Migros Basel will retreat from Germany: the four shops located over the Swiss border will be taken over by the German retail group Rewe on the 1st of October, reports the Swiss website finanzen.ch. The decision was preceded by "intensive strategic discussion", Migros Basel announced last Tuesday.
Migros Basel expanded to Germany eight years ago. The first shop over the border was opened in the South German border town of Lörrach in November 1995. After various other shops being opened in Germany, some of which were also closed again, there are now four German locations left that will switch owners on the 1st of October.
How much Rewe is paying Migros Basel for the shops in Lörrach, Freiburg, Ludwigsburg and Ludwigshafen is unknown. The price was agreed upon in silence. The deal still has to be approved by the German competition authority.
According to Migros Basel, "the best possible solution was found for the employees in the sale to Rewe." Rewe will keep on 220 of the 295 employees from the German Migros locations and a socially responsible solution is to be found for the others.
