Premiere for German rival Aldi pushes Coop out of the SBB station in Basel
Aldi opens a branch in the Basel train station. A Coop Pronto has to make way for German competition. This is the first time that it has been able to set up shop permanently in a Swiss railroad station.
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- Coop has to give up the Pronto store at Basel station at the end of April 2026.
- Aldi will open a branch there.
- The German competitor is taking over the space and investing one million francs in the store.
- This is the first time the discounter has been given a permanent store space by SBB.
For the first time, the discounter Aldi has been given a permanent store space in an SBB station. It will replace the Coop branch on the Passerelle in Basel station, as the "Basler Zeitung" writes. All three companies involved confirmed the change to the newspaper.
Coop will have to vacate the store space at the end of April 2026 because SBB has not extended the lease. There is no prospect of an alternative store.
According to Aldi, the fact that it was awarded the contract is due to the "high-frequency concept" that was developed specifically for the store in Basel station. The discounter is investing one million francs in the new store.
High footfall and open on Sundays
So far, Aldi has only been able to secure temporary retail space for interim use in Lausanne, although this was several years ago, according to the report.
Swiss train stations are coveted by retailers: they are highly frequented locations and stores are also allowed to open on Sundays. Until now, the two Swiss retail giants Migros and Coop have enjoyed almost unrestricted access.