immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Handel

  • Limmattal should actively shape its urbanisation

    Limmattal should actively shape its urbanisation

    Urbanist Thomas Sevcik assumes that the region between Schlieren and Turgi will increasingly become a city. In his publication “Limmattalstadt – Impulse für die Region entlang der Limmat” (Limmat Valley City – Impulses for the Region along the Limmat), he proposes to shape this urbanisation “actively and strategically”. “The Limmattal city will come anyway. But we should make it as good as we can,” he writes.

    Among other things, Sevcik proposes so-called neo-areas. These should close gaps between settlement areas. For example, a campus on part of the marshalling yard could offer space for a Hochschule Limmat, a computer centre, but also a congress and entertainment centre. A new residential quarter could be built between Neuenhof and Killwangen, and a future-oriented quarter for new forms of living and working in the Tägerhard to the east of Wettingen. In the Hard in Siggenthal, too, a new district could combine work, living and leisure.

    Sevcik points out that the Limmat has so far had little presence in the region. He suggests upgrading the river landscape in Dietikon to a riviera.

    Economically, the future Limmat Valley city should rely on its strengths in applied technology and design, logistics and trade, as well as medtech and biotech. Mobility in the region should be facilitated by the extension of the Limmattalbahn, the use of the railway line between Dättwil and Wettingen, cable cars and the bicycle network. Sevcik also proposes a take-off site for vertical take-off electric helicopters at the Würenlos motorway service station.

    Sevcik developed the strategy ideas on the initiative of the Limmatstadt Location Promotion Agency and presented them at the general meeting of Limmatstadt AG on 15 August. 20 companies, mainly from the region, supported the project. The publication can be ordered digitally.

  • Foldable solar roof from iWorks is validated

    Foldable solar roof from iWorks is validated

    A team of seven engineers from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences(ZHAW) has validated the photovoltaic solution of the Liechtenstein company iWorks as part of an Innosuisse project. The foldable Urbanbox are solar module carriers that can be automatically extended and retracted. They were developed for cities and companies. The validation team from the two Institutes of Energy Systems and Fluid Engineering(IEFE) and Mechanical Systems(IMES) at the ZHAW School of Engineering was supported by the Swiss Climate Foundation.

    The carriers of the photovoltaic modules are retracted into a robust box by a digital control system in extreme weather conditions and extended again in favourable weather. Because this eliminates the need for a massive substructure and the modules are cleaned by a rotating brush as they move in or out of the box, iWorks says this eliminates significant costs compared to permanently installed solar roofs.

    “With this milestone, the economic dual use of surfaces in urban areas for solar power generation is foreseeable as early as next year,” Prof. Dr. Franz Baumgartner of IEFE, who also heads the Energy and Environmental Technology course at ZHAW, is quoted as saying in a media release. “This gives companies and municipalities another effective way to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to the energy transition.”

    The iWorks company, together with the team from the two ZHAW institutes, is now ready to move on to the next phase of the project, the release says. Based on what has been achieved so far, a fully industrialised Urbanbox solution for commercial use is to be realised this year.

  • Heating renovations boost Meier Tobler’s business

    Heating renovations boost Meier Tobler’s business

    Meier Tobler can look back on a good half-year, according to a media release. The Schwerzenbach-based company, which specialises in air-conditioning technology, increased its turnover by 7 per cent to 276.4 million Swiss francs compared to the previous year. Net profit rose by 38.7 per cent to around 16 million Swiss francs.

    The “essential basis” for the growth was reportedly the continuing momentum in heating renovations. At the same time, sales of heat pumps also increased in the double-digit percentage range. Business with air conditioning systems improved only slightly compared to the previous year. Here Meier Tobler benefited mainly from large projects such as the delivery of two absorption chillers with 3.4 megawatts each for the Shoppi Tivoli in Spreitenbach AG.

    Furthermore, Meier Tobler was able to put its new service centre in Oberbuchsiten SO into operation in the first half of the year. Among other things, automated high-bay and small parts warehouses or autonomous mobile robots are in use in the newly built centre. According to Meier Tobler, operations are being ramped up continuously.

