The cooperative boss explains his plans for what to do with the mega profit: Are you buying your private stores from Migros now, Mr. Wyss?

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All key figures for fiscal 2023 are positive. As a result, Coop made a profit of 575 million francs. Boss Philipp Wyss, 58, said at Thursday’s media conference that he was particularly pleased that he had been able to create 1,350 new jobs. The incident took place in front of stunned supermarket customers in the middle of the Coop megastore in Oberwil BL. Wyss seems to want to show that this is what winners look like.

This event for the press is in stark contrast to the Migros conference on February 2, 2024. The management team of Coop’s rival announced that 1,500 people would be laid off and subsidiaries would be sold. Migros will announce a decrease in profit at the end of March. It remains unclear how high that will be by then. Philipp Wyss now announces: “We have sufficient financial scope for future opportunities.” Does he mean Migros subsidiaries? Blick answers the most important questions.

Coop officials even started negotiations with Migros. “We have expressed our interest,” confirms boss Wyss. “We are certainly interested in certain specialty store locations that will be affected by the transformation of Migros,” says Wyss. So Coop has empty store space that it can buy cheaply.

Migros Group’s restructuring plans are huge. Travel group Hotelplan, sports retailer SportX and home electronics chain Melectronics are being sold. “But we are not interested in completely taking over the brand of one of our competitors,” Wyss explains. Wyss says that Mibelle, Migros’ industrial company that produces cosmetics and hygiene products, is not an option for Coop Group. Steinfels in Winterthur ZH has its own production facility that produces detergents and cleaning products as well as hygiene products. He does not want to say whether he has already received applications from Migros employees because they fear for their future. However, he is open to recruiting when asked.

“Coop is well positioned and has a solid, clear strategy,” says Wyss. Last year it examined the entire company portfolio of the cooperative group. “We don’t have renewal plans like in the competition.” Coop, as it is known, is integrating Microspot into its home electronics subsidiary Interdiscount. This integration is planned to be completed in April. Wyss wants to adhere to the separation of Fust and Nettoshop. Both formats have different customers, as can be determined using data from Supercard users. The merger of Coop Bau+Hobby and DIY and garden centers under the Jumbo brand is already on the scene. Wyss is not interested in completely taking over the Do-it+Garden stores or Obi from Migros, but rather individual locations.

The profits remain with the Coop group. Wyss gives examples: Fust, Jumbo and Co. Investments are being made in new store concepts. Supermarkets also need to be beautified. Letzipark shopping center in Zurich is being renovated from A to Z. Investments are also planned for a new building in Regensdorf ZH, where deliveries will take place for the online supermarket Coop.ch. Fresh produce logistics needs to become more efficient. As an example, it shows the delivery time for meat deliveries to Coop branches. In the future, sending meat orders from branches the afternoon before will be sufficient for the products to reach the stores on time. “At the same time, we continue to reduce food prices and open new branches,” Wyss announced. The focus is on customers “where we want to focus even more.”

Source :Blick