There has been no Manor in Zurich’s city center for four years. Now the largest Swiss department store group is planning its comeback on Switzerland’s most famous shopping street – just a stone’s throw away from the old location.
It has been a good four years since Manor left Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse after a dispute with the landlord. Now Switzerland’s largest department store group with 59 locations has announced that it will return to Zurich’s city center.
Manor will move into the building that is now Jelmoli and will take over three floors – basement, ground floor and first floor – as was announced on Tuesday morning. “We have been looking for a suitable replacement location in Zurich city center for a long time,” says Manor CEO Roland Armbruster. Now they have finally found one.
«Everything you would expect from a department store»
“We are extremely optimistic about this new location,” says the 49-year-old Bavarian native, who has headed the department store group since February 2023. The Manor in downtown Zurich will be the second flagship store alongside Geneva, with a positioning in the upper middle range.
“In Zurich you will find everything you would expect from a department store: from fashion, shoes and accessories to beauty, jewelry, watches and home textiles to household items, toys and luggage. And all this in a modern and inspiring ambience.”
According to Armbruster, there will also be a wide range of restaurants including take-away options, but not a food department à la Globus Delicatessa. The company’s own supermarket business is doing better in western Switzerland, which is more inclined towards indulgence, than in German-speaking Switzerland; there is also not enough space. In Geneva, Manor occupies around 20,000 square meters, in Zurich it will be around 13,000 square meters.
But 13,000 square meters is not a small amount. The Zurich Globus, for example, is only around 7,000 square meters. And although the new Bahnhofstrasse Manor will only have three floors, it is almost as big as the previous store, which was spread over five floors. That one was 14,000 square meters.
Opening planned for 2027
However, it will still be a few years before the opening can be celebrated. The Jelmoli will be open until the end of the year, then the building will be renovated by the owner Swiss Prime Site over a period of around two years. In future, there will only be retail space on the bottom three floors. Offices are planned for the top floor and a restaurant on the roof.
The handover of the areas is planned for 2027, the statement said.