the Federation of Migros Cooperatives receives a letter from the VHTL trade union. In the letter, the unionised drivers complain that Migros is training female sales assistants to be drivers so that they can drive the sales vans. The men, many of whom are out of work because of the strict petrol rationing, are resentful and demand a statement about the new competition in the job market. Migros answers immediately: it is an “emergency measure”, a “provisional solution due to the war”.
However, Migros is not alone in using women workers while male employees are serving in the army. The postal service engages female employees to deliver the post and the Zurich tram company has female ticket vendors. But the Migros women drivers provoke a “lively conflict”.

The union accuses Migros of paying the female drivers less than the male drivers and demands the same wage for the same work. Migros counters that the wage is fully appropriate for the performance. Unlike the men, the women – even on ‘easy routes’ – have to rely on an assistant: “A woman is not even able to lift the flaps of the sales vans alone, not to mention change a tyre.” The wage received is, however, higher than the average female wage of the time.
The union is particularly annoyed when Migros argues that higher female wages must be passed on to the customer: Die Freie Innerschweizexcitedly claims: “We are talking here only about the principle that a woman should receive the same wage as a man when doing men's work”, and accuses Gottlieb Duttweiler: “He thinks only of the yield and the profit. Exploitation of female employees: the veritable inventor of ‘social capital’ again shows his true colours.”
Three months later, as the end of the war is in sight, the battle with the unions ends. Migros promises the drivers: “After the war, the former situation in favour of male employees will be restored.”

In 1945, Migros bought a canning factory in Thurgau’s Bischofszell region. Production to steadily increased due to the modernisation of the machines. In 1956, demand for canned goods was so great that Migros – together with Conserves Estavayer SA – opened a second production plant in western Switzerland.

Four days before the end of the war, Gottlieb Duttweiler signed an agreement to purchase the Tobler & Co. cannery in Bischofszell, arming Migros for the post-war period in which demand for canned goods would steadily grow. Migros’ canning operations were relocated from Meilen to the new site and the unprofitable factory was completely overhauled. In summer, the Bischofszell factory produced vegetable and fruit preserves; in winter, jams, syrup, ravioli, condensed milk, tomato purée and canned meat. In addition, Pomol, a fruit juice concentrate invented by the factory founder – remained in production.
Thanks to the factory’s modernisation, daily ouput during the 1950 vegetable harvest reached 100,000 cans – an amount that, in turn, required new harvesting methods. Instead of being hand-picked, peas were quickly and automatically machine-threshed from the vines. By 1956, though, demand could no longer be met and Migros built a second production site at Estavayer-le-Lac, from where it supplied western Switzerland.

Not only was Gottlieb Duttweiler instrumental in bringing American sales methods such as convenience stores and self-service to Switzerland, he also introduced many American consumer products after the Second World War, contributing to the Americanisation of daily life in Switzerland.
«America is a smart country and generous in every sense of the word, and I like it very much», Gottlieb Duttweiler told his wife Adele in 1918 after a business trip to New York. «You'd be amazed at how much of an I’ve become.» Little did the young entrepreneur suspect that he would take a huge role in bringing the American consumer culture to Switzerland. In 1925, he launched the mobile shop based on the American model. In 1948, he promoted the «liberation of the buyer» through the concept of «self-service». Three years later, he introduced the «supermarket» as «the most modern way to offer goods»; soon after, an American-style «snack bar» was built within the supermarket. Early on, Duttweiler imported canned fruit and «Fancy Mixed Fruit» from California but it was only after the Second World War that he set up trade offices in New York. Through these offices, the Swiss had access to consumer goods that had previously been largely unfamiliar to them. And thanks to Migros pricing, everyone could afford these goods. In addition, Migros regularly organised concerts featuring leading American jazz musicians. With all of this, Duttweiler became one of the most important pioneers of the Americanisation of daily life in Switzerland.

When the egg ration was lifted at Easter of 1946, Migros started to import large quantities of eggs from America and then later also from Canada, Argentina and Sweden. In this way, Migros was able to meet the demand for eggs in Switzerland, particularly in the winter months when Swiss hens laid too few eggs.

Even when the war had finally come to an end, many products were not yet available or only in insufficient quantities. Gottlieb Duttweiler’s business took him to America in the beginning of 1946, where he bought over 60,000 cartons of eggs. «It was all about the eggs», reported the Brückenbauer in early March. «The eggs aboard the ‹Topa-Topa› steam boat set off from New York on 7 February and arrived in Basel today: faster than by post, as fast as a passenger ship!» Migros imported eggs on a large scale from other countries in the following years. Despite the transport costs, eggs from the USA, Canada and Argentina were cheaper than those produced locally.
Migros bought eggs from Sweden for the first time in 1959, arranging an affordable transport agreement with the Swedish airline. The airline regularly collected fresh flowers from the French Riviera and delivered the eggs to Switzerland on its way back. Migros gleefully promoted this air cargo as «flying Swedish eggs». At Christmastime, one of the largest egg suppliers sent Migros a live reindeer as a gift, which it then presented to the Zurich zoo.

The promotional film Familie M featured a character called Maria. This maid represented the young women from South Tyrol whom Migros brought into Switzerland in 1946. The Brückenbauer made a point of reminding readers that they should not be treated merely as paid help, but as people.

“You know, Maria is also from Migros,” explains Mrs. Moser in the promotional film Familie M to her clearly delighted neighbour (played by actor Emil Hegetschweiler). The cinema viewers understand the reference to the Trentino project, which had caused quite a stir. In 1946, Migros organises the entry of “reputable, healthy, willing” women from the Trentino region as household help. The Brückenbauer reminds cooperative members: “We are not only receiving manpower, but also people.” Thus, the newspaper created a sentence, which two decades later, hardly changed in its form, was expressed by Max Frisch. The author denounces the hostility of the Swiss towards foreigners by writing: “We called for manpower and human beings came.” A culture shock awaits the young immigrants from the South Tyrol. Most of them, according to the Brückenbauer have never seen an electric cooker, and many are not used to running water. It is therefore not surprising that their cooking abilities are limited to polenta and spaghetti. Although not the “perfect maids”, the newspaper still claimed that they would make up for their shortfalls “through cheerful character, natural modesty, thankfulness for all advice and the inborn love of children”. The moral of the story also comes across immediately: “Swiss women could learn from the Italians how to really ‘serve’ with love and devotion.” Mrs. Moser’s neighbour’s answer is not without reason: “Yes, I would also be happy to have one of those little Italians; my wife is on holiday right now.”

When a Migros cooperative was founded in Canton Vaud in the autumn of 1945, it too faced fierce resistance. Both traders and the fledgling «Middle Class Movement» used every possible means to prevent the expansion of Migros in their canton.

Despite the later establishment of the Migros Vaud Cooperative, resistance was fierce, taking on dangerous proportions. Not only did the Gazette de Lausanne call Gottlieb Duttweiler «a stinking fly» that «lands on anything that stinks of bankruptcy and decay to suck up its poison», the man also receives anonymous defamatory and hate mail. Shortly before Christmas 1945, members of the newly-formed «Middle Class Movement» dragged a «Gottlieb Puppet» through the city streets to be burned at the Major Davel monument. Just as the Vaudois freedom fighters had sought to free themselves from Bernese domination, they too sought to liberate their people from the threat of Migros tyranny. The cantonal parliament did not simply stand by: it drew up a constitutional amendment that forbids companies from outside the canton to open new branches in Vaud. But it’s a lost cause: in November 1946, voters reject the change to the cantonal constitution. One week later, on Lausanne’s Rue de Mauborget 2, the first Migros shop in canton Vaud opens its doors.

French translation:

"Movement of the middle class '=' Mouvement des Classes moyennes»

"Mouche malodorante qui se pose sur tout ce qui sent la faillite et la Putrefaction pour en tirer son venin": "Cet insecte malfaisant nous guette depuis des années, de Zurich, où il règne au milieu de ses richesses."

In the 1960s, Ines Torelli and Jörg Schneider take over from Adalbert Klingler, the creator of Migros-Kasperli. This gives Franz Lamprecht, head of Ex-Libris, the idea of producing Kasperli records. The recordings "S'Häxegärtli" and "De verzauberet Schpiegelweiher", written by Schneider, are released in 1967. Soon, there is not a nursery in German-speaking Switzerland that isn't echoing his "Tra Tra Trullala," followed by "Potz Holzöpfel und Zipfelchappe" in the broadest Zurich brogue. However, in 1970 Kasperli faces accusations of racism due to the recording "De Schorsch Gaggo reiste uf Afrika." Using language such as "Chruselischnuseli-Negerchindli" for the girl Zuzu or "Gaggo-Neger" for black people goes very much against the grain of the zeitgeist. Yet it has a massive fan base that is loyal. At the Zurich club Hive, Kasperli recordings are sometimes played instead of hard beats, and, for the amusement of the audience on a TV programme Christoph Blocher quotes: "Hüt en Rappe, morn en Rappe, git e schöni Zipfelchappe." The latest craze is feature film scenes on YouTube into which fans have incorporated original Kasperli dialogue. Around 20 Kasperli adventures are published in total between 1967 and 1995.

After the Second World War, Migros imported large quantities of eggs from America. When a letter from an egg sorting employee was found in a crate from Minnesota, the Brückenbauer launched a writing competition called «Egg blessings from America».

The Migros egg checker is amazed when he finds an egg on which is written: ”Whoever finds this egg, please write to Miss Loreen Wilsie, Grand Meadow, Minnesota USA. Egg sorter at the Farmers Produce Company.” Loreen Wilsie added this personal greeting to a dispatch of eggs in early 1946, at a time when Migros imported eggs from the USA to put an end to the years of ”shortest rationing”.
Migros reacts promptly and Miss Wilsie receives a friendly letter and a photo book about Switzerland. The Brückenbauer makes the most of the opportunity and ”starts a competition“ amongst the cooperative members to find the ”most appropriate and funniest story or drawing about the egg blessing from America“.
The winner is Ms. Thaddi Brodmann from Adliswil. Her contribution is published in August in the Wir Brückenbauer newspaper and the rest of the entries are published as a collection and also sent as a thank you to Miss Wilsie in the USA.

In 1947, , Gottlieb Duttweiler opened a «clubhouse» at Zurich’s Alpenquai intending for it to become the focal point of the Club School movement and inspire a new society. For this reason, in addition to the courses, the Club School also hosts cultural events and social gatherings.

Gottlieb Duttweiler had big dreams when he rented the Kursaal venue located in Zurich’s former Henneberg Palace in 1947. The Alpenquai «clubhouse» was to provide «a place for socialising», «bridging the class divide» and fostering a new «social life». With this in mind, in addition to voice, crafts, dance and bridge classes, the Club School also hosted cultural events and lectures for housewives and parents.
However, the expected rush to the «People's palace» did not materialise and the operation went into the red for a number of reasons: A report called the restaurant «average» because, for example, «the curry is not served with rice, but with spaghetti or potatoes»; the staff «lack sales skills», and the pianist «applies himself more to taking breaks». The director and film producer Franz Schnyder felt the place lacked the flair to attract a wide public and didn’t meet its needs. He preferred classical music. In 1953, Duttweiler abandoned the «clubhouse» project, leaving the building to the Club School. Franz Schnyder, however, continued to successfully host his Clubhouse concerts in Switzerland’s concert halls.

To meet the demand for flowers in winter, Migros established Florispania. The Catalonian carnation farm offered housing for its workers and a day care centre for their children and was considered to be a model farm. It was also seen as a form of development aid for struggling Spain.

Carnations are so popular with Migros customers that supply shortfalls are common, especially in winter, when the outdoor carnations in Italy and Spain freeze. Migros’ solution is to found the company Florispania together with its Spanish suppliers in 1961. In Mataró, north of Barcelona, the company owns the largest “flower farm”, covering some 80,000 m2, on the Spanish Riviera. Hothouses for flower cultivation, as well as management premises, laboratories and packaging facilities are built there. The operations are state of the art and also include residential housing for the staff and a day nursery. Migros is proud to soon be awarded a medal of honour for its exemplary operations by the Catalan agricultural department.
Just one type of flower is cultivated in Mataró, the American Sim carnation. Its cultivation brings certain risks and requires a specialist to manage it. He controls the “sterilisation of the soil with steam” and ensures that the cuttings are free of viruses. “As the Sim carnations are planted as a monoculture, an invasion of pests would be disastrous,” explains the Brückenbauer. “It is therefore the duty of the chemists to experiment with pesticides.”
Migros has developed and patented a procedure to keep the cut flowers fresh for as long as possible: a polythene pouch is filled with a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen, and then sealed around the flowers. In the coldest months, the flowers are transported to Switzerland via air freight or by train.
In 1969, Migros calls its commitment in Spain an “experiment” and an “interesting possibility for practical development aid”. Fourteen years later, and eight years after the death Franco, this view has been overtaken by the spirit of the times. Migros sells Florispania: the reason for the sale is not known today.

