A revolution is taking place behind the scenes at Migros. According to the “balance sheet” learned from many independent sources in the last two weeks, supermarkets will be separated from Migros Cooperatives Union (MGB) and merged into a new unit. “Weekend Switzerland” also made the news today.
A joint stock company, a supermarket AG, is being considered; The legal form is not ultimately decisive. According to the “Bilanz” research, the strongest resistance to the division of supermarkets comes from MGB, which is responsible for about 90 percent of purchasing and advertising. It will be pushed back to a pure service provider role.
“We can avoid many repetitions,” says one concerned. Migros’ problem is above all its complex cost structure, with MGB on the one hand and ten cooperatives on the other. Each cooperative operates its own logistics and has its own departments for finance, marketing, HR and partly IT. This reduces efficiency and compresses margins. “It’s getting harder and harder to argue that all overheads in the regions should continue to exist,” says one management person. “Switzerland is too small to accommodate a few microregions.”
struggle for power distribution
Internally, the struggle over the future distribution of power between cooperatives and headquarters has been going on for some time. Now there are victory signs for the regions. The supermarket project is now called “Fit pour le Futur” and does not originally come from FMC.
The plan to pool supermarkets was first initiated in mid-2020 by a regional cooperative that co-wrote the document with McKinsey. Soon all the powerful co-operatives sprang to their feet. Smaller ones such as those from Zurich, Aare, Eastern Switzerland, Lucerne and Ticino are now pushing the project forward together. As has been heard, nine out of ten cooperatives are involved. It seems that Neuchâtel-Freiburg is still struggling with this.
The president is said to have given up
According to the reports, at least Migros President Ursula Nold (50) surrendered as the top group strategist. A district manager, who did not want to be named, says Nold, meanwhile, has seen that the plans are nearly unstoppable. Due to difficult business development, it is clear to everyone that something needs to change. “Eventually, the Nold may even be the president who reforms the group and unties the Gordian knot,” says one concerned. How Migros can renew itself is a question that has occupied the media for years.