I'm not saying that Portuguese food isn't good....I'm making the point that a shop selling ONLY that might find it difficult to compete.

There are 5157 foreigners in Thun. I just checked. What % of those will be from Portugal? 5% max, I guess....so 250 people....60 households? even if you double it to allow for Portuguese heritage....that's 120 people who might shop there.

And how often would you need to buy olive oil, salt or lupini beans? Once every two weeks? So what do you reckon.....60 people a week spending CHF40 each visit for beans and oil (max)....at a 30% gross margin.....CHF700 gross profit per week! Then you need to pay salaries / rent etc etc...

I'm just agreeing with the poster about these old shops, but its these new ones which surprise me.....I wonder how they make the maths work....

I am with you on this one, new nails in less than an hour ..... I have not indulged in the acrylic nails here as it takes sooooooooooo long , I swear they are slow just to justify the price here !

Interestingly, the same bloke told me the same thing at the same time, outside Münchenstein station.

We are just playin' wicha. I'm sure it's just another one of these "how do they make money" stores.

Maybe we should start asking to see the books! lol.

I'm guessing many are owned outright by the company or family and many are probably just part of the companies or families business "empire" and they also use the quiet periods as office/admin time for other activities.

There are many times, mid afternoon on a rainy February Tuesday for example when I have no customers for 2 or 3 hours. It doesn't meant that I am not working and earning. I can be updating my web site, sourcing new products, arranging transport and export/import, finding new trade customers (other shops and restaurants), dealing with enquiries for catering etc.....

A shop selling knitting needles, maybe just 2 pairs a week, could also have a massive international trade as well and a shop can, in some areas, cost less than an office and showroom.

Many business owned by wealthy Swiss families don't perform well & loose money. However they would prefer to loose money than loose face & close the business down.

I know of a business that lost approximately a million a year for 20 years, it was then sold to one of the directors for 1chf & all losses written off. The family still supported the business for a further 5 years, It then went bankrupt.

Hi
I stay in Oerlikon area, and for some purely Asian type of vegetables I visit a Sri-Lankan Shop nearby. The trick they do is that whtever you purchase and in whatever quantity, they would enter no names in the bill. The bill only is printed as "Food-Item 1, 2 ...." and they put different prices for the items side by side, and then the total. But after visiting there for quite a long time I observed that they take separate prices for same quantity, in different weeks. Not only they vary the weight, but they vary the prices also.
I thought that I will report this to some authority, but as I am not aware of any I restrained myself from such action. What I did was to avoid that shop, and verbally told to all my friends about the matter, so that they are not unconsciously fooled by the shop-keeper.

It's perfectly normal for fruit and veggie prices to vary frequently, often from day to day.

Perhaps you are getting the benefit of the change of the wholesale prices of the goods & the change in exchange rates.

Ok, then I might not be sure, because no other shops in Swiss practices this, be it Migros / Coop .So I was little bit surprised and I thought it to be the shop-keeper making money.Hence entered in this chat.

you might actually be benefiting from this way of trading.. As I do not speak German, it is very difficult for me to ask questions at markets as I cannot expect people speak English to accommodate me. However, I still buy at the market and I have some idea how much things are. If I buy from a stall one week and they are charging me a lot more than I thought it will be.. (i.e. prices is marked but weight is out etc) then I don't go back. If I think I am getting good quality for my money, they get my custom.

It is all about perceived value of an item or service and not the actual cost of producing an item.

Fruit and veggie prices at Coop and Migros change as well, maybe not from one day to the other but often from one week to the other.

Well I hope he does make some money because otherwise he'll be gone soon.
Besides, small immigrant run stores often have better prices for vegetables than Coop or Migros.