“Truly a sturdy, magnificent baby”

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!”