“In one large, open room”

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’.”