Hotel-Plan, Migros’ travel agency, began selling holidays to destinations abroad again in 1947 for the first time since the end of the war. Beach holidays along the Adriatic Coast were affordable and popular. Beginning in 1954, Hotel-Plan clients could travel overnight to their holiday destination on the «Beach Holiday Express».

Two years after the war ended, Hotel-Plan opened an office in Milan and began offering holidays to destinations outside of Switzerland once again. Along with Capri and Rome, affordable beach holidays along the Adriatic Sea proved to be a big hit. An all-inclusive eight-day holiday in the south cost only 166 francs per person. Italy was the most sought-after destination among the Swiss in the 1950s and the economic recovery made it possible for many people to fulfil their dream of a holiday outside of Switzerland. By 1954, 20,000 Hotel-Plan guests had enjoyed the Italian coast of the Mediterranean Sea. That same year, Hotel-Plan initiated the «Beach Holiday Express»: guests travelled comfortably overnight in a sleeper coach, reaching their destination without missing out on valuable vacation days. With the perennial «beach holidays along the sea» offering, even families with children could now enjoy holidays at the beach. Hotel-Plan was also involved in constructing four bungalow-style villages for families in 1968. It was some time before other destinations in neighbouring countries in the south become more popular. Since the 1980s, destinations overseas, such as Haiti and Réunion, have increased in popularity.

There had been intense debate at Migros before the self-service concept was accepted. Gottlieb Duttweiler was sceptical, while his colleague Elsa Gasser was a vehement supporter of the move. Photos of self-service shops in other countries were used to help the discussion.

In 1917, the American Clarence Saunders applies for a patent for a ”self-service store“. Hence it is Saunders, who calls his shop in Memphis ”Piggly Wiggly“, who is considered the inventor of self-service. In Switzerland, a health food store tries out the self-service system in 1931, and a department store in Geneva introduces it early in 1948. But the motor for the introduction of self-service to Switzerland is Migros with its large chain of branches.
The opening of the first self-service shop in the spring of 1948 is preceded by many intense in-house discussions. Elsa Gasser, a Doctor of Political Economy and a Migros employee since 1932, pushes for the fast introduction of the change. She has already seen the system in action in Sweden, the pioneering country for self-service, and is convinced that it is the only way forward. Gottlieb Duttweiler is, however, sceptical. According to Hans Munz, another long-standing employee, he praises ”the small, homely and human contact promoting shops” during the discussions. But Elsa Gasser, ”the paid opposition“ as Duttweiler affectionately but sarcastically calls her, has her way.
The Migros employees responsible for the fitting of the shops gain inspiration from countless photos of self-service shops in other countries. These photos can still be found today in the archives of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives and give an impression of the self-service system shortly after the Second World War.
By the way, Elsa Gasser was right: In 1955, eight years after Migros introduces its first self-service shop, modern ”self-service” already accounts for 83 percent of its turnover.

Self-service changed people’s shopping habits. Once a customer had decided to buy something, she or he could immediately go and pick up the product. And to promote impulsive purchases, the marketing department positioned cheap products in the «impulse centre» next to the check-out.

The principle of self-service, which Migros introduces in 1948, fundamentally changes the customers’ purchasing behaviour: ”When a customer goes past openly displayed goods, he is forced to make a decision every time he looks at a certain article: Should he buy it or not?”, as a contemporary text describes the new situation of the customer.
The time of the ”market researchers“, as the marketing specialists are called, has arrived. They have to determine the best methods for increasing turnover. In Migros, they put three-legged baskets close to the checkouts, and soon change to fixing wire baskets ”directly on the checkout“. Thus, the products are in the direct view of the waiting customers. The baskets, which are soon available in all possible types, are sometimes hung a little higher or a little lower, sometimes filled with foodstuffs and sometimes non-food articles, but never with expensive products. It is quickly proven that this system clearly increases ”the urge to buy“ and that children's articles and sale offers sell particularly well here.
When the customer decides to purchase something in front of the checkout, the experts in the early fifties already speak of an ”impulse buy“. The system proves so successful that in 1955, Migros starts to expand the checkout ”to include sale displays“. In the specialist terms of the market researchers, this extended checkout is therefore called ”impulse corpus”.

The self-service principle at Migros shops necessitated a new architectural concept. Specialists tried out various ideas to come up with the ideal «customer pathway» that would result in the highest possible sales. Migros deliberately rejected a «one-way system» that would restrict customers’ movement within the store.

At first, Migros customers are served by sales assistants who gather the goods together from behind the shop counter. With the introduction of self-service in 1948, the branches are converted one by one. This presents some new problems for the architects. One question is how the customers will move through the shop space. Another is whether there is a form of ‘customer guidance’ that increases turnover. The solutions to these problems define the floor plans of the Migros branches.
Basically, the areas of the self-service shop – the entrance and exit areas, which in some shops are in the same place, sales and checkout areas – are arranged to create a round route. The arrangement of the shelves guides the customers through the shop space, so that they leave only by passing through the checkouts. A door only for staff leads to rear spaces, such as the storeroom, cold storage facilities and offices.
In the first self-service shop in 1948, this gives a simple floor plan. The plan becomes more complicated, however, the larger the sales area and the greater the range offered for sale. In the Migros Markets from 1952, there are separate spaces for the butcher section, snacks and the flower corner, and often there is also a second floor.
Only once, when the floor space allowed no other option, has Migros used the “one-way system”. According to the business report of 1961, the customers in the shop in Freiburg are “unconsciously ‘forced’ to pass by the entire range displayed in the shop from the entrance to the checkout”. This system becomes known in Switzerland later with the Denner shop branches. And in 2007, when Migros takes over Denner, Migros once again has one-way shops.

In the first Migros self-service shop, in Zurich’s Seidengasse, customers were able to take products from three racks and a chest freezer. The new system was so successful that the shop’s turnover increased by a third.

The Migros Seidengasse branch lies in the heart of Zurich, close to the department stores Jelmoli and Oscar Weber and only three minutes walk from the main train station. This privileged location makes it one of the branches with the highest turnovers. The starting position for the ”trial” planned by Migros could not be better.
On 15 March 1948, the first Migros self-service shop opens its doors in Seidengasse 12. In view of this day, the doors are divided into entrance and exit so that the customer – ”following the principle of right-hand traffic“ – is steered to make a round tour. Just after entering, the customer is handed a basket, a service that is soon done away with.
Now the customers can select the products themselves from two large free-standing shelves, a wall-shelf and a deep-freeze and put them in their baskets. Vegetables, bakery goods and meat are still offered at the counter. Payment takes place at one of five tills; next to the side till are the chocolate eggs ready for the upcoming Easter.

Two weeks after the opening, the Brückenbauer reports that only 10 to 20 percent of the customers are having difficulty with the new system, mostly children and elderly people. But there are also men who are of the opinion that they should not be expected to carry a shopping basket. The editor pointedly comments: ”To be married to such men must have its peculiarities; but it is possible that the clever Migros sales assistants will be better able to deal with such men, as their wives.”
The experiment is a huge success: Within a short time, the turnover of this first self-service shop increases by 30 percent. Die Tat, the newspaper of the Landesring der Unabhängigen, founded by Gottlieb Duttweiler, rejoices: ” Migros has once again proven that it is still youthful and adventurous.”

Self-service brought with it a new phenomenon: shoplifting. To fight it, Migros installed mirrors, hired security personnel and encouraged customers to keep an eye on each other. The most frequently stolen products were fresh meat and chocolate.
With the introduction of self-service, Migros is confronted with a new phenomenon. Migros calls it “inventory deficiency” but means by that, shoplifting: “Does not the person in the self-service shop suddenly offer, in the middle of a world of suspicion, distrust and accusation, the image of naive trust in fellow people? Can one not simply take the opportunity and fill the basket – unobserved and quietly alone?”, it asks in 1949, immediately before affirming a belief that “the great majority are honest people”. Nevertheless, “suitable measures” are taken. In addition to installing mirrors, Gottlieb Duttweiler “invites the people” to “mutual control” and also makes use of a card library of the “definitely proven shoplifting thefts”. About 1,000 of the offences registered here are solved with customers’ help. For a long time, the legal status of shoplifting is unclear. Only in 1964 does the Federal Court decide that it is not a matter of embezzlement, but a more severe crime that must be penalised. The Brückenbauer opines that these criminal proceedings are “absolutely correct”, since if shoplifting continues to increase “then the self-service system will become practically unusable. And who has to bear the loss in the end? The honest customer!” In 1971, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) organises a conference on the subject of shoplifting with psychologists, politicians and the chief of Zurich criminal police, who has a register of more than 21,000 shoplifters. The situation is sobering: while the number of cases and the value of stolen goods increases, the number of undetected cases is estimated to be 95 percent higher. The ‘deficiency’ amounts to between 0.5 and 2 percent, which for Migros means an annual loss of at least CHF16 million, not counting the wages for surveillance personnel of almost CHF1 million. The hit list of stolen articles is interesting: fresh meat leads the list, followed by chocolate, ladies’ underwear, butter, cheese, children’s clothes, purses, stockings and writing instruments. The psychologists blame the “current advertising and sales methods” for providing a “permanent temptation for unstable people” in which “the barriers of reason, morals or even the conscience often do not count”. The politicians request that the upbringing of the children “raises the awareness of the impermissible smaller thefts” and demand a clear regulation in the penal law. Finally, Migros boss Pierre Arnold, who has headed the conference, expresses “his satisfaction with the valuable discussions” and the Brückenbauer concludes: “It is never good to conceal the damages instead of talking about them openly and trying to find a remedy through joint effort.” Today, Migros does not publish any statistics on the subject of shoplifting.

After the war, Migros imported countless consumer goods from America, such as the West-Bend pressure cooker. It was much less expensive than the local products and made Swiss prices fall by around 50%.

In the summer of 1948, Migros advertises the ”American express pressure cooker“ West-Bend.’ It stands out, according to the Brückenbauer, because of its ”simple, elegant design”, its ”easy usage“ and the ”savings in gas or electricity“. The price is also very convincing, since at 52 francs, the West-Bend is much cheaper than the Swiss competition. The pressure cooker Flexil from the Sigg company costs 180 francs, almost a quarter of the average monthly wage. The demand for the West-Bend exceeds all expectations: Although it is only sold to cooperative members, it is quickly sold out.
With this import operation, Migros changes the market: Soon, the Lebensmittelverein Zürich offers a different cheap American pressure cooker for sale, and the Kuhn company in Rikon launches the best selling ”Duromatic” for 90 francs, in the same year. Migros follows the trend and in 1954 announces for the first time the sale of its own brand Mivit Swiss-made pressure cooker.

Customers of the Migros branch on Goethestrasse were amazed when its new doors opened as if by magic. These sensor-operated doors were soon replaced by an air curtain, and the final barrier between passers-by and products was removed.

All the self-service shops, which Migros introduces in 1948, have a newly designed entrance area. The old shop door is now divided into an entrance and an exit. This enables the customer to move through the shop on a round route that leads from the shopping baskets to the checkout.
But the architects study how to make the entrance area more inviting. With self-service, the barrier between the customer and the goods, the counter, is gone. Similarly, the transition from the street to the shop should also be made barrier-free.
In 1949, the Zurich newspapers enthusiastically report on a new “magical door”. The talk is of the entrance door of the newly converted Migros branch on Goethestrasse by the Zurich-Stadelhofen train station. As soon as the customer approaches, a sensor opens it automatically. This sensation causes “extremely lively comments”, reports the Zürcher Woche, “above all from the technically interested gentlemen of the species”. The women, however, do not seem to be impressed by the new technology: “The daughter of Eve appears rather surprised, even shocked, at the completely novel phenomenon.” When the Goethestrasse branch is renovated in the mid-1950s into a Migros Market, even this minimal barrier is removed: Now, the shop doors stay open all day and are replaced in the colder seasons by an air curtain.

In a deliberate effort to antagonise the manufacturer Unilever, Gottlieb Duttweiler sold Lux soap at two-thirds of the usual retail price. Unilever took him to court and prohibited him from selling the soap, but Duttweiler won the sympathy of his customers.

”It is up to us to furnish sufficient proof that the brand articles are expensive due to the advertising, and to prove that the same brands are sold in Switzerland at prices which are around 80% higher than in London and the USA”, explains the Brückenbauer in 1950 to its readers. The corresponding presentation of the evidence in the Migros branches is worthy of being filmed. Migros is able to buy two thousand crates of Lux soap in the USA, with each crate containing 120 soap bars. The ”soap of the film stars” is then sold for 50 centimes per bar.
Normally, the soap, supplied by the Swiss representative of the American Unilever company, Sunlight AG from Olten, is sold for 76 centimes per bar. This company then sued and the court stopped the sale of the soap through an interim injunction. Gottlieb Duttweiler countered this by presenting the rest of the Lux soap in the display window with the notice: “«Sale prohibited due to an application by the oil trusts. Price 50 centimes”. He therefore had the last laugh – and Unilever were the losers. Unilever then quickly agreed to the sale of Lux by Migros, but had the provocative window display prohibited by the courts. The customers are happy: the Lux

Migros launched book sales in 1950, in collaboration with the Ex Libris Book Club. Thanks to high volume print runs in their self-service branches, it significantly undercut other booksellers’ pricing.

