Migros to merge its 11 cooperatives into a single group

The Migros Group announced a reform of its cooperative structure on Monday in Bern. The 11 regional cooperatives that currently make up the group will be replaced by a single, nationwide group cooperative.

The press conference was called with unusually short notice, after several Sunday newspapers had reported the news over the weekend. According to those reports, the reform would also involve cutting 3,000 jobs, with estimated savings of between 300,000 and 400,000 francs a year. Migros has confirmed the merger of the cooperatives, at least in part, but has not yet clarified the consequences for staff.

Group leaders described the announcement as «un giorno storico» (a historic day) for the company. The goal of the new structure, Migros says, is «creare una Migros in grado di prendere decisioni più rapidamente, investire in modo più mirato e garantire la propria competitività nel lungo periodo» (to create a Migros that can make decisions more quickly, invest more specifically and secure its long-term competitiveness).

A shift away from the original model

Until now, the group's strategic decisions passed through the boards of the 11 regional cooperatives. Under the new structure, governance will be concentrated in a single national cooperative: a shift away from the philosophy on which the group was built, and from the original thinking of founder Gottlieb Duttweiler.

In future, the group cooperative will act as the coordinating body for the entire Migros Group, which includes seven business units: Migros Supermarkets, Migros Industrie, Denner, Migrol/migrolino, Digitec Galaxus, Migros Bank and Medbase. These companies will continue to operate independently.

The reform will not take effect automatically: it must be approved by Migros' 2.3 million members, who will vote on it in a general ballot in 2027. The vote will involve members of the group across Switzerland, including Italian-speaking Switzerland.