  • Foundation stone for the international Renera Group

    Foundation stone for the international Renera Group

    Since its foundation, Energie Zukunft Schweiz has been committed to the rapid implementation of the energy transition. The company specialises in renewable energies and energy efficiency. in 2022, its Italian subsidiary sold a 375 MWp photovoltaic project pipeline to one of Europe’s largest energy suppliers. “The energy transition is a global project, so it was always clear that we wanted to take our energy transition know-how beyond our Swiss borders and into other countries,” says Managing Director Aeneas Wanner.

    In order to make better use of synergies between the national companies and to take better account of internationalisation, the companies are now reorganising as an internationally active group with headquarters in Switzerland under a common name. In line with the dawning era of renewables, the group of companies will be called “Renera”. The energy trading and biogas division is the first to change. For employees and customers, the reorganisation has positive consequences, says Aeneas Wanner: “All services will be continued and expanded in the usual quality. Due to the high demand, we will continue to create many new jobs and maintain all existing ones. “

    A single strong corporate brand for all operations in Europe will be built and maintained. The new brand strategy is intended to bring employees closer together, reduce complexity for customers and create synergies between national companies and business units. To support the positioning visually, a new logo and corporate design were developed in cooperation with a Spanish branding agency.

    Aeneas Wanner explains why the company is growing so successfully: “Our recipe for success is our talented and committed employees. Thanks to them, projects become reality that are profitable for clients and the environment at the same time.” The company is known for its hands-on mentality, and its employees describe themselves as “energy turnaround makers”. “Companies from the energy and real estate sectors appreciate our holistic approach and our diverse know-how. We can not only think up and plan complex energy projects, we can also accompany their implementation and subsequently monitor the results.” Aeneas Wanner is also very optimistic about the future. The demand for energy efficiency and renewable energies is enormous right now. The desire for clean, reliable energy and high energy prices have contributed to this. “We have now grown from 40 to 200 employees in just under four years, and we will probably create another 500 jobs in the next four years.” This is the only way the company can realise its vision of being a leading force on the path to a fully renewable energy world.

  • IKEA expands in Chur and Valais

    IKEA expands in Chur and Valais

    IKEA is opening new locations in Switzerland after ten years. There will be a planning studio for customers in Chur and a furniture store of the usual size in Riddes. According to the press release , the 565 square meter planning studio with various model rooms is to open in autumn in the Steinbock shopping center in Chur. It should become a kind of mini-IKEA, it is said. The focus is on the consulting and planning service for visitors and business customers.

    At the same time, Spreitbach-based IKEA Schweiz AG will soon be submitting the building permit for its tenth store in the Valais municipality of Riddes. After the announcement of a so-called plan and order point in Bern, the expansion of the two locations is the next step in IKEA Switzerland’s expansion strategy. The most modern and greenest IKEA furniture store in Switzerland is to be built in Riddes. The opening is planned for autumn 2023. The shop will offer a wide range of sustainable products and services on around 23,000 square meters with lots of green space.

    “It’s now ten years since we opened the last IKEA store in Switzerland in Rothenburg and thus opened up Central Switzerland. With the planning studio in Chur and the store in Riddes, we are opening up two new markets in Switzerland outside of the cities,” Jessica Anderen, CEO and strategy manager at IKEA Switzerland, is quoted as saying. Today, IKEA has nine furniture stores in all parts of the country and a distribution center in Itingen BL, which handles most of the online sales.

    According to the press release, the IKEA planning studio is the first format of its kind in Switzerland. Comparable service points are only available in London, Berlin and Oslo. “We are both pleased and proud that IKEA is now offering its new service format based on selected world cities here in Chur of all places,” Frederick Widl, Head of Real Estate at AXA , is quoted as saying as the landlord.

  • Coop expands Marktgass Bern

    Coop expands Marktgass Bern

    The branch of the Coop Group Marktgass Bern has a total sales area of 2100 square meters, informs the retail cooperative from Basel in a message . Since May, customers have been able to use the upper floor with a supermarket, a beauty island, a vinotheque and a beer and beverage world. Now the ground floor of the listed building has also been completely converted. Here Coop has set up a coffee bar with its own roastery, a bakery, a kiosk and various services.