«Good books for everyone!» proclaimed the Brückenbauer magazine in 1950. In collaboration with the Ex Libris Book Club, Migros planned to sell «not just cheap spaghetti, but intellectual works as well». The principle would be the same: mass print runs for low prices. The Migros press and network boosted distribution capabilities and soon, every self-service branch featured a shelf with «Brücken-Bücher» (Migros-brand books). This was then repeated in special «bookshops».
Ex Libris joined forces with the s'Zäni youth club to educate youngsters about the dubious nature of surreal detective novels and adventure stories (for boys) and overly sentimental romances far removed from reality (for girls). It was a matter of honour to support the «Fight Filth» initiative in Olten in 1965, which invited local youth to publicly burn their "Wildwestheftli» (Wild West magazines) and comic books. As a reward for their wisdom, according to the Aargauer Volksblatt newspaper, Ex Libris donated books with the principle «a new book for each bundle of rubbish». Migros, meanwhile, donated torches and the sausages that were gleefully devoured once the deed was done.

Grammoclub, an offshoot of the Ex Libris Book Club, was the brainchild of Elsa Gasser, economic advisor to Migros. Despite a boycott by the industry, Grammoclub quickly became a major player in the Swiss music market.

As LP records began to emerge, Migros employee Elsa Gasser had the idea that Ex Libris could also sell records. No sooner said than done, Ex Libris sold its first records in 1952. The records cost half what they did in the specialised shops and a cheap 3-speed turntable machine was also available for purchase. Migros’ annual report described this as «epoch-defining», taking records from being «hobby to an affordable source of joy for medium to low income people». Ten years later, the Ex Libris Grammoclub had already sold some 700,000 records, about half of which were of classical music. Migros saw this as a «decisive contribution to the fight against the excesses of the unbridled business of pop music. » Sales were remarkable, especially in view of the recorded music industry’s boycott, which pushed Grammoclub to cooperate with the American record club MMS and set up its own production in Switzerland. Only in 1965 did the industry yield to the power of Grammoclub in the Swiss market, calling off the boycott.

When federal restrictions were relaxed in 1951, Gottlieb Duttweiler launched his «yellow taxis» in Zurich. With these cheap minicabs, he was looking to implement his philosophy of greater selection at lower prices in the transportation sector – and his success was marked by a significant reduction in fares.

In order to create more jobs in the midst of a global economic crisis, Gottlieb Duttweiler attempted to launch his concept of cheap minicabs in 1934. He applied for a taxi concession in Zurich, but was turned down and was forced to keep the idea on the back-burner. When the state-regulated taxi system was finally relaxed in 1951, he immediately bought one hundred yellow Vauxhall taxis and established Minitax AG, throwing cheap fares into the fray of Zurich’s taxi industry. The competition responded with price cuts, sparking an outright «taxi war», which included a heated discussion between Duttweiler and the taxi operator, G. Winterhalder in a jam-packed Volkshaus.
The only female chauffeur also causes quite a stir: «Now let's be honest here: the prospects of a woman having an extraordinary career here are not particularly rosy», states the Brückenbauer magazine: «Hä, lueg die Grite! Es Wiib als Taxichauffeur» (“Hey, look at that! A woman taxi-driver!”), a couple of Milchschnäuze Rekrutengwändli declared contemptuously, while in the city’s Zürichberg neighbourhood, where they spoke rather more eloquently, men – swinging their canes – would comment, «Hä, lueg do, Eini!» (“Hey, look, another one!”).

Following the Anglo-Saxon example, Migros used music to improve the mood and productivity of its employees. The musical by request programme introduced in the Zurich and Basel distribution centres in 1951 was a runaway success.

At the beginning of the fifties, Migros investigates whether it makes sense to make the rather boring work more pleasurable with music. In England and the USA in particular, this is already common in many businesses. During the Second World War, they started playing music in ammunition factories for those doing hard, boring work. The music was so popular with the personnel that the BBC launched a new radio programme especially for this purpose called Music at Work . The Brückenbauer, comments: ”People are not machines. Their spirits go astray when the monotonous, over-practised work procedures in rationalised factories do not keep them engaged.”
In Migros, the spirit will not be under-developed, and so in 1951, a music programme of half an hour twice a day is introduced in the distribution centres in Basel and Zurich. According to the Brückenbauer, ”melodious pieces of generally the same rhythm; not too slow, so that the employees are not hampered in their work, but also not too fast so that they do not get the impression that they have to rush the work“ are played.
In December, the Brückenbauer dedicates a whole page article complete with photos by Theo Frey to this innovation. The telephonist acts as DJ for the music programme and controls the list of the most popular titles. Number one on this factory hit list is the title music of the thriller which is in the cinemas in the same year, Der dritte Mann.

With the expansion of Migros shop sales areas, Migros began selling refrigerators in 1952. With a 100-litre capacity, the Nevada was half the price of conventional refrigerator models.

«The Swiss housewife probably has no greater wish – that even her husband completely understands – than to have a nice refrigerator», suggested the Brückenbauer magazine. Given that only one in ten Swiss households had a refrigerator, this wish was prevalent. So Gottlieb Duttweiler launched the Nevada refrigerator in 1952, which – at 650 francs – was still far beyond the average monthly salary, but much cheaper than competitors’ fridges. Anticipating great demand, Migros decided that the «sale is for members of the Migros cooperative only». As the «popular» price was still too high for many, the smaller Alpina model was introduced in 1955.
The trend, however, leaned the other way – to bigger and cheaper refrigerators, as initially demonstrated by the SIGMA, which Migros declared is «unbeatable in both price and quality». In 1971 the mio-fresh, a baby in Migrosʾ new line of household electrical items, is born offering 173-litre capacity for only 460 francs.

Migros asked its New York purchase office for some reference materials about the introduction of self-service restaurants. The photographer didn’t deliver what they were looking for, so an employee simply went and took some shots of self-service in action at «Hector’s Cafeteria».

Five years after the first Migros snack bar opens, those responsible start to think about a self-service restaurant. Emil Angst, a member of the governing board, asks for photos of such restaurants in the USA to be sent to the Migros purchasing office in New York. But the employee given this task, AK Strasser, has difficulty with it: “Please believe me that I have spent countless hours trying to obtain the photos for you,” he writes in May 1957. “They promise them to me, but I never receive anything; so is the American way.” Finally, after many “comings and goings”, he receives photos with “a busty black lady, in which the photographer has clearly concentrated on the lady and her shape rather than on the fittings of the cafeteria”.

The Migros Market inspired a new kind of shopping culture. By 1958, the product range included 2,700 items, and architects and designers gave their all to ensure this impressive selection was presented to customers in the most attractive way possible.

The entire architecture and interior planning of a Migros Market is designed to bring the customers closer to the products. For this purpose, special shelves are developed: “The new gondolas, shelves and cooled, open display units are secondary to the products; only the products should have an impact and be generally heaped up in an informal way, be spread out in front of the customers.” The lighting concept follows the same goal. With it, the influence of daylight within a building is limited “in order to ensure an even lighting of all goods”. And there are increasingly more of these goods, as the 1950s are the time of the economic miracle and an increasing number of people in Switzerland are able to afford more. For Migros, this means expansion of the range and expansion of the branches. When the first Migros supermarket opens in Basel in 1952, it has 450 articles; six years later, the latest Migros Market has more than 2,700. Above all, the non-food sector is greatly expanded with many articles for daily use, for the household and leisure, and with goods for old and young. It is with good reason that the slogan of this Migros shopping paradise is: “Everything under one roof”.

A two-storey Migros Market was built at the market square in Oerlikon in 1956. Shelving along the walls meant that the first floor had no windows, but the ground floor featured a continuous glass window that ensured passers-by wouldn’t miss the vast array of products on display.

The crowds stand shoulder to shoulder on the market place in Oerlikon, the Oerlikon-Seebach band plays a cheerful march, and then Gottlieb Duttweiler takes to the improvised lectern. His exact words are not recorded, but the message is probably similar to that announced in a large advertisement in the autumn of 1956: “The decisive step now follows. Our branch network in the Kreis 11 district is now complete with the conclusion of the construction of a supermarket 25 years after the opening of the first Migros shop.”
The Migros Market Oerlikon is the first in the city of Zurich on two floors. This enables the “maximum usage of the construction site”: foodstuffs on the ground floor, non-food on the first floor, and a staircase with display cases in between. The front façade of the upper floor is windowless in order to “gain the maximum amount of sales space” and to avoid “the disturbing light reflexes” of daylight. Only the snack bar offers a view of the market place. The ground floor, however, offers “an almost continuous, large display window front”. According to Migros, this underlines “the changed purpose of windows in food retailing”. Earlier, the presentation of goods in the display window was the most important advertisement for the retailer. Now, this function is taken over by the shop itself. Migros is therefore convinced that the best advertisement today is “the unhindered view into the Migros Market from outside”.

A modern lighting concept was developed for the new Migros Markets. The goods are illuminated with spots, so that customers aren’t dazzled by glaring lights. Many branches also feature unique light sculptures whose light is pleasantly similar to daylight.

Migros had already tried to create a light and friendly atmosphere in the self-service shops. This is more difficult in the Migros Market since “the modern supermarket has no windows”, as the Brückenbauer explains to its readers in 1952. Hence, daylight enters the Limmatplatz branch only through the glazed entrance area. This then requires “functional differentiated lighting” to create a “homely atmosphere”, while simultaneously showing off the products to their best. According to the Brückenbauer, the architects have achieved this perfectly. They have arranged the lighting in a “completely new manner” and created lighting that is “gentle and deceptively similar to daylight”. This is due especially to the ‘cloudy sky’ with its “bright cloud edges and a mild light which cheers and elates”. Only the spots built into this sky shine directly on the goods. In later Migros Markets, the cloudy sky is replaced by pillars, which dominate the space and are effectively light sculptures. The façades, however, are opened up to the daylight and give customers a view.
Light also plays an important role when the Migros Markets are closed in the evenings. Then, the range of products inside remains lit and, thanks to the glass façade, can be seen from afar. And the Migros sign is illuminated even brighter. It promises another modern shopping experience the next day.

Migros Markets were not always welcomed with open arms. Small retailers were concerned about their ability to compete and traditionalists complained loudly about the introduction of the American supermarket concept. Gottlieb Duttweiler defended Migros Markets, claiming they were an improved Swiss version of a foreign concept.

The introduction of the Migros Markets, which are actually Migros supermarkets, attracts harsh criticism in 1952. Opponents of Migros see their worst fears confirmed, as the huge expansion of the Migros range now competes with the retail traders specialising in consumer goods. Retailers of stationery, household equipment, electronic articles and clothes are affected, to mention just a few.
The association of Swiss retailers expresses its criticism of the Migros Markets in a poem with the title ‘Der Über-Markt’ (The Over-Market). It calls for a boycott of Migros and ends with the question: “Do you want the over-market, which is eating us all up, to grow stronger?”
Part of the resentment against the Migros Markets is, however, that the supermarket is an American invention. Traditionalists especially resist the Americanisation of everyday life, something that has increased in Switzerland since the Second World War. Gottlieb Duttweiler is certainly very conscious of this as he carefully follows the critical reporting in the press. In the Brückenbauer, he tries to combat the anti-American reflex at least among Cooperative members: “Dear members! Can we not also be a little proud to be able to show the Americans, the inventors of the supermarket, a Swiss/European solution to the problem? No cold sales machines, but spacious, cheerful, homely markets. The spirit, the colours and the form are no copies, but a new, improved version!”

The leitmotif for the interior design of the new Migros Markets was a traditional, open-air marketplace. By incorporating this idea into the American-style supermarkets, Migros increased acceptance among locals.

The architectural office of Vogelsanger, Schwarzenbach and Nabold develops a unique architectural style for the Migros Markets. Many of the ideas, however, come from Gottlieb Duttweiler himself. As illustrative aids, he obtains photos of supermarkets abroad. One such photo shows the inside of a Belgian supermarket with a market stall. This photo may be what inspires Duttweiler to use a market as the design key for his new Migros supermarkets.
The “most modern interior design to create a market illusion” is first realised in 1952 in the MM Limmatplatz in Zurich. The effect is created with striped awnings, living plants and a cloudy sky as a very original ceiling design.
“Why shouldn't we spread out the colourful goods in abundance, like they do at a market?” asks the Brückenbauer. But the real aim is to incorporate the supermarket, giving it a European or even Swiss character, and thus promote the acceptance of this import from the USA.
The theme of the traditional market actually becomes a trademark of the Migros Markets. Even the Nargus Bulletin, the magazine of American retailers, asks in 1955: “Are Swiss supers the most beautiful in the world?” The Brückenbauer knows the answer: “The visitors really do always have something whilst shopping for which they do not have to pay at the checkout: several cheerful minutes in the hustle and bustle of a market. And thus, we have shown the Americans how to do it.”

