“All-out battle”

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.