Bestsmile: Migros closes teeth correction start-up

Finished laughing: Migros closes Bestsmile – and goes to court

No stone is left unturned at Migros: the retail group is now closing the teeth straightening start-up. What this means for customers.

Bestsmile was known for veneers, i.e. for adhesive shells that promised white teeth.

Image: Nik Hunger

Migros had little to laugh about with Bestsmile: its hopes were high in 2019 when it joined the teeth straightening start-up and took it over completely in 2022, but ultimately this mainly caused losses. Migros first tried to save the business with austerity programs, but now it is closing it completely, as it announced on Tuesday.

The 27 Bestsmile locations will “probably be closed gradually”. The 224 employees in practices, laboratories, production and headquarters are likely to lose their jobs. “Unfortunately, job cuts probably cannot be avoided,” says Migros.

This is what customers need to know now

According to the retailer, Bestsmile customers have “the opportunity” to “continue their treatment” at the dental center. The dental center also belongs to the Migros Group and its healthcare subsidiary Medbase. “A smooth continuation of the treatment is guaranteed in any case,” writes Migros upon request. Appointments at Bestsmile will remain in place for the time being and operations will continue until the end of October. It currently looks like the Bestsmile branches will be gradually closed. Customers whose treatment has not yet been completed when their branch closes can contact the dental center.

The dental center operates 43 locations across Switzerland and, according to Migros, employs more than 300 dentists and specialists in orthodontics, dental implants, oral surgery and dental hygiene.

Probably ripped off when purchasing

Migros bought Bestsmile in 2022 through its innovation vehicle Sparrow Ventures, which has now also been liquidated. The Sparrow people justified the investment by saying, among other things, that they were “fully convinced by the founders” and their drive, ambition and experience. “We are happy to be on board as partners.” This was also a misjudgment, as Migros discovered afterwards.

Because apparently incorrect numbers were presented when purchasing Bestsmile. Insiders said that they had allowed themselves to be taken for a ride. A suspicion that Migros confirmed to CH Media at the beginning of the year: “As part of the review of the Bestsmile 2021 annual report, inconsistencies were discovered in autumn 2023,” she said. That means the annual report, which the Bestsmile founder trio Ertan Wittwer, Philip Magoulas and Marcel Kubli were responsible for.

Migros is taking legal measures

According to Migros, the closure of Bestsmile has nothing to do with the embellished annual reports, but rather solely with the company’s poor figures. When asked, she writes: “The results of the past few months have fallen short of the desired goals.”

Migros therefore had to write off a large sum of millions at the beginning of the year – and decide on a savings program: At that time, it announced that 36 of 330 employees would lose their jobs and a quarter of the 36 branches at the time were to be closed. Specifically, it affected the branches in Solothurn, Thun, Biel, Morges, Yverdon, Bellinzona, Nyon, Schaffhausen and Zurich Enge.

Wittwer, who recently made unpleasant headlines because of his Hair & Skin bankruptcy, was the only one of the three founders to remain on board as a board member until the summer of 2023. Migros later said that the clarifications on the “inconsistencies” were “started immediately after they became known”. Now she admits that she will take legal action against the former founders. She won’t say anything more about it because it’s an ongoing case.