The blast shook the retail world Tuesday evening: Fabrice Zumbrunnen (52) had to go. Blick suspected that the powerful Migros boss had failed because of the great resistance of the district managers. Now the signs are increasing.
Because Migros Group as a whole will report higher sales this year because its subsidiaries – tour operator Hotelplan, Migros Bank, Migrol gas stations and dental centers – are doing well. However, as “Sonntagszeitung” writes, net profit will drop significantly.
Because sales in supermarkets are shrinking. Given high inflation, the situation is likely to worsen next year as consumers are more likely to flip the franc twice.
The problem: In retail, margins are low, and fixed costs related to personnel, rent, and logistics are high. If sales fall, the balance sheet will quickly slide into the red. According to the “Sonntagszeitung”, the supermarket business is really good only in cooperatives in Eastern Switzerland and Lucerne. Eight other regions are already in or about to be in the red in this area.
According to the “Sonntagszeitung”, there’s a reason: Migros relies on large shopping malls, but the time for big weekend shopping is over. Instead, consumers want small shops close to where they work and live. The pandemic and the rapid spread of working from home have further strengthened this trend.
power struggle lost
That’s why Migros boss Fabrice Zumbrunnen wanted to reverse the situation and get the ten regional cooperatives largely outside the control of headquarters in Zurich to work together more to save costs – to no avail.
As “NZZ am Sonntag” believed, the reason for the sudden departure was a losing power struggle with the regional princes. So Zumbrunnen didn’t leave voluntarily. (co)