Limmatplatz in Zurich was home to the «first real Migros Market». Gottlieb Duttweiler made a witty speech at the opening, and although entry was, in theory, reserved for members of the cooperative, security staff gave in to the flood of curious onlookers.
On Wednesday, 29 October 1952, there is hardly a way through for the motorists on the Zurich Limmatplatz. Here, with balloons for the children and flowers for the ladies, the “first real Migros Market” is opened. A huge mass of people gathers in front of the entrance. Then, at last, the doors open “and the cooperative members stream and stream and stream continuously in”. At the entrance, Gottlieb Duttweiler personally greets the lucky ones who are the first to be able to get hold of a shopping basket. He later gives a humorous speech from atop a wooden crate: “Why is it that the youngest are the most spoilt?” he asks. And, because he knows that his customers are not used to the luxury that a Migros Market offers them, he adds that he wants to “turn shopping into a pleasure for the women!” Actually, on the opening day, only Cooperative members are allowed to enter, but at 10.30am the rush is so great that it is impossible to check the membership cards. Hence, the Securitas employees are reduced to trying to ensure that the mass of people get past each other as easily as possible. The Migros later justifies this explaining “that lots of non-Cooperative members came from other areas or from distant parts of the city, and we were not able to summon up the courage to send them back home”. On the next day, another “new record number of customers” is achieved and on Friday, Saturday and Monday there is still a huge rush and “a real market atmosphere”. The Brückenbauer piques readers’ curiosity even more when it reports “high season on the Limmatplatz” and gives the honest advice: “Avoid the afternoon crowds in the Migros Market. Make use of the agreeable shopping time in the morning!”

Migros opened its first-ever «Super Market» in Basel’s Eisengasse in 1952. Hundreds of people flocked to the new shopping paradise on its opening day. The «Super Market» stocked groceries on the ground floor and other consumer items on the first floor.

The Securitas employees are pushed to the limit with their responsibility for ensuring that the people can enter and leave the shop safely. Twelve thousand people attend the opening of the first Swiss supermarket at Eisengasse in Basel. “One doesn't take offence when the Basel inhabitants take pleasure in the fact that, for once, they win by a nose ahead of Zurich,” reports the Brückenbauer in May 1952. “The first supermarket is in Basel and not Zurich...”
The foodstuffs are on the ground floor of the new premises: “The long, open refrigerated display units present tempting chicken, ice cream, etc. A special attraction is the appetising sausage and meat goods department in the background and the wonderfully fragrant bakery in the front section of the store.”
The customers move to the upper floor up a “gently curving staircase”. On the first floor are the commodities: “From the baby clothes to the nylon stockings, from the wooden spoons to the modern salad servers, from the toothpaste to the eau-de-Cologne, everything is clearly and easily displayed.” This is more of interest to the women; the invited gentlemen of the press are, much more interested in the “ingenious ‹bottle and cardboard returns system›, which leads the items directly from each checkout on the ground floor to the cellar via a conveyor belt”.
To celebrate the occasion, small customer gifts are handed out: A “bouquet of May flowers for the ladies”, a “practical pocket manicure set for the gentlemen” and a “bright balloon for the little ones”. Full of enthusiasm, the Wir Brückenbauer journalist wishes: “May the Basel Migros supermarket bloom and flourish!”

The very first Migros snack bar was built in Zurich after permission for it was denied by authorities in Basel. The cheap snacks were a big hit and the snack bar marked the beginning of Migros’ venture into gastronomy. This new business area grew rapidly and the cooperative is constantly developing new concepts.

When the Migros Cooperative Basel opens the first Migros supermarket in the spring of 1952, it is refused permission for the planned snack bar. Instead, the customers have to settle for a coffee bar. The first snack bar is therefore installed in the Migros at Limmatplatz in Zurich. Here, housewives can order a ‘Schale Gold’ for 25 centimes, hot sausages with bread for 80 centimes or a “beaker of brawn, very popular” for half a franc. Bread rolls and patisserie are delivered from the show bakery next door.
Lifestyle changes help make the snack corner with its modern stand-up bar a success. The introduction of flexible working hours and a shorter lunch break mean that many employees do not go home for lunch; instead, they eat out. According to Migros, this makes “good value eating opportunities in the industrial areas a matter of public interest”.
In 1960, Migros operates 33 snack bars throughout Switzerland, but the Migros Restaurant is already on the horizon. In the new Stockerstrasse branch in Zurich, an eating establishment is created that offers a “very elegant” solution for various requirements: normally, guests sit at a table, but for the ‘rush hour’ between 11am and 2pm, the chairs are removed and the tables are fixed at standing height. At the end of the year, the Migros Market Stadelhofen combines the restaurant and snack bar in a different way: the stand-up bar on the ground floor, and on the first floor “more of a tearoom – with rather higher prices”. Hence, hurried business people are as equally well served as the customers who want to chat over a coffee.

In the post-war period, nylon stockings were both innovative and expensive. Prices only began to fall after «Nylons» became available in Migros Markets. Migros stockings were a great success but were eventually superseded by the more practical pantyhose.

After the Second World War, the first nylon stockings appear in Switzerland. Like no other product on the market, they symbolise the hope of economic recovery and a better life. However, the rare “wonder things” cost between CHF 30 and CHF 40 a pair and, at 60 to 70 denier, are almost opaque.
In 1952, Migros sells stockings for the first time in the new Migros Markets. They are Swiss nylon stockings, including the daring model Original Fishnet. The stockings are now so cheap that they quickly become a best seller. The range is continually expanded and the stockings become increasingly transparent, until in 1965 the Brückenbauer reports: “40 denier is popular only for nuns; 20 or even 15 denier, flimsy, transparent until almost invisible is ‘super in stockings’. Beauty is what counts, not durability.” But the customers also show their sense of practicality: stockings are slowly but surely pushed into second place by the arrival of tights.

Founded in 1928, the "Boston Conference" is an annual event attended by academics from leading universities and practitioners from all levels of business – from small retail organisations to department and chain stores across all sectors. Migros is invited to share its ideas with conference guests for the first time in 1946. In 1953, Gottlieb Duttweiler attends the event again giving an address entitled "Serving people - a creative force" and is inducted into the "Hall of Fame in Distribution." He is recognised for the "creation of a unique form of distribution" and the reductions in food and goods costs achieved.

According to the Innerschweizer Bauernzeitung, hordes of people made the pilgrimage to Lucerne to see the newly opened Migros Market in Hertensteinerstrasse. Customers were particularly surprised to see groceries and consumer goods sold in the same shop.

In the run-up to its opening, the new Migros Market in Lucerne is already sparking discussion. The local press is excited that staff are working night shifts in order to have the premises finished in time for Christmas 1954. In the articles, the general reproach is that Migros is exploiting its workers. Migros placates the press by saying that only six workers are working just 10 nights “to complete the premises”.
The local fuss is soon forgotten as more than 10,000 inquisitive people crowd in front of the new building on Hertensteinerstrasse. The journalist from the Freien Innerschweizers reports that the new Migros branch matches “the idea of a spacious and modern retail premises in the easy American style”. He is particularly surprised that foodstuffs and consumer items are offered for sale in one large room, divided only by pillars: “It appears to us that they have solved the problem cleverly, although occasionally some remarkable neighbours are featured, such as, for example, in the rear right corner where Goethe’s works and Beethoven’s symphonies stand right beside lettuces and cabbages.” The premises are certainly designed so that the “purchasing public” must learn “to find its way around, among the 1,500 sales articles”.
How the customers find their way around is not recorded, but they certainly find their way inside with ease. The Innerschweizer Bauernzeitung reports a week later: “From real interest and also to satisfy the urge for sensation, the Migros Market in Lucerne has been the target of endless hordes and the resulting crush is often ‘no longer nice’.”

The sales vans were the focus of Migros’ thirtieth anniversary celebrations. Two loyal Migros drivers took to the streets of Zurich in an old Ford Model T, exactly thirty years after their debut.

Exactly as they did on that day 30 years earlier, Oskar Bachmann and Alfred Iselin steer their fully loaded Ford Ts out on to the street. It is eight o'clock in the morning, and once again, the passers-by stop and inquisitively watch the vehicles pass, but this time for a different reason. Thirty years earlier, Migros AG sent its sales vans out to the districts of Zurich for the very first time. Today, the Federation of Migros Cooperatives celebrates its 30-year anniversary. Both drivers follow the same route once again and sell the goods at the same prices as in those days – however, each customer is allowed to purchase only one article, so that stocks last for as many customers as possible.
Migros presents its nostalgic sales vans as the focal point of its anniversary celebrations as the mobile sales vans have become a symbol of the company. Back in 1931, Gottlieb Duttweiler showed off an old Ford T on a plinth in the distribution centre at Limmatstrasse. On a plaque is written: “Er hat’s geschafft.” (He did it.) Although in the same year, the number of shops overtakes the number of sales vans, the importance of the mobile shop is not lost.
Towards evening on 25 August 1955, Oskar Bachmann and Alfred Iselin steer the empty, sold-out vans back to the depot. The Migros anniversary motto also applies to these two long-standing employees: “30 years faithful – in the service of the people, in the fight for rights – and in the coming decades too!”

The uniforms worn by the Migros sales assistants were influenced by the latest trends. Originally simple and inconspicuous, they became more fashionable after self-service was introduced. But it wasn’t until 2005 that designer Ida Gut created a unified look for the employees of all the Migros cooperatives.

For a long time the vendors of the Migros wear a simple white apron over a smock. The modesty of the work wear is an expression, not least the corporate culture of Migros AG. But sometimes coat and apron still be adorned by a coquettish little cap.
For a long time, the sales assistants in Migros wear a simple white apron over a smock. The modesty of the work clothes is not least an expression of the Migros corporate culture, but sometimes the smock and apron are decorated with a coquettish cap.
Only in the 1950s, as the triumphant advance of the self-service shops dramatically changes the sales assistants’ activities, is the apron done away with. The smock remains and becomes increasingly subject to changes in fashion. First, it becomes colourful – orange of course – and then the company emblem is added. A name tag makes the sales assistant identifiable for both praise and criticism. At the same time, it preserves – despite being a uniform – a bit of individuality.
Since 2005, the 38,000 Migros employees have worn work clothes designed by the Zurich fashion designer Ida Gut. It is the first time in the history of the company that all employees of all the cooperatives have worn the same uniform. Even more remarkable is that the new Migros look makes no hierarchical distinctions.

In 1956 the Migros Club School offered language courses in foreign countries to enable students to also learn about the country’s culture. Today the «European Language and Education Centre» offers courses in 30 locations around the world.

Migros language courses have been offered in many European countries since 1956. The concept is that students live with a host family in order to become familiar with the country’s culture. After four years, the «European Language and Education Centre» grew out of this idea, beginning with a capital of half a million francs. The money came from the Cooperative Association, the Federal German Savings Bank and from the personal assets of Gottlieb Duttweiler and Herbert Elköh, the owner of a chain of German supermarkets. The two fellow entrepreneurs set out to get «large companies from all countries to cover the costs to send their employees to the language and education centre». Such a service, they argued, would not only help with continuing education, but would also be more sustainable than more expensive alternatives. Even more important to them was their purpose: after the horrors of the Second World War and in the midst of the Cold War, they wanted – as a Swiss and a German – to jointly promote understanding between different peoples.

The so-called Culture Percentage was incorporated into the statutes of the Migros Cooperative Association in 1957. It stipulated that one per cent of future Migros revenues would be set aside for culture and education. This has made Migros one of the most important organisations promoting culture in Switzerland.

When Gottlieb Duttweiler converted Migros AG into a cooperative in 1941, he expressed for the first time the idea that one per cent of its revenues should be used «unreservedly to promote public and cultural efforts», arguing that: «Theatre and concert halls have to be open the masses: to the youth who should be inspired, to the fathers and mothers of large families struggling under everyday pressures, to the worker with low wages, to maids and farmwomen».
Ten years later, when Migros saw its revenues multiply thanks to its policy of expansion and economic growth, he asserted: «We have to use our growing material power for ever greater social and culture achievements». But it was only in 1957 that the statutes were amended, stipulating that the Migros Cooperative Association had to make available one per cent of its revenues for cultural and social events, while each regional cooperative had to set aside 0.5 per cent. Since then, around 3.8 million francs have gone into financing the Migros Culture Percentage, as well as independent projects, the Club School, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute GDI, the Migros Museum for Contemporary Art in Zurich and four parks.

Gottlieb Duttweiler established the Migros Bank AG in 1957 as ever-greater sums of money were handled by the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. It was quickly transformed from an internal institution into a retail bank with attractive interest rates and affordable mortgages.

