“Migros fever” in St. Gallen

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.