    "The result is a piece of jewelry that leaves nothing to be desired and enriches the shopping offer in the city center," File Gjokaj is quoted in the press release. The managing director of the Marktgass Bern branch also points out the open kitchen area in the coffee bar: “A lot is homemade and prepared right in front of the customer's eyes.” All products are available both to take away and for consumption on site.

    In the future, “in the Coop Marktgass Bern, shopping will also meet movement”, the announcement further explains. A fitness update will be available in the basement in September. Around 1,400 square meters of space are available for this.

  • Häuselmann Metall moves to the Zurich Unterland

    Häuselmann Metall moves to the Zurich Unterland

    Häuselmann Metall GmbH has officially opened its new headquarters in Embrach. The metal trader, which had existed since 1947, moved with its 60 employees from Dietlikon to the Zürcher Unterland in May. At the new location, he has built a new production hall and warehouse as well as offices for sales, administration and ordering on an area of 10,000 square meters. The company invested 16 million francs in this.

    "The cooperation with the community is sensational", CEO Franz Thür is quoted in a message from the Zürcher Unterland location. Embrach had made the land available to him under construction law. In return, the company created new jobs. On the occasion of a tour of the grounds, Embach mayor Erhard Büchi expressed his admiration for the ultra-modern new company location and congratulated Thür on his entrepreneurial courage.

    Thür also sees the new building as “a good opportunity to improve the culture”. All employees have moved with them, but "resentment can still be felt here and there, for example because of the now somewhat longer commute". A cafeteria and a roof terrace with a grill and seating should also contribute to a pleasant working atmosphere.

  • Pestalozzi Haustechnik opens a new plastic warehouse

    Pestalozzi Haustechnik opens a new plastic warehouse

    Pestalozzi Haustechnik , part of the Dietiker Pestalozzi Group, has opened a new plastic warehouse in Dietikon with an area of 1000 square meters, according to a media release . This new warehouse offers products for the civil engineering / supply sector, for example sewer and drainage pipes as well as fittings.

    Thanks to the new warehouse, Pestalozzi can now also offer a 24-hour delivery service for these products. The company's own transport fleet is used for this. But customers can also pick up their products from the new warehouse themselves. The Pestalozzi e-shop is available around the clock for purchases.

    In addition to building technology, the areas of steel technology, building envelopes (GABS) and logistics (Transstahl) also belong to the Pestalozzi Group. This can now offer products for plumbing, heating, supply and civil engineering from a single source and in one place.

  • Pop Up Shops receives funding

    Pop Up Shops receives funding

    Pop Up Shops has concluded a so-called post-seed financing round with an unspecified six-digit amount. As founder and Managing Director Chalid A. El Ashker explains in a press release, “existing and new investors from the real estate, retail and shopping center management sectors” have participated.

    The start-up's online platform brings providers of free retail and promotional space together with people who are interested in a temporary rental. Contracts and payments are also processed online.

    "The seed round enables us to further develop our marketing and booking platform and to meet the growing demand from landlords and tenants," continues El Ashker. COVID-19 is further accelerating this trend. For many retail properties, the building shell rent “over 10, 5 or even 3 years is no longer a viable long-term business model”. Pop Up Shops offer an efficient solution for their flexible and short-term management.

    The Swiss space providers include Migros, SBB, Swiss Post, Wincasa and SPG Intercity. "With the tools from POP UP SHOPS, we not only market and manage our flexible promotional and retail spaces more efficiently, but also reach new tenants," said the head of the Migros shopping center, Thomas Meyer, as quoted in the press release. "We can use the time gained for more targeted marketing and improved curation."

    The company, based in Zollikon, is not only active in Switzerland but also in Germany, Great Britain and the USA. Together with the cities of Zurich and St.Gallen and the University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland, Pop Up Shops is part of the Pop-up City project funded by the Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse . In 2019, the young company was recognized as one of the most innovative proptech companies of the year at the German Proptech Pitch.