In the 1950s, with the economic miracle, finances flow and grow. At Migros, too, the money flows; in particular, an above-average amount of money is invested in the modernisation of branches, the distribution centre and manufacturing facilities. Hence, the Migros Federation of Cooperatives has to take on an increasing number of “typical bank functions”. When Gottlieb Duttweiler and Migros financial manager Gottfried Kleiner discuss this phenomenon over dinner one evening, the solution becomes clear to them: Migros has to establish its own bank.

In early 1958, Migros sales vans were finally introduced in Canton Glarus which was under the catchment area of the Zurich Regional Cooperative. Local businesses tried to fend Migros off one last time, but there was nothing more they could do against the will of the cantonal government.

The authorities in Glarus dragged their feet for 14 months with regard to Migros’ request to operate its sales vans. Migros decided it had waited long enough and could now act: it announced in a leaflet the first sales route through the canton. This set the ball rolling and the first Migros vehicles were permitted to drive to Bilten, Nieder- and Oberurnen, Näfels and Mollis on Epiphany, 1958. People gathered together everywhere - those who were fans of Migros and also those who were against it. The president of a farming corporation blocked one of the designated stops with agricultural machinery and «heavy» boulders, but these were futile gestures.
The Cooperative Assembly celebrated the long-awaited triumph to protect Glarus by hanging four 1:10 scale model sales vans from the ceiling, « a visible sign of the recently won success». The Brückenbauer excitedly reported that the meeting was a «party with spirit and motivation». There was a «top-rate magician» and the Basel Cabaret Gigampfi, followed by an orchestra – «for young and old to join in the dancing and be put in a great mood».

The Migros cooperative in Geneva incorporated Aproz mineral water into its product range in 1951. Seven years later, when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, Migros purchased its fresh water spring, renovated its bottling plant and constructed a railway bridge.
When Otto Bumann from Valais buys a decaying farm in the village of Aproz, the seller complains about a troublesome spring under the old bakery. The water is not suitable “to drink, or to cook or to wash with”. To his surprise, Bumann discovers that it is a valuable mineral water spring. In 1947, he builds a wooden shed as the first bottling plant and sells the mineral water locally. Four years later, he signs a supply contract with the Migros Cooperative Geneva. Despite the good turnover, Gottlieb Duttweiler is not interested when it is proposed that he purchase the bottling plant of Seba AG. Only when the company is threatened with bankruptcy in 1958 does Migros take a 90 percent stake of the share capital. Step by step, Migros expands the capacity of the plant and the range of products. In 1968, it announces a “milestone in the history of the Aproz spring”: it is the “changeover from the swing top to the crown cap”. Today, Aproz AG is the largest Swiss mineral water bottler, with annual sales of about 200 million litres.

The first Swiss institute for nutritional research is founded in Rüschlikon in 1958 by the "Im Grüene" foundation and is officially opened on 18 April 1959. Gottlieb Duttweiler, President of the "Im Grüene" Foundation, gives the opening address. The Federal Office of Public Health and various nutritional science societies from Switzerland and neighbouring countries attend the event. In light of the increasing use of technology in food production and greater insights into the links between nutrition and public health in nutritional science, research work becomes increasingly important. Under the leadership of J.C. Somogyi, the institute's research activities are recognised both in Switzerland and abroad. It aims to explore and conduct research on all nutritional matters of importance to the promotion of public health, irrespective of economic considerations. Workshops are held on a regular basis.

Not permitted to sell pasteurised milk, the Migros cooperative in Basel started the «milk war». It began by illegally selling milk; then, after having been fined, the milk was given away in return for a « voluntary» donation.

In the autumn of 1959, a year after the Migros Cooperative Zurich does so, the Cooperative Basel applies for permission to sell pasteurised milk in its branches. They wait seven months without a reply, and then Rudolf Suter, Director of Migros Basel and LdU member of the Swiss Parliament, discovers that two department stores are ” without difficulty ” selling pasteurised milk. He then ”decides to take action himself“ as the Die Tat, the LdU newspaper writes: He organises the free distribution of quarter-litre packs of pasteurised milk and prepares a petition for the liberalisation of the sale of milk. Within a short time, 35,000 people sign the petition.
At last, permission is given, but according to Die Tat, it is limited by ”political power and lobbyistic measures“: The sale is only permitted in three branches, and the milk must be obtained from the regional milk association. But Suter starts the sale in 22 branches and obtains the milk from the Migros Cooperative Zurich, which has just built an impressive new pasteurised milk plant. And, as all good things come in threes, he lowers the price per litre to 7 centimes below the legally fixed price of 72 centimes.
When the authorities hear of this, they call for an immediate halt to the sale of milk, but Suter ignores the directive. He is subsequently fined 200 francs by the magistrates. After the proceedings, an official representing the plaintiff tells a journalist that he had never seen anyone who ”so consciously and so intentionally obstinately“ disregards legal requirements as Suter does.

Even the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on the disagreement. Under the title ”Duttweiler's milk war in Basel“ it reports that the ”belligerent founder“ of Migros has ”once again dug up the hatchet“. In fact; the Brückenbauer calls upon the people to oppose: ”Swiss people are not subjects, they are citizens. They have the right to rebel against arbitrariness when it is required in order to serve the people.”
In Basel, a Migros advertisement informs readers that giving away milk is ”not prohibited“. Each customer could therefore take ”up to 1 litre per day for free“: ”It is up to the housewives to voluntarily give the appropriate amount to cover the cost of what they require for their family table.” In the shops, ”money boxes“ are installed next to the milk shelves and posters are put up asking for ”give-and-take”. Only when the authorities threaten coercive measures; the campaign is stopped.
Three years after the ”Basel milk war”, Migros and the milk associations get it all together and declare: ”A milk war is no solution!!!” With posters, advertisements and window displays, they advertise together for milk as a healthy food. Their slogan reads: ”An extra glass of milk per day because milk makes things better”.

With the Optigal programme, begun in 1962, Migros set out to offer its customers hormone-free chicken and promote domestic poultry production. Standardised and automatic methods of raising chicken were seen as a way to enable Swiss poultry farmers to compete against inexpensive poultry imports.

The consumption of chicken increased fourfold in the fifties and the demand could only be met through massive imports. But the imported chicken was not always of the best quality. So Migros promised its customers in 1960 that it would no longer purchase «hormone-treated poultry». It went one step further in 1962 with Optigal S.A. Through the Optigal programme, independent Swiss poultry farmers could comply with Migros’ quality requirements and still remain competitive, thanks to standardised fattening facilities and automated rearing. Migros delivers the broiler chickens, guarantees certification and sees to slaughtering the animals. As the programme is managed without subsidies and the farmers are nonetheless satisfied with their earnings, the Zurich Tages-Anzeiger called it the «little chicken revolution». The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also acknowledged the initiative’s «constructive value» and criticised the farmer’s association, which was opposed «in the strongest terms» to promoting industrial poultry farming. But the most satisfied of all were the customers who could now afford perfect quality Swiss «Güggeli».

1962 proves to be a momentous year for Migros. Gottlieb Duttweiler dies on 8 June at the age of 74. The M-community are not the only ones in mourning. The countless obituaries published in Switzerland and abroad show just how highly regarded the Migros founder was. The funeral service held at the Fraumünster is broadcast to the Grossmünster, the Wasserkirche and St Peter's Church. Thousands of mourners pay their last respects to Gottlieb Duttweiler. All of the stores and companies within the M-community close for the day. "Dutti," as he is affectionately known to people, has had a major influence over Swiss society with his ideas and actions.

After Zurich and Basel, Migros took the «pasteurised milk war» to Schaffhausen. Its targeted actions, including illegally selling milk and giving it away, contributed to the liberalisation of the pasteurised milk market in 1965.

After the ‘milk war’ in Zurich and Basel is settled, it flares up again in the autumn of 1962 in Schaffhausen. The pattern is the same, with just a few regional differences: Migros applies to the cantonal authorities for permission to sell pasteurised milk. The processing of the application is delayed, and Migros starts selling without permission, obtaining the milk illegally from the Migros Cooperative Zurich, which owns a large pasteurised milk plant. Like his Basel counterpart, the director of the Migros Cooperative Schafffhausen, Franz Schmid, is fined. And like his colleague, he refuses to stop selling the milk.
And so one morning in January 1963, the police arrive at the Migros Market in Schaffhausen, seize the previous day’s milk and deliver it to the Salvation Army and an old people’s home.
A short time later, the loudspeakers in the shop announce that free milk is available on the ground floor. Schmid gives away the day’s freshly delivered milk and has a collection box set up for voluntary donations. Standing on top of an egg crate, Schmid explains that he “is the notorious defendant” in the Schaffhausen milk war, and thanks his customers for their loyal support in the battle: “They think that we will get tired over time and give up the fight. I can assure you though, that we will not get tired and the battle continues.” Schmid has to be patient though, as it is another two years before the sale of pasteurised milk is permitted throughout Switzerland.

Migros’ Gruyère cheese ripens for months in massive underground caverns. The Gruyère cheese wheels from Freiburg account for just a small part of the thousands of tons of cheese produced and packaged each year by the Migros subsidiary Mifroma.

Deep in the mountain near the village of Ursy, in the middle of the hilly landscape of Fribourg, they lie in their thousands. Over a period of five to 15 months, they are turned and washed with salty water on a daily basis. They rest here at a constant temperature of 12 degrees and a humidity of 95 percent. The rock material of the hills around Gruyères is excellent for ripening and maturing cheese. In the caverns belonging to the Migros subsidiary, which was founded in 1964, 35,000 huge Gruyère cheeses can be found.
In manufacturing Gruyère, Migros follows an old tradition. According to the legend, even the Roman emperor Aurelius was able to enjoy the local cheese. Cheese production, however, has been documented in the area only since the 12th century. A document from that time shows the Earl of Gruyère agreeing to support the monks of Rougemont abbey in the supply of cheese.
Today, Gruyère cheese boasts the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, a designation of protected origin label. Dozens of conditions are connected with the AOC label that the manufacturer Mifroma has to fulfil. These conditions refer to the geographical origins, the form, the smear (which is actually the rind), the weight of the whole cheese, and the number and shape of the holes.
Mifroma has been responsible for Migros’ entire range of cheeses since 2003. It covers the five companies Elsa, Mifroma, Mifroma France, Dörig and Mifroma USA, which annually produce, refine and pack more than 28,000 tonnes of milk and cheese products, including soya products, cottage cheese and salad sauces.

Migros was one of the first Swiss companies to use television advertising. Even when the ads appeared in colour starting in 1968, most viewers were still seeing the orange M in black and white on their outdated TVs.

On 1 February 1965, Swiss television broadcasts its first advertising spots. These can be seen on about half a million television sets – with the number increasing rapidly – and bring SRG more than CHF20 million in the first year.
The new advertising medium is so popular with companies that demand is many times greater than the number of legally allowed slots. Migros also starts advertising on TV, first for Voncafé, with an animated cartoon made in stop motion technique. The only problem is that black and white television does not show off the orange trademark to its advantage.
When colour television is introduced in Switzerland at the end of 1968, Migros starts producing colour spots. In its annual report in 1969, it reports: “When used in measured doses, colour is an important additional element in television advertising.” But in practical terms, colour poses a problem to advertisers as most viewers still have black and white sets. In order to avoid the orange M appearing a drab grey on the home sets, it is broadcast for five years in black or white in the colour spots. But, just in time for Migros’ 50th birthday celebrations in 1975, the Familie M gathers around an orange M, which is seen by most viewers as it should be. However, it now becomes apparent that the hue is rather random. It is only in 2005 that Migros finally defines the exact shade of its trademark.

With political manoeuvring, media campaigns and illegal sales, Gottlieb Duttweiler fought for years for the liberalisation of the milk industry. By the time the sale of pasteurised milk was finally approved in 1964, he had sadly already passed away.

The so-called milk decision in 1953 decrees that the milk industry will continue to be regulated by the government - above all, with a fixed price and a limited number of sales outlets. Only those retailers who also deliver milk to the customers’ homes are permitted to sell milk. As the milkman service no longer covers its own costs, it is co-financed by the sale of milk in the shop. The Milk Association argues that this system is the only way to guarantee home delivery and with it, the greatest possible sale of milk.
Wholesalers such as Migros are excluded from this system, even though Gottlieb Duttweiler had tried for many years to obtain permission to sell pasteurised milk. With illegal sales, he provokes the milk lobby and authorities, organises unauthorised free milk campaigns and launches petitions for the liberalisation of the sale of pasteurised milk.

Only in 1964, two years after Gottlieb Duttweiler’s death, the milk industry is beginning to change . The Parliament decides, by a great majority, to liberalise the sale of pasteurised milk. At last, Migros can sell milk throughout Switzerland. But the Landesring der Unabhängigen, the political party founded by Duttweiler, starts a referendum. The party disapproves of the minimum price for milk which is also part of the ”pasteurised milk order”. This policy is not in the interest of the wholesaler Migros, which can undercut the dairies’ prices.
A wide political coalition counters the Migros party’s referendum with the slogan: ”Mid-May – pasteurised milk for free!“ But the voters seem to have lost interest in refining the milk war. With an electoral participation rate of miserable 37.2%, they clearly turn down the referendum in May 1965.
In its annual report for 1965, however, Migros takes a positive attitude: ”Our huge efforts and the fight in this sector have paid off.”

