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Migros wants to concentrate more on its core business. While the Migros Group’s sales increased last year, the specialist stores weakened sharply for the second time in a row. An overview of the areas that Migros wants to get rid of.
Hotel plan
The company: The Hotelplan Group employs 2,485 people worldwide. The travel provider is represented at 229 locations in 20 countries with offices, branches, local service offices and business travel centers. The business areas include “Hotelplan Suisse”, “Volume Tour Operating”, “Hotelplan UK”, “Interhome Group” and “Business Travel”. In 2023, the group recorded sales of 1.7 billion francs, which corresponds to an increase of almost 21 percent compared to the previous year. This meant that it had also exceeded the pre-Corona level (2018/19: sales of 1.4 billion francs).
Reason for the sale: Size is crucial for the travel business – and Hotelplan is small globally, even if it is the largest travel provider in Switzerland, wrote Migros to justify the planned sale. Although the company achieved record results in 2022 and 2023, it has “even greater development opportunities” with a new owner, according to Migros.
Legend: Hotelplan has locations in 20 different countries. Keystone/Alessandro della Valle
Melectronics
The company: Melectronics currently has almost 100 branches in Switzerland. Here customers can get everything related to home electronics online and offline. This also includes Migros’ own brand “Mio Star”. The specialist store was founded by Migros in 1969 and currently employs more than 800 people.
Reason for the sale: Melectronics is one of the specialist retailers that has performed poorly recently. With the growing online trade, their sales are increasingly under pressure, writes Migros. The decision to sell is therefore primarily based on economic reasons.
Legend: The Melectronics specialist store has almost 100 branches in Switzerland. Keystone/GEORGIOS KEFALAS
SportX
The company: The sports department SportX (formerly SportXX) has 54 branches in Switzerland. Here Migros sells sporting goods and clothing for a wide range of sports. Sports equipment can also be rented here. There are also workshops for skis, snowboards, bicycles and inline skates here. SportX opened its first branch in 1999 in Buchs in the canton of St. Gallen.
Reason for the sale: Like the other specialist formats, the SportX specialist market is also suffering from shrinking sales and increasing online competition. Migros wants to sell the business for economic reasons.
Legend: In 1999, SportX opened the first branch in the canton of St. Gallen. Keystone/GEORGIOS KEFALAS
Mibelle Group
The company: The Mibelle Group was founded in 1933. In 1951, the Migros Cooperative Association took over the manufacturer, which since then has mainly produced its own brands for Migros supermarkets. According to Migros, 70 percent of production is now exported. The Mibelle company, which produces, among other things, the “Handy” dishwashing liquid and the “I am” care products, has 9 locations worldwide, 2 of which are in Switzerland. According to the company website, Mibelle currently employs 1,612 people. In 2022, it achieved sales of 663 million francs – around 70 percent of it abroad.
Reason for the sale: Migros justifies the decision to sell Mibelle by saying that the company is producing more and more for export. Mibelle has “grown out of Migros and beyond it” and therefore there are fewer synergies today. According to Migros, the development opportunities are greater with new ownership.
Legend: In 1951, the Migros Cooperative Association took over the Mibelle Group. Keystone/GEORGIOS KEFALAS
What remains
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Legend: Migros has so far combined 66 sub-areas. Keystone/MICHAEL BUHOLZER
It is not yet clear what will happen to the other specialist stores Bike World, Do it + Garden, Micasa and Obi and whether they will also be sold. One thing is certain: things are going badly for them too. But according to the statement, Migros is still checking what happens next.
To date, the Migros Group has united 66 sub-areas. These include the online retailer Digitec Galaxus, sports and health offers such as the fitness chains Activ Fitness and Fitnesspark, the Zur Rose pharmacy, the Tanzwerk 101, the Alnatura markets, Aproz mineral water or gastro offers such as Kaimug, the Pizzeria Molino or Hitzberger. With the announced restructuring, jobs in the subsidiaries that are not for sale will also be eliminated. At the dental subsidiary Bestsmile, for example, 9 of the 36 locations are to be closed, which will result in 40 job cuts.