The Fall of Man

Migros is Switzerland's biggest retailer. This year, it's customer loyalty scheme Cumulus is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a Rolling Stones concert exclusively for its Cumulus members.

Yesterday, I reported this to Ms. Mac, who is - contrary to me - a Cumulus member. She replied:

That's a bit exciting, isn't it? Sadly, even though I'm a card carrying
member of Migros Cumulus, I never really shop in there so there will be
little chance of me winning any tickets.
Why are you not a Cumulus member?

Well, because Cumulus is just another blatant violation of the principles of Migros founder Gottlieb Duttweiler.



For the ones who are not that familiar with the history of Migros and Gottlieb Duttweiler, I have to get a bit verbosely:

Die history of Migros is a real adventure and the most felicitous example of creative imagination, guts, and subversion Switzerland has ever seen. The fight started right at the beginning, when Gottlieb Duttweiler began in 1925 with 6 products and 5 Ford trucks, which he converted into rolling shops. The small shop owners bait the police on him, factories refused to deliver supplies, and the Swiss Parliament passes in 1934 a special Migros bill to prohibit the opening of branches.

Duttweiler found ways to bypass the bill to open branches, agitated, founded his own newspaper and political party, and built own factories to get supplies. The success of Migros is the success against the cumulative resistance of the entire Swiss business and political establishment.

Absolutely unique was that he reserved a percent of the turnover to support the arts and culture, and that he refused to sell tobacco and alcohol. He definitely reached the apex of subversion when he gave away his empire to his customers in 1941. You can't buy or sell Migros, unless its customers agree. Migros is working outside of the classical business world.

So why do I refuse to become a Cumulus member? Duttweiler biggest opponents where the small shop owners, who tried to justify their high prices with incentives such as trading stamps. Duttweiler promised his customers fair prices without hidden discounts. For me, there is not much difference between a trading stamp and Cumulus points.

But Ms.Mac, if you really want so rock with those old men, Toño and I will shop on your Cumulus account, despite the heretical aspect of the entire scheme.