When the Czech Republic’s first president, Václav Havel, received the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize, his acceptance speech made headlines. He compared Switzerland to a prison in which the inmates believed themselves to be free.

The awarding of the Gottlieb Duttweiler prize is always an important social event, but on 22 November 1990, the guests are particularly excited. The event has an international touch: The former dissident and Czech President Václav Havel is being honoured, and the laudatory speech is given by the author Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
Havel, who is honoured for championing human rights, is one of the leaders of the ”Samtene Revolution“, which brought about the end of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in
1989. He was the first president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic and is, since the dissolution of the countries, the first president of the Czech Republic.
The speech by Dürrenmatt is the cutting requital of an old man with his homeland. In an ”absurdity“, he describes Switzerland as ” a prison; of course, one quite different to the prisons in which you were thrown, dear Havel. It is a prison into which the Swiss have fled. Because everyone outside the prison is attacking each other and they are only safe from being attacked within the prison, the Swiss feel free, more free than all other people, free as prisoners in the prison of their neutrality.”

In his speech, Friedrich Dürrenmatt criticises Switzerland, the land of files and banks, and the behaviour of the Swiss towards political asylum seekers, conscientious objectors and foreign workers: ”Who does not want to be a prisoner in a prison where one is free, and so the prison has become a world attraction, many try to be prisoners, what they can be if they have the necessary resources, freedom is, after all, something valuable, whilst those without resources could seek if possible in prison that kind of safety to which only the free prisoners are entitled, and again many are refused entry.”
”The prison management is not to be envied. On the one hand, there are too few prisoners to keep the prison clean: the luxury cells, the corridors, and even the bars on the windows, so that people have to be let in to the prison who, just to earn money, renovate the prison, restore it, rebuild it and keep it going. On the other hand, there are those prisoners who, it is true, also earn money, but seem to be looking down on prisoners who are not free.»

On the one hand, there are too few prisoners to keep the prison clean, the luxury cells, the corridors, around the window bars, so that people have to be let in to the prison who, just to earn money, renovate the prison, restore it, rebuild it and keep it going, on the other hand, those prisoners who, it is true, also earn money, but are like looking down on prisoners who are not free.»

”Of course, we praise our direct democracy, of course, we have the old-age and surviving dependants' insurance and even introduced voting rights for women to the amazement of the world, and privately we are insured against death, illness, burglary and fire: he whose house burns down does well. Politics here has also moved out of ideology into the economy, its questions are economic questions. Where is the state allowed to intervene, where not; where to subsidise, where not; what to tax, what not? Wages, leisure time, are all regulated by negotiations. Peace threatens to become more dangerous than war. A terrible, but not a cynical sentence. Our streets are battlefields, our atmosphere is exposed to poisonous gases, our oceans are oil puddles, our fields are contaminated by pesticides, the Third World is plundered worse than the Orient was ever plundered by the Crusaders, it is no surprise that it now blackmails us. Peace is the father of all things, not war; war results only from unmanaged peace. Peace is the problem we have to solve.”
”Maybe you ask which republic I dream about. I answer you: an independent, free, democratic, economically prosperous and also socially fair republic, in short, a humane republic which serves the people and therefore has the hope that the people will also serve it. A republic of generally well-educated people, because without them, none of our problems can be solved, whether human, economic, ecological, social or political. Many Swiss dream that they live in such a republic, so to speak in the dream which you, Václav Havel, are dreaming.”
The laudatory speech for Václav Havel is the last great speech by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He dies three weeks later, on 14 December 1990, of a heart attack.

Migros unveils a product with cult potential in summer 1975: ice cream sticks in three flavours. Zurich graphic designer Hans Uster designs the packaging. He creates the now legendary packaging – a seal for vanilla, a monkey for strawberry and a bear for chocolate. Today, the ice cream featuring the adorable animals is amongst the "M-Stars," making it one of nine brands given cult status by Migros and its customers. Midor in Meilen, owned by Migros since 1928, produces 27 million of the creamy lollipops each year!

On 1 July 1976, Arina Kowner, previously Consumer Affairs Officer, takes over as Cultural and Social Director of FGM. She is the first woman in the M community to bear the title of Director.

Migros becomes the first Swiss company to produce a report on social issues which is presented to the public at a press conference on 4 September 1978. In the introduction, Pierre Arnold writes: "Reporting on social matters aims to publicly present the strengths and weaknesses, achievements and shortcomings of a company." And that is exactly what the report edited by Werner Baumann and researched by Professor Meinolf Dierkes from Berlin does. This document reports on customer relationships in the commercial, social and cultural spheres. It analyses interactions with employees, cooperative members, the environment, the public, suppliers and competitors. It does not just bring positive aspects to light either. Many of those interviewed find Migros to be too big and powerful. The criticism is taken seriously within Migros. The report on social matters is continued and further editions are published in 1980, 1983 and 1985. Even critics concede this represents a pioneering step in terms of corporate disclosure.

Migros Basel publishes an anniversary book on the company's history to mark its 50th year. Otherwise, the year is distinguished by the commitment to the "Grün 80," which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. The crowds include tens of thousands of cooperative members throughout Switzerland. Migros gives 400,000 tickets for admission to "Grün 80" to cooperative members, retirement homes, school classes and associations. The annual report published in its anniversary year indicates that Migros Basel has 3,250 employees, 88,606 cooperative members, 14 sales vehicles and 50 stores. Its sales totalled CHF 660.3 million by year-end.

The "Kulturführer Schweiz" ("Swiss Cultural Guide"), printed in colour, which is distributed free of charge in three languages with a print run of 580,000 copies in 1982, provides a unique overview of cultural attractions in almost every town and village in the country.

On 6 July, the first M-Informatic AG store opens on Reitergasse in Zurich. By setting up this company, which is founded in 1985 and opens five more advice centres and sales outlets in German-speaking Switzerland during its first year, Migros aims to meet the needs of many customers for whom PCs have become an essential tool in working life.

Since 1987, the Migros Culture Percentage has been promoting the Swiss music scene with the Musiques Suisses record label. The Swiss label’s concept is deliberately broad, encompassing all music that is connected to Switzerland, ranging from classical, to jazz, to folk music.

Whenthe Migros Culture Percentage established the Musikszene Schweiz initiative in 1987, it aimed to place «Swiss music in all its variety and contrast» squarely on the map. Today, Migros Culture Percentage’s CD label is called Musiques Suisses and is the leading label for Swiss classical and new folk music. The concept is deliberately broad, effectively making it possible for Swiss music to be anything, from the popular «Stubete» folk music, to a Swiss orchestra’s classical flute concerts, to a Serbian immigrant’s compositions that blend traditional Balkan music with American jazz.
The Musiques Suisses label now boasts three sub-labels: Grammont Portrait for new music, Neue Volksmusik which seeks out examples of innovative arrangements featuring traditional Swiss music, and Musiques Suisses/Jazz, which is a collaboration with the Swiss radio’s cultural channel, Radio SRF 2 Kultur. In addition to the Swiss Public Broadcasting Association (the SRG SSR), Musiques Suisses , amongst others, has dedicated partnerships with Pro Helvetia, Suisa and various organisations of artists and producers involved in Switzerland’s music scene.

In the 1980s, Migros commissioned the company Autelca, in collaboration with the Migros bank, to develop a system for non-cash purchases. The «Cardomat» was first tested in a shopping centre in Bern.

On 13 April 1987, the time has come: in the Shoppyland shopping centre, the Berne Migros Cooperative, together with Migros Bank, test non-cash transactions. The magic word is EFTPOS – Electronic Funds Transfer at the Point of Sale.
The system is developed by Autelca AG. This limited company goes back to the Eidgenössische Telegraphenwerkstätte, which was founded in 1852 at the same time as the telegraph network was created in Switzerland. The name Autelca is an abbreviation of Automatische Telephon-Kassierstationen (automatic telephone cashing stations), as the original purpose of the company was to manufacture pay phones. Specialising in automatic machines that check the authenticity of coins, Autelca also develops ticket machines from the mid-1960s, and now its Cardomat is set to revolutionise payment systems.
Humorously, the Brückenbauer summarises the basic principle of EFTPOS: “Up until now, it has been normal in Switzerland to fetch the money from the bank and pay it in the shop, and then the retailer brings the money back to the bank or post office.” This will now change, which is why the Brückenbauer explains the innovation to its readers step by step: “Using this payment terminal, the customer can initiate the payment procedure with the M-Card at the Cardomat and by entering their personal identification number on the keypad.” One by one, all Migros branches are fitted with the non-cash transaction system. Although that was only two decades ago, it’s difficult to imagine that it was ever any different.

As a major company with close ties to the country, Switzerland's 700th anniversary also provides an opportunity for Migros to support the celebrations, historical awareness and cultural activities. The colourful "Abenteuer Schweiz" "(Swiss Adventure"), in which Hans-Peter Treichler and former Federal Councillor Georges-André Chevallaz illustrate the nation's history passing through the centuries, is published for its members with a print run of 715,000 copies. Migros invites 700 school classes to visit the national research exhibition "Heureka" in Zurich. Various cultural activities, including ballet performances by Maurice Béjart and Heinz Spoerli, are supported and promoted. This includes the giant "Amboss" (Anvil) sculpture by Bernhard Luginbühl which is installed in the "Im Grünen" park in Münchenstein on 17 September as a gift from the FMC and Migros Basel. Needless to say, all Migros employees get 1 August off to enjoy the anniversary celebrations.

A noteworthy Assembly of Delegates on 6 February highlights the desire of Migros' executive bodies to extend operations beyond the borders of the stagnating domestic market to Austria. The delegates vote 99 to 2 in favour of the agreement in principle with "Konsum Österreich." A week later, Migros CEO Eugen Hunziker, his colleagues Rolf Frieden and Hermann Hasen and the Austrian partners Hermann Gerharter (Konsum Österreich) and Franz Zumtobel (Familia stores) reveal the outcome of the negotiations, which have been ongoing since 1992, at press conferences held in Vienna and St. Gallen: the 112 Familia stores of the Zumtobel Group are to be taken over by Migros St. Gallen and the FMC in March. ➔ As part of a joint venture between Konsum Österreich and the FMC, a new Austrian wholesale chain is formed from the merger between the Konsum wholesale stores (KGM) and part of the Familia store network, which begins operations on 1 October under the name of Familia & KGM with 170 stores. The FMC has a 25% holding in this company. ➔ All Familia and Konsum stores in the Vorarlberg region are merged to create Familia Vorarlberg in which the FMC and Migros St. Gallen hold a 75% stake and Consum Austria—for a limited period—a 25% interest. Familia Vorarlberg, a subsidiary of Migros St. Gallen headquartered in Dornbirn, has 35 stores after a restructuring procedure and operates in a new form from 1 October under the leadership of Robert Kaufmann, Migros Bern's longstanding Head of Marketing. ➔ To optimise the procurement of goods, Konsum-Migros - Warenhandels GmbH & Co. KG is founded in Vienna, in which the FMC and Konsum each hold a 50% stake. It also begins operations on 1 October and handles the procurement of goods, product range and pricing, advertising and logistics for Familia Vorarlberg, Familia & KGM and Der frische Konsum (DFK), whose 634 stores remain under the sole ownership of Konsum Österreich. For the Migros management led by Eugen Hunziker, the commitment to Austria represents both a motivating factor and a great accomplishment. FMC employees perform key roles in Vienna: Wolfgang Brokatzky, Logistics Director, Werner Grunau, Head of Marketing Services and the retired Othmar Ruch, Head of Non-Food Marketing. At the same meeting, the delegates approve a joint venture between Konservenfabrik Bischofszell AG and the French tinned goods producer Lomagenais in southern France.

This publication, drawn up towards the end of the year, reports on the goals that Migros' environmental policy has achieved and failed to reach so far. It aims to show the public (cooperative members, customers, the media, public authorities, government offices, environmental and consumer organisations) that Migros regards environmental protection as a crucial aspect of its business activities and is prepared to make itself open to scrutiny.

When designing M-Budget, marketing project manager Gianni Lutz was inspired by an inexpensive brand of Australian toothpaste. M-Budget’s look, as well as the idea behind it, was a hit with customers and the product range soon developed cult appeal, particularly among young people.

”It should contradict all ideas of good taste“, says Gianni Lutz about the packaging design for M-Budget. He should know, because as the marketing project manager for Migros, he is the father of this product range.
The idea for it came about on a trip to Australia. Lutz travelled on a tight budget, which is why he noticed a toothpaste which was very cheap and very simply packaged. He remembers this when he is instructed to make Migros fit to compete with discounters and cheap brands.
In 1996, nine years before Aldi and Lidl open their Swiss branches, Migros launches six products for daily use, which are meant to help large families and those with limited budgets. Success follows quickly and with it, an unexpected turn: M-Budget becomes a trend. In 1998, the first ”Budget parties“ are celebrated, and with the expansion of the range five years later, the label achieves cult status. Today, energy drinks, mobile phones, crisps, pasta and milk are the best selling M-Budget products.

