Total liquidation: “This is no longer the Jelmoli we know”

“Final Sale”, “Closing Deals”, “Total Liquidation”: Hundreds of customers at the Jelmoli department store lined up on Friday morning to hunt for bargains at the traditional store’s final sale. The discount battle is in full swing on three floors. The motto: Everything has to go – Jelmoli advertises discounts of up to 70 percent.

Levi (16) from Zurich is also on the move. “It’s a crowd, you can hardly get through.” However, he is disappointed by the offers: “The things are not as heavily discounted as I thought, so I didn’t buy anything.”

Phansa (19), on the other hand, thinks the sale is “great,” but there are too many people out and about for him. “The queues in front of the checkouts are too long for me, so I’d rather go shopping another time.” As Jelmoli informed in advance, payment at the checkout is only possible without cash: cash is no longer accepted.

The melancholy among the Jelmoli employees is palpable: “It’s no longer the Jelmoli we know,” say Sheraz (37) and Martina (35). “We have to deal with the sell-out ourselves – it’s not everyday that so many people rush in and we are so overrun.” The atmosphere is good, the people are friendly. “But inhibitions are falling, people are now trying to act more. The goods are no longer handled so well, a lot of it is on the ground.” The employees are no longer serving as usual, but rather selling, collecting and cleaning up.

The sale runs until February 28th. Then – 126 years after Franz Anton Jelmoli opened the Glass Palace – it’s over. The owner of Jelmoli, the real estate company Swiss Prime Site, does not want to continue the unprofitable business. The company says it has not found a buyer.

The property will be renovated from March, and a new main tenant will move in from 2027 – no stranger: the Manor Group will take over 13,000 square meters of retail space on three floors of the Jelmoli House. Office space will be built on the upper floors and there will be a restaurant on the roof terrace.

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