Christian Kracht must have installed the error on purpose. In his latest novel “Eurotrash”, the Swiss writer writes about his mother’s refrigerator and the “seven bottles of Swiss white wine from Migros” in it. Most German readers may not notice it, but Kracht is twisting reality here: there is no white wine in the branches of Migros, the large, cooperatively organized Swiss supermarket chain. Also no red wine, no beer and no spirits. Kracht, who was born in the canton of Bern, knows that too, and probably just wanted to annoy him a bit.
Recently, however, it looked as if Kracht’s little lie could come true and become some kind of prophet. Because the delegates of the Migros Cooperative Association, which form a kind of parliament in the complicated corporate structure of Migros, cleared the way for a vote that in future beer, wine and schnapps can be bought in Migros supermarkets – just like in all other Swiss supermarkets .
Surprisingly clear result
The final decision rested with the ten regional Migros cooperatives and their 2.3 million members – after all, a good quarter of the Swiss population. The surprising result has been clear for a few days: the sales ban remains in place. All cooperatives have clearly decided against changing their statutes – so mind you: against more sales, against additional customers, probably also against their own convenience, because most cooperative members should not be abstinent themselves, despite their Migros connection. Nevertheless, a majority wants to stick to the oddity.
So Christian Kracht is no clairvoyant after all and Migros Switzerland is a remarkable island of responsible entrepreneurship. Because the opponents of the sale of alcohol also argued economically and emphasized that Migros benefited from its unique selling point. But the health argument was the most persuasive: there should still be supermarkets in the future where neither young people nor alcoholics are tempted.