Migros celebrates its 75th anniversary from 3 January to 31 December. The entire Swiss population is invited to join in the celebrations too. Lots of anniversary activities are organised. A few examples: ➔ every week, customers can find extremely attractive promotional offers in their store under the name "Birthday Shop". Various consumer goods and food products go on sale at CHF 0.75, 7.50, 75 or 750. ➔ Migros Industrie and Migros suppliers open their doors to customers. ➔ An online quiz, the "King's Quiz", with monthly prizes and a big annual prize, attracts young and old to the screen. ➔ Readers of the "Brückenbauer", "Construire" and "Azione" magazines enjoy a real treat: four competitions are held with prizes of vouchers for goods and travel worth around CHF 0.5 million up for grabs. ➔ 75 Migros restaurants prepare a special Mother's Day for mums: a red carpet reception with butler service, childcare, artistic performances and brunch. ➔ Anyone celebrating their 75th birthday in August receives a bouquet of flowers from Migros. ➔ Just in time for Migros' anniversary year – a new, orange-coloured rose variety is baptised Adele Duttweiler. ➔ Migros launches over 1500 new products in its anniversary year. ➔ An anniversary edition of the "Brückenbauer", "Construire" and "Azione" magazines is published on 22 August. ➔ On 25 August, all Migros stores offer a 15% discount. ➔ 75 large families (eight or more children) get to enjoy a free week-long holiday at the Horizonte "Pueblo Eldorado Playa" holiday village in Cambrils. ➔ All employees are given a day off on their birthday.

The 143rd Assembly of Delegates held on 6 May is the last meeting in Zurich for over half of the delegates. President Hans Tanner departs too. Kurt Pfister, former Managing Director of the Winterthur/Schaffhausen cooperative, is appointed as his successor.

The convenience market's rapid development provides Migros with a real opportunity for growth. On 13 September, Convenience House AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FMC, is founded with the following activities: avec. train station stores, Migrol petrol station shops, M Online Shopping and Florissimail. The sales generated from these activities amounts to over CHF 100 million.

Migros steps up its sponsorship activities this year and supports three musicals ("Grease", "Chess" and "Twist of Time"), five open-air festivals in Switzerland—Gurtenfestival, Rock Circus San Vittore, Openair St. Gallen, Heitere Open Air, Zofingen, and Paleo Festival Nyon – the open-air cinemas in Bern, Basel, Geneva and Zurich and the 'magic lanterns' project, a children's film club. In sport, it focuses on running and inline skating. By making these commitments, Migros aims to appeal to broad sections of the Swiss public interested in cultural and leisure activities.

At 9.45 p.m. on 6 February, a fire breaks out at the Volketswil warehouse, destroying over four million Easter bunnies and other Easter products. Thanks to the incredible commitment displayed by the employees at Chocolat Frey AG, Midor AG, micasa, FMC and Limmatdruck AG, most of the stock lost is made up through extra multi-shift production. As Easter approaches, Migros customers find almost all the usual Easter range at all stores.

At the beginning of January, the ground-breaking ceremony for a new deep-freeze, high-bay warehouse takes place next to the deep-freeze storage facility of the Migros distribution centre in Neuendorf (MVN). Size of new facility: 150,000 cubic metres of deep-freeze space and 20,000 cubic metres of loading dock area. Storage capacity of 200 pallets/hour. 11 HGV docking stations. Total investment of CHF 30 to 40 million.

To tackle the clearing of tropical rainforests, Migros and WWF Switzerland set up the "Sustainable Palm Oil" project. Migros receives an international award for this pioneering initiative on 31 August in Johannesburg. Anton Scherrer is also named "Eco-Manager of the Year" on 26 November in Berlin by the business magazine "Capital" and the WWF. This prestigious award recognises Migros' overall ethical commitment which is highlighted by ten different labels displayed on its products.

Migros, which has always tried to meet the needs of children and parents, steps up its efforts with a new marketing programme. Three comic characters – Hugo, Nina and Tobi the dog – play the main roles. They appear in all areas that aim to improve quality of life for children – whether it be food or non-food. Lilibiggs also make an appearance at Migros restaurants too. Here, they support well-balanced children's menus and well-built children's playgrounds. The programme is completed by a nutritional advice service, the M-Infoline and a Lilibiggs website (www. lilibiggs.ch).

After 40 years working for the Migros community, including six years as Managing Director of the Vaud cooperative, Michel Renevey takes early retirement. His successor, Philippe Bürki, takes up his position on 1 January. The Vaud cooperative employs 4,500 staff, has over 50 sales outlets and generates sales of CHF 1.2 billion. At its December meeting, the Board of Directors of Hotelplan Group appoints Christof Zuber as the new Group CEO. Claus M. Niederer, who had managed the company since 1995, retires at the end of September 2004. Harald Nedwed takes over overall management of Migros Bank on 1 September. Erich Hort, former CEO, retires at the beginning of 2004, but continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors. Erich Hort led Migros Bank to become one of the top six Swiss banks during his 15-year tenure. In September, Hedy Graber is appointed as the successor to Jana Caniga, Head of Culture and Social Affairs.

On 18 November, Joseph Deiss, President of the Swiss Confederation (pictured second from left) visits apprentices at the Migros Industrie company Estavayer Lait SA (Elsa). The visit by the Minister of Economic Affairs allows him to express his appreciation for Migros' tremendous commitment to vocational training. He is given a tour of the company and visits various training places. As Switzerland's largest private-sector employer, Migros recognises its responsibility towards young people. The Migros Group provides training in over 50 different professions at around 40 companies.

What has long been a cult phenomenon at private parties since 1998—celebrating at low prices with M-Budget products—is now launched on a grand scale: the first huge M-Budget party for everyone is held in Lucerne on 22 May and proves a resounding success. Major parties are held in the following cities over the course of the year: Zurich, Basel, Lausanne, Olten, St. Gallen, Bern and Aarau.

The new corporate design announced takes shape over the course of the year, with Migros introducing a new logo and uniforms for its 40,000 sales staff. Ida Gut from Zurich designs the outfits. Her design is dynamic, fresh, mischievous and seeks to convey a positive attitude to life and high quality of life. The materials used for the new uniforms—all of which are eco-certified—come from Switzerland, Austria and Germany and are made by seamstresses in Eastern Europe and China. All suppliers sign the Code of Conduct introduced by Migros. By the end of November, all Migros staff in Switzerland are sporting the same look for the very first time.

Jules Kyburz takes over the reins from Pierre Arnold on 1 January to become President of the Gottlieb and Adele Duttweiler Foundation. Andreas Münch is appointed Head of the Logistics and IT department on the Executive Board by the FMC Board of Directors. He takes up his new position as the successor to Armin Meier on 1 April. On 1 July, Herbert Bolliger, former Managing Director of Migros Aare, follows in the footsteps of Anton Scherrer and is appointed President of the FMC Executive Board. He is succeeded at Migros Aare by Beat Zahnd. Anton Scherrer retires and is appointed Chairman of the Swisscom Board of Directors in 2006. Beat Schwander, who had successfully managed Optigal SA since 1989, passes away suddenly on 6 August. He suffers a heart attack on a business trip to Austria and dies in hospital in Graz. On 1 September, Fabrice Zumbrunnen takes over as head of the Migros Neuchâtel-Fribourg cooperative from Elie Amsellem. On 17 June, the newly formed Migros Valais Board of Directors appoints Max Alter as Managing Director of Migros Valais, who takes up his position on 1 November. There is also a personnel change at Scana Lebensmittel AG which was acquired by FMC three years ago. The Board of Directors appoints Walter Brandenberger as the new CEO. He replaces Walter Hilti, the former owner and Managing Director of Scana.

2005 is a year predominated by M-Budget products. In January, another 50 items are added to the product range, including the Fiat Panda. 75 Fiat Pandas enhance the vehicle fleet of Mobility, the Swiss car-sharing firm that provides car hire nationwide at attractive conditions. A study indicates that the M-Budget line is the fastest-growing brand of the last ten years. The discount line in distinctive green packaging is easy for consumers to recognise. M-Budget products are now available in all ranges, including micasa, Do it + Garden, melectronics and SportXX. On 1 December, the 35-year-old shunting locomotive from the operations centre in Gossau, St. Gallen, is repainted in the iconic M-Budget colours and enters service as the "Budgetlina".

From October, Migros treats its customers to a sophisticated selection of exquisite foods. The range, marketed as Sélection, initially comprises 35 premium products. The intention is to be a one-stop shop that offers customers as broad a choice as possible, along with the low-priced M-Budget products and the established own brands. Sélection products are renowned for their quality. They include top-class meat and poultry specialities, specially selected fish and crustaceans, rare cheeses, fine sweet biscuits, exquisite desserts, delectable pralines and first-rate Sulawesi coffee.

The iconic line's unstoppable success story continues. From 3 January, Migros customers have even greater choice in the M-Budget product range. 50 new products are added to the range in all areas, taking the total to around 380 products. This includes the food and non-food areas, but now also pet food and personal care products. M-Budget now establishes a presence at M-Restaurants. Additional products, such as wristlets, underwear, training jackets, T-shirts, bags, bath towels, flip-flops and a daring mini skirt in M-Budget design are introduced over the course of the year. These items are made available in the iconic M-Budget online shop and sell out in no time at all. A further 70 items are added in September, and the first M-Budget party abroad is held in Rimini in October. In November, Migros launches its own credit card called the M-Budget Mastercard, which can also be used to collect Cumulus points.

On 12 January, the FMC Board of Directors decides to acquire a 70% stake in Denner AG. Gaydoul Holding retains 30% of the shareholdings. The partnership with the leading food discounter perfectly aligns with Migros' strategy of participating in the growing discount market through complementary product ranges. The alliance makes a major contribution to securing Denner's long-term competitiveness, while also strengthening Migros Industrie's position. Philippe Gaydoul, CEO of Denner, stays on as head of operational management for at least three years to ensure Denner remains Denner in the future. The Swiss Competition Commission (ComCo) gives the go-ahead on 3 September, albeit subject to various conditions. Both parties are nevertheless satisfied as the alliance represents an optimal solution for consumers, employees and suppliers.

50 years ago, the Migros community enshrined its commitment to the Migros Culture Percentage in its Articles of Association. The Migros Culture Percentage makes it possible for a broad cross-section of the population to access culture and education and empowers people to keep pace with the cultural, social and economic changes in society through a wide range of projects and activities. Each year, the Migros Culture Percentage has over CHF 100 million at its disposal. This year we are celebrating in style! The anniversary competition "MyCulture.ch", which provides young adults with a platform for exchange, dialogue and artistic expression, takes centre stage in the anniversary year. The Migros Culture Percentage Pass competition raises public awareness of the Migros Culture Percentage. Finally, the Migros Culture Percentage Jubilee Awards recognise individuals and institutions in ten categories whose work displays great creativity, innovation and imagination. The big anniversary celebrations on 25 August in Fribourg are the highlight of the year.

The Swiss Association of Integrated Agricultural Producers (IP-Suisse) and Migros have been collaborating closely for over ten years. This partnership is now strengthened by the joint launch of the new TerraSuisse label under the well-known umbrella label "Migros Commitment". The M-7 label (a 7-point meat guarantee) is incorporated into it too. TerraSuisse's added value is primarily represented by its commitment to natural habitats and preserving biodiversity.

The Westside recreational and shopping centre in Bern opens its doors on 8 October. Migros Aare, which initiated this project, appoints the world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind, who also designed the new World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York, in an architectural competition. Migros Aare, which owns and runs the futuristic shopping mall constructed in line with Minergie standards, is very proud of this marketplace of the future – it contains 55 stores, covering a total retail space of 23,500 m², around ten restaurants, an adventure pool with spa and fitness suite, eleven cinemas, a hotel and a retirement home with 95 apartments and comprehensive services.

Migros restructures its convenience business on 4 July. It ends its partnership with Valora and enters into a new cooperative venture with Shell Switzerland. By 2010, over 160 petrol station stores under the Migrolino brand are to be developed at Shell and Migrol petrol stations and at train stations. This allows customers to benefit from a wide range of affordable, high-quality Migros products and selected branded goods, as well as from Shell's fuel range. Both Cumulus and Shell Clubsmart cards can be used at the petrol stations. The first Migrol petrol station with a Migrolino shop and Shell fuel opens in Stans on 17 November. In turn, Valora can continue operating the avec. shops.

Migros and WWF sign a strategic partnership on 30 April, thus expanding their working relationship. Various collaborations have been running for several years, for example on the topics of "Wood", "Climate" and "Seafood". Migros is now sponsoring the WWF's youth programme. By doing so, Migros is building on an existing commitment: since 2001, it has sponsored the WWF Pandamobile, a converted Migros sales van that travels from school to school with exhibitions and introduces children to environmental issues. In 2009, the partners jointly launch the "Stickermania" campaign, which proves to be a huge success with 605,000 rainforest books sold. WWF invests the money raised in new nature reserves in Madagascar and Borneo.