  • Coop takes over Jumbo

    Coop takes over Jumbo

    Coop takes over the Dietlikon-based DIY store company Jumbo from Maus Frères SA. The chain with a total of 40 stores is an ideal complement to the Coop Group's locations, according to a media release . The purchase has to be approved by the Federal Competition Commission.

    Maus Frères SA now wants to focus on its core business, explained Didier Maus, Chairman of the Board of Directors, in the announcement. This includes the department store chain Manor and the brands under the name MF Brands Group. In addition, the company is strengthening its financial base with the sale and is thus preparing for possible acquisitions of other brands.

    Coop is convinced that with the acquisition “it has created an ideal basis for the future for all parties,” says Joos Sutter, CEO of the Coop Group Cooperative. With the current takeover of the DIY chain, Coop is buying the second part of Jumbo's business. In 2007 the retailer had already taken over the wholesale chain from Jumbo, in which Maus Frères and the French retail chain Carrefour each held half.

  • Lidl is planning branches for the future

    Lidl is planning branches for the future

    Lidl Switzerland had already committed itself in 2014 to make the operation of its branches more sustainable, informs the retail company in a message . After all, the energy consumption of 150 Swiss Lidl branches corresponds to that of a medium-sized city in the country. The savings potential is correspondingly large.

    New branches are to be implemented as early as this year with the help of an innovative energy concept, the communication further explains. "It is very important to us that our future locations are future-proof and sustainable with regard to building materials, energy consumption and technology", Reto Ruch, Chief Real Estate Officer of Lidl Switzerland, is quoted there. Lidl Switzerland is working with Empa to develop this energy concept.

    In a first step, the two partners will analyze the energy consumption of the existing branches. As a result, optimization measures should then be derived from this. At the same time, Empa and Lidl want to test alternative energy systems with the help of computer simulations. "Our goal is to help Lidl Switzerland with our research work to further improve sustainability, continue to reduce emissions in the future and optimize energy management," explains Empa researcher Curdin Derungs in the press release.

  • Senozon helps dealers choose a location

    Senozon helps dealers choose a location

    Location and traffic optimization are the core business of the Zurich company Senozon . According to a media release, interested parties can now order a map free of charge online that shows, for a specific postcode area, where pedestrians are particularly frequent during the day. Also included is a map with the pedestrian frequencies of people between 18 and 65 years of age with a medium or high household income.

    The spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ( ETH ) receives numerous inquiries for individual locations, for which this free data product now provides answers: “In times of the Corona, it is even more important for retailers and their advisors to choose the locations cleverly. We are making a contribution with these cards, ”says Senozon sales manager Phillip Kousz.

    Senozon also offers other products for a fee, such as areas that cover several postal codes, absolute pedestrian frequencies, other socio-demographics, daily frequencies and catchment areas. The simulation enables not only an analysis of the current situation, but also precise prognoses of the future.

    According to the announcement, the basis for the simulations of Senozon are mainly publicly available statistics. The company enriches them by comparing them with real measured values. Sources such as traffic counts, apps and statistics from Google and telecom providers are used for this. The great advantage of the method is that it includes the population of a country including its socio-demographics. "For the first time, this allows target group-specific evaluations and studies with full anonymity."

  • Lidl halves footprint

    Lidl halves footprint

    Lidl has exceeded a self-imposed environmental target. By 2020, the company wanted to reduce its relative CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to 2013, Lidl Switzerland explains in a press release . Ultimately, however, the CO2 emissions were reduced by 53 percent. Lidl emphasizes a change in its own transport area as a particularly effective measure. Here, the company plans to only use trucks powered by bio-liquefied petroleum gas by 2030.

    Lidl Switzerland has introduced a CO2 management system in which the company’s annual CO2 emissions are recorded, the communication further explains. Building on this, the company derives measures to reduce emissions. The remaining emissions are offset.

    This is the fifth time that Lidl Switzerland has met the conditions for certification with the Swiss Climate Label CO2-neutral, according to the announcement. According to her, Lidl Switzerland is the first company of its kind in Switzerland whose branches and goods distribution centers are all certified according to the ISO 50001 energy efficiency standard.