Migros Ticaret A.Ş. is a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

chain in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. As of 2025, the company operates a total of 3,662 stores: 3,344 Migros, 216 Macrocenter and 102 Mion in Turkey.

History

Migros ownership

The Governor of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Fahrettin Kerim Gökay, together with the Foreign Minister approached the founder of the Swiss

Migros Migros () is Switzerland's largest retail company, its largest supermarket chain and largest employer. It is also one of the forty largest retailers in the world. It is structured in the form of a cooperative federation (the Federation of Migros ...

, Gottlieb Duttweiler in 1953, in order to organize a sustainable food supply to the major population centers of Turkey. Migros Turkey was established in 1954 as a joint venture with the Swiss Federation of Migros Cooperatives. Duttweiler and Charles Henri Hochstrasser, the first head of Migros Türk also held considerable percentages. Initially, Migros Turkey operated via sales trucks (like its Swiss counterpart) only later to open storefronts – the first in 1957 at the fish market in

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

Koç Group ownership

In 1975, the Koç Group took control of the company by acquiring a majority of its shares. Thereafter, Migros rapidly increased the number of stores in Istanbul, establishing the necessary infrastructure for purchasing fruits and vegetables directly from producers and farmers. In 1981, a central perishables warehouse was opened. In 1988, following development in Istanbul, 4 large stores were opened in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, and infrastructure investment was started in the Aegean region. In addition to neighborhood stores in Istanbul and İzmir, larger stores were opened in new residential and suburban areas – an MM market in İzmir, followed by two MMM stores in Istanbul, in 1991. In 1991, Migros became a publicly traded company. Around this time, Migros extended its chain of supermarkets to other large cities, such as

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, and the resorts destinations of

Marmaris Marmaris () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 906 km2, and its population is 97,818 (2022). It is a port city and tourist resort on the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean coast, along the shorel ...

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek language, Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 217,163 (2022). It lies along the Sea of Marmara, outsi ...

and

Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District.Şok. Started in Istanbul, the discount markets expanded to Ankara and İzmir. Şoks offer both food and non-food items. In 1999, Migros Turkey launched its online presence, Kangurum, hosting more than 25,000 products from 60 different stores, ranging from refrigerators, wedding rings, toys, bouquet arrangements, and tomatoes to vacation reservations. Migros presented the Bakkalım (literally: My Grocery) store format in the first quarter of 2000, spreading in Istanbul, İzmir and Ankara.

BC Partners takeover

News reports in February 2008 indicated that

BC Partners BC Partners LLP is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across ...

has agreed to buy Migros Türk in Turkey's biggest-ever

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

. The London-based firm was going to trade Koc Holding ₺1.98 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.66 billion) for a 51% stake in Migros Türk. Later, BC increased its stake to 98%. In February 2008, BC Partners Ltd. agreed to acquire Migros Türk TAS, Turkey's largest supermarket chain, for about

3.2 billion, gaining 961 stores in Turkey and nearby countries through the acquisition. In 2009 Migros Türk issued an

Initial Public Offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) at the

Istanbul stock exchange The Borsa İstanbul (abbreviated as BIST) is the sole exchange entity of Turkey combining the former Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) (), the Istanbul Gold Exchange () and the Derivatives Exchange of Turkey () under one umbrella. It was establishe ...

. In 2011, the group sold approximately 20% back to public market investors.

Anadolu Group ownership

BC Partners revealed in January 2015 that it would sell its 40.25% stake in its supermarket chain Migros to the Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Group for around

2.74 billion. As of 2019, Migros Ticaret A.Ş. has 2,008 Migros stores in 81 provinces of Turkey, 51 Macrocenter stores in 6 provinces, 44 Ramstore stores in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Operations

Current store formats

Macrocenter

Health food store A health food store (or health food shop) is a type of grocery store that primarily sells healthful foods, organic foods, local produce, and often nutritional supplements. Health food stores typically offer a wider or more specialized selectio ...

s have an exclusive product portfolio offering a curated selection of fine foods from around the world, alongside unique traditional Anatolian flavours.

Migros

Supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s' logo is similar to an older version of the Swiss Migros logo, but with dotted ''i''. *Migros Jet mini-markets in neighbourhoods, formed by acquisition of Tansaş resembling its Mini Tansaş line. *M Migros stores sell basic groceries and a limited number of non-food products. *MM Migros stores offer a wider range of non-food articles besides the basic groceries. *MMM Migros stores have a larger product spectrum ranging from stationery to textile products, electric household appliances to bakeries, books and cosmetics. *5M Migros

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

s have the widest product selection and are found mostly in

, the Anatolian Tigers and touristic areas of the southwest coast. *Migros Toptan

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

arm, serving the out-of-home consumption sector ( HORECA) with six regional offices across Turkey. It offers a wide range of food and non-food products.

Mion

Beauty store that aims to support everyone who wants to take care of themselves by making personal care more accessible and inclusive, promoting well-being as something attainable for all.

Defunct store formats

Ramstore

In 1996, Migros opened its first store outside of Turkey – a Ramstore in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

– followed up the next year with a shopping center in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. With the success of the first Ramstore in Baku, four new stores were opened in Azerbaijan. Migros opened a second, larger, Ramstore shopping center in Moscow's Maryina Roscha district. In 1998, a new Ramstore shopping center's foundation was laid in Kazakhstan. In 2006, а Ramstore was opened in

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

through a Kazakh subsidiary. It is reported that Migros Turk's market share was 8.6 percent at the end of 2006, compared with 5.3 percent for its second-place competitor. Ramstores in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

were closed down in 2007. In September 2007, Migros sold its 50% interest in Ramenka, which operated 53 Ramstores in Russia and other Eastern European countries, for US$542.5m to its venture partner: Enka Holdings (Enka Insaat Sanayi AS). In 2006, that operation accounted for about a fifth of Migros's revenue of US$3.3 billion. In 2011, the company sold its stores in

. In 2021, the company sold its stores in

. In 2024, the company sold its stores in

thereby ending Migros Türk's international presence.

Controversies

Controversy over animal abuse

Migros is being called out by customers for selling eggs that are sourced from caged and abused hens and refusing to publish a cage-free commitment. The petition asking Migros to abandon cage eggs collected over 130,000 signatures.

References

External links

Migros Ticaret

Money Club in Turkish

Ramstore Macedonia

Ramstore Kazakhstan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Migros Turk Retail companies established in 1954 Supermarkets of Turkey Companies based in Istanbul Companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange Companies in the BIST 100 1954 establishments in Turkey