The slogan "Migros so oder so" ("Migros one way or another") has had its day. A new campaign is launched nationwide on 14 April: "Migros – ein M besser" ("Migros – an M better"). The clear promise: wherever it says Migros on the label, you can be sure there is added value inside. A television advert featuring the chicken named "Chocolate", which leaves the farm and scurries unperturbed into the noisy city only to lay its egg fresh in the egg carton at a Migros store, makes the Swiss people smile.

On 6 June, Migros launches Migipedia.ch, a unique online platform tailored to meet a wide range of customer requirements. Amid the hype of social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, migipedia.ch enjoys a special position: As well as enabling social interaction, the virtual Migros platform is an entertaining way of binding customers into the Migros community. On migipedia.ch, customers can rate Migros products, submit comments and suggestions, share recipes and ask specific questions. The launch is a complete success: by the end of 2010, over 17,000 users were registered on migipedia.ch.

The new solar plant on the roof of the Länderpark in Stans produces 500,000 kWh of electricity per year over an area of 4,200 m³. This is enough energy to cover the entire electricity requirements of around 150 households. The plant is one of the five largest photovoltaic systems installed in a building this year. With the Länderpark in Stans, Migros has 15 plants. It realised its first project over 20 years ago, thus making it one of the pioneers in Switzerland.

In December, Migros takes a majority holding in Medbase AG, a successful provider of medical and paramedical services. Since its founding, Medbase AG has worked closely with Migros' fitness and wellness centres – now with around 150 employees at seven locations in German-speaking Switzerland. The Migros and Medbase offerings are unique in Switzerland in terms of their holistic approach to preventive healthcare.

In children's rooms, on the school yard and at playgrounds: Switzerland is gripped by Nanomania in 2011. Despite gaining vast experience from launching four "Manias" previously, this time Migros is overwhelmed by the huge demand. Another production run of the highly sought-after joker Luxibus soon has to be carried out. Over the six-week campaign, Migros runs a wide-ranging programme of activities. Nano roadshows are held at 15 different locations around Switzerland where visitors enjoy games and swapping stickers.

As a member of the WWF Seafood Group, Migros is committed to procuring fish from sustainably sourced wild catches. It stops selling endangered species and expands its range of Bio and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fish from sustainable fisheries. From 2011, Migros also supports the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) initiative launched in 2009. This independent organisation promotes sustainable fish farming.

The Oranger Garten in Rüschlikon opens just in time for the UN Year and the 50th anniversary of Gottlieb Duttweiler's death. The ten themed islands and the pavilion tell the story of Migros.

The FMC's Board of Directors approves the acquisition of a minority holding of 30% in Galaxus AG which operates the online shops Digitec.ch and Galaxus.ch. This strengthens Migros' position as number one in online business. Digitec is a leading online provider of IT and telecommunications products. It represents a prime example of successful e-commerce and combining bricks-and-mortar businesses and online retail.

15 August marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Gottlieb Duttweiler (1888–1962), the founder of Migros. The visionary entrepreneur is celebrated at various events, in commemorative publications and with a special Swiss Post stamp. The interactive "Oranger Garten" museum in Rüschlikon is also opened to mark the occasion, displaying photographs, films and information about Migros' history.

New to the range: Ragusa, Mars, Snickers, Twix, Torino, M&Ms and Maltesers. The popular Celebrations, Merci and Toffifee are added to the confectionery range in the praline segment. With the inclusion of the new branded products, some own brands, such as Tresella, Choco Loco and various Blox chocolate bars, launched as alternatives to branded products, are now discontinued.

Migros wishes to provide first-rate products and services for its customers in the catering industry tailored to their specific needs. As a result, it creates a new food service alliance brand called Saviva. The new label combines the strengths of all of its high-performance Swiss wholesale and production companies, such as CCA, Scana and Mérat.

A retailer producing much of its product range itself and in its own country is quite extraordinary when compared with other retailers around the world. That's why Migros uses the "Von uns. Von hier." ("From us. From here.") marketing campaign to raise public awareness of its uniqueness. Migros generates almost 45% of its sales from items produced in-house. At its own industrial production facilities, a 12,000-strong workforce make over 20,000 high-quality food and near/non-food products in an ecologically and socially sustainable manner while offering outstanding value for money.

The rating agency Oekom Research analyses the social and ecological commitment of 140 retailers worldwide and awards Migros a B+ rating. This outstanding score makes it the world's most sustainable retailer. Over 100 criteria are assessed in total. Migros performs extremely well in the areas of employee benefits (fair pay, good options for part-time work, many training opportunities), supplier relationships (commitment to minimum social standards, socially responsible cooperation) and the environment and business ethics (transport efficiency, climate protection).

The healthcare market becomes increasingly important in Switzerland and Migros aims to strengthen its position. Its expertise in nutritional fitness and wellness means it has a great deal to offer. Its subsidiary Medbase acquires a 70% holding in the Santémed health centres from health insurer Swica in October, stepping up its commitment in the healthcare sector. This collaboration creates the most extensive network in Switzerland for basic outpatient medical care.

Migros continues to focus on improving its energy performance and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In Zuzwil, canton of St. Gallen, for example, the first energy-plus store opens. This means the Migros Eastern Switzerland cooperative store produces more electricity than it consumes over the course of the year. It achieves this by using a photovoltaic system with peak output of 279 kWp and thanks to its sustainable, energy-saving architectural design.

In August, Migros opens "Welle7," a completely new, urban concept centre at Bern train station. This innovative centre has eight floors of future-oriented workspaces, a wide variety of shops, take-aways, restaurants and services for commuters – as well as an ultra-modern Migros Club School.

Migros' extensive network and strong position in online retail mean it is well placed for success in cross-channel retail. After a successful pilot scheme, it launches the new PickMup service. Customers can now order their products online and collect them from a Migros, Ex Libris or Migrolino store or from a fitness centre. By the end of the year, the network is expanded to 305 collection points. This means that 90% of the Swiss population can reach a PickMup collection point within 15 minutes by car.

Migros connects Switzerland's most powerful photovoltaic system to the public grid in 2013. On the rooftops of the Migros distribution centre in Neuendorf, canton of Aargau, the plant produces enough power for 1,300 households. After upgrading the system, Migros puts it back into operation in January 2016. It can now produce enough electricity for 3,600 households. The panels, which have a maximum output of 7.8 MWp, cover an area equivalent to 185 tennis courts.

After more than ten years, sales staff at Migros stores are given new uniforms. In terms of design and quality of materials, the new collection represents an improvement on the previous line. Swiss designer Ida Gut was once again tasked with creating the look.

In early 2017, Migros launches an extensive health and prevention programme under the "iMpuls" label with a large number of offerings that make a major contribution to a healthy lifestyle. All health-related activities can now be found on the www.migros-impuls.ch website.

On 1 January 2018, the FMC's Board of Directors appoints 47-year-old Fabrice Zumbrunnen from French-speaking Switzerland as the new President of the FMC Executive Board. He succeeds Herbert Bolliger, who retires at the end of 2017 after 13 successful years. Fabrice Zumbrunnen was initially Head of Sales, then Head of Marketing and Logistics at the Migros Neuchâtel-Fribourg cooperative before being appointed Managing Director in 2005. He then headed up the HR, Cultural & Social Affairs and Leisure department at FMC for five years. Sarah Kreienbühl joins the FMC's Executive Board, taking over as the successor to Fabrice Zumbrunnen.

Migros launches a new shopping platform called AMIGOS. The pilot project, which focuses on social and interpersonal aspects, kicks off in the Zurich and Bern regions. The AMIGOS platform enables people wishing to have their shopping delivered to their home address to meet people willing to perform this task for them.

Migros is amongst the leading retailers in the world in terms of responsible animal production. Its exemplary performance means it retains top spot in the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW). Migros only includes eggs from animal-friendly, free-range farms in its product range to promote animal welfare, while also lowering their prices. Migros pulls off yet another pioneering feat – over 20 years ago, it became the first major Swiss retailer to stop selling eggs from cage-farmed hens.

On 23 March 2019, the FMC Assembly of Delegates appoints Ursula Nold as the new President of the Board of Directors. She takes up office on 1 July 2019, replacing Andrea Broggini, who had chaired the body since 2012. Ursula Nold is the first woman to preside over the FMC Board of Directors. She chaired the FMC Assembly of Delegates from 2008 to 2019.

Migros Industrie acquires a stake in the Israeli start-up Aleph Farms which specialises in the development of sustainably cultivated meat. This represents an investment in a highly promising technology for resource-efficient meat production. The company has successfully grown animal cells in incubators into a steak within just a few weeks.

The Migros Group wishes to invest more heavily in its strategic core business and online retail activities. As part of its regular portfolio review, it seeks new owners for its subsidiaries Globus, Gries Deco Group (Depot), Interio and m-way. The FMC Board of Directors decides to initiate the relevant sales processes. The sale of each subsidiary is successfully completed by February 2020.

Migros expands its range of plant-based, vegetarian and vegan products and launches the V-Love brand. The new range launches with three new plant-based barbecue products and complements Migros' wide range of around 780 certified vegetarian and vegan items. By launching the V-Love chickpea vegurt, Migros Industrie succeeds in creating the world's first plant-based alternative to yoghurt based on chickpeas. The V-Love range contains 60 products, with new additions constantly being added to the range.

Migros Online replaces the previous online supermarket LeShop and increases sales by 40% to CHF 266 million in the reporting year which is overshadowed by COVID-19. Compared to the previous year, Migros Online delivers 44% more orders. To handle higher order levels, the Migros Online supermarket opens additional warehouses. 2,000 items are added to the product range.

Migros becomes the first Swiss retailer to sell 'Respeggt' eggs, which do not require the culling of male chicks. Innovative gender identification in the egg means only the future laying hens are hatched. "Demeter" eggs are also made available throughout Switzerland from January. With "Demeter" eggs, the brothers of the laying hens are reared. Through these two initiatives, Migros takes a stance to combat the widespread culling of chicks. After successful trials, Migros officially starts to switch over to the entirely pesticide-free cultivation of bread grains. JOWA turns 85,000 tonnes of IP-SUISSE grain into bread and baked goods for Migros every year and is already using grain that has not been exposed to fungicides, insecticides and stalk-reducing substances. Herbicides are no longer used in crop cultivation either. By 2023, Migros will only use grain from entirely pesticide-free crops.

Around 9,000 amateur sports clubs from all over Switzerland take part in the "Support your Sport" promotional campaign and collect club vouchers over a two-month period. Given the incredible response and as a sign of support, Migros decides to double the funding contribution from three to six million francs.

The Migros Board of Directors appoints Isabelle Zimmermann as new Head of the Finance department. As an Executive Board member, she takes over from Jörg Zulauf at the beginning of 2022, who retires after serving as CFO of the Migros Group for over 21 years.

Customers can offset the emissions generated by their own purchases on Migros Online. The money raised from the voluntary climate contribution goes to the M Climate Fund, which finances climate protection projects in Migros' own supply chain. This gives Migros direct influence over its climate protection activities.

Migros Bank's new Cumulus credit card enables customers to now pay free of charge for all purchases worldwide, while collecting Cumulus points in the process.

On 1 May 2023, Mario Irminger will take up his new role as President of the Executive Board of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives. The position is currently held by Fabrice Zumbrunnen. As the former CEO of Denner, Mario has extensive experience in the retail sector. 

Andrea Krapf already took over from Sarah Kreienbühl as Head of the Migros Group HRM and Engagement division on 1 February 2023. 

In December 2023, Matthias Wunderlin, who previously managed the transformation of the supermarket business, will take over the helm of Migros Industrie from Armando Santacesaria.

After an absence of five years, Finn the elf is back at Migros. The star of the popular Christmas adverts is once again capturing hearts and minds in Switzerland. His return during the magical Advent season symbolises Migros' commitment to providing joy and making dreams come true at Christmas.

Migros is concentrating on business areas in which it can continue to be successful in the future. In so doing, it consistently focuses on the areas of retailing (food and non-food products), financial services (Migros Bank) and health (Medbase Group). Within the framework of this strategic realignment, it is divesting companies that no longer fit the group strategy. It is therefore looking for new owners for its speciality markets (Bike World, Do it + Garden, Melectronics, Micasa, OBI and SportX), Hotelplan, Mibelle as well as Misenso and Bestsmile. A targeted search is being conducted to find new owners who have a strong basis for successfully developing these companies.

Migros is investing CHF 2.5 billion in price reductions, its own brands and stores. More than a thousand everyday products will be reduced to discount prices, while 140 stores will be opened and another 350 modernised. Own brands and regional products are being strengthened, with Migros putting even more emphasis on freshness and regionality. These measures lead to cheaper prices and higher quality without having a negative impact on farmers. It plans to expand its network of stores to 930 locations by 2030.