According to the Swiss Press (Der Sonntag etc) the outdoor manufacturer Mammut is moving its logistics operation to Memmingen in Southern Germany due to the strength of the Swiss France, currently trading around 1.20CHF/EUR. The new 26 million euro center will serve the whole of Europe. However the 220 high-end jobs at the Swiss HQ - in Design, Marketing etc are safe.

Mammut has been based in the Swiss Canton of the Aargau for nearly 150 years. Half of its expenses are in CHF but they only make 20% of their sales in the Swizterland. The firm suffered a 5% drop in turnover during 2012.

Mammut pricing is shocking, I’m supposed to get some sort of deal and it’s cheaper to hop over to Chamonix buy stuff trade there and claim the TVA back at the border. Not just a little cheaper but hugely cheaper.

I fail to see how the strength of the euro is responsible for the prices being astronomic in their home country and cheaper 30km away. The cost of outdoor gear in Swiss stores is eye-watering given we’ve a lower TVA rate and it’s not inevitable that should be the case, photographic gear is generally cheaper here and, maybe surprisingly, so is stuff like Apple gear.