Switzerland’s priciest street makes room for a bakery shop

John Baker bakery. Keystone-SDA

On Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse - where international luxury brands rule - an artisanal bakery/pastry shop is making a go for it.

It is one of the most expensive streets for shopping in Switzerland where jewellery, watches and designer clothes worth tens of thousands of Swiss francs can be purchased. We are talking about Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse. You can now also buy a sandwich here thanks to a new bakery. Swiss public radio RTS’ reported that this bakery opening could be a possible turning point, also witnessed by the arrival of the Manor store chain planned for 2027.

“Our approach is that we produce everything we sell on site,” said Jens Jung, an entrepreneur who is part of a bakery dynasty. He founded his own chain of stores in 2013, under the name John Baker. “We were certainly a little nervous at first, but it’s a very positive development to set up on Bahnhofstrasse,” he said.

“To offer something artisanal and to have a showcase for how we make our products here, next to Tiffany, Gucci and Chanel, is a huge joy,” said the baker who has also worked in Bolivia, Mexico and the United States. On site, the head baker is a Frenchman originally from Versailles: “The fact that everything is open is nice, people like to watch how we work,” he says.

The rent for a square meter on Bahnhofstrasse can reach exorbitant levels, completely out of reach for most local merchants. However, Jung has been able to rent space from the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB). “There was a café before us that didn’t work, and the institution was super-constructive. They were looking for someone from Zurich, who would do the work on site and who was not an international brand like Starbucks.”

‘Need a good mix of local and international stores’

“I think John Baker had a great chance in being able to rent the ZKB premises,” Fanny Eisl, director of Vereinigung Zürcher Bahnhofstrasse, the merchants’ association on Zurich’s famous street, tells RTS. “It’s not easy, but we see that more and more landlords understand that you need a good mix of local and international stores.” In her view, however, if rents are so high it is because demand is high: “This is also good for Bahnhofstrasse.”

Moreover, the neighbourhood of banks and upscale stores is undergoing a transformation. The Jelmoli department store, a historic pillar of Zurich city shopping, has announced that it will leave the quartier at the end of February 2025, after 125 years of existence. The spaces will be occupied by Manor, which had itself abandoned Bahnhofstrasse a few years ago due to exorbitant rents and will return in three years. The re-entry of the brand, which belongs to Geneva-based Maus Frères Holding, is also welcomed by the local business community: a department store revitalises the city center, with beneficial effects for all.

Adapted from Italian by DeepL/ac