Gurtnellen lost its village shop. So it built a new one.
For almost 70 years the Widmer family ran the shop on the Gotthardstrasse. When it had to close at the end of 2025, the village refused to accept it. Just over three months later, the first purchase went through the till of the new Gürkli in the middle of the night.
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The last shop in the village closes
Gurtnellen lies in the Uri uplands; 490 people live here. The village shop on the Gotthardstrasse dated back to the building of the Gotthard railway, first as a bakery. Guido and Käthi Widmer took it over in 1957; from 1988 Renate and Martin Widmer ran it, without a single day of holiday and with deliveries for older residents. At the end of 2025 Martin Widmer retired for reasons of health and age. His health tipped the balance; otherwise he would have carried on for as long as he could.
Without a shop, everyone in Gurtnellen needs a car to go shopping. Anyone who can no longer drive depends on others. And a village without a shop loses its meeting place.
“We have to save the village shop!”
That was clear at once, says Petra Sicher. Together with municipal councillor Roger Indergand she took charge. A six-page questionnaire went to every household: 304 of the 490 residents took part, and 59 households offered to help with the conversion, in the shop or with deliveries.
1 25 September 2025
The Genossenschaft Dorfladen Gurtnellen is founded. One share costs CHF 200.
2 17 October 2025
Information evening in the gym, almost every chair taken. Afterwards the shares sell like hot cakes.
3 November and December
The municipal assembly approves a loan and a guarantee. Volunteers convert the former post office on Bahnhofplatz.
4 2 January 2026
In the middle of the night the first spaghetti and frozen pizzas go through the till. Not a single day passes between the old shop and the new one.
5 17 January 2026
Official opening with coffee, croissants, roasted chestnuts and a blessing.
Lending a hand
Gürkli hard hats for the building site. 59 households had offered to help.
Conversion
The former post office becomes a shop. Tradespeople and volunteers work in their spare time.
Ready for the shelves
New walls, new floor, new lighting.
A shop carried by volunteers
Petra Sicher works 80 percent as a doctor. She gave up her holidays for the Gürkli. In January the whole team worked for free; tradespeople and neighbours converted the shop in their spare time.
«For me, Petra is the heroine of Gurtnellen.»
- of unpaid work in the first six months
- 943 hoursof unpaid work in the first six months
- shares sold by the opening
- 138shares sold by the opening
- of volunteer work on the conversion
- CHF 200,000of volunteer work on the conversion
The village shops in the village again
- purchases by the end of August 2026
- almost 14,000
- purchases a day in August, 45 in January
- 63
- sales in August compared with January
- +49%
- cooperative members
- about 150
In the first week, despite two heavy snowfalls, 270 customers came, the first of them at night. The best sellers were butter croissants and Mutschli bread rolls.
Figures from the newsletters of the Genossenschaft Dorfladen Gurtnellen.
What the Gürkli means to Gurtnellen
Breakfast on 1 August
About 50 people have breakfast on Bahnhofplatz while a folk band plays. It is meant to become a tradition.
Carnival at the Gürkli
The Tratschihexen carnival group sells rhyme pictures in aid of the shop.
Easter egg knocking
On Easter Monday young and old knock eggs outside the shop for the challenge trophy.
And at one 70th birthday party, guests collected for the Gürkli instead of bringing gifts.
Deliveries to the hamlets
Residents of the mountain hamlets who are no longer mobile just call. Volunteers pack the box and bring it round, as they have since late November 2025.
Fresh bread, even on Sunday
Volunteers bake from five in the morning. To be sure, you can pre-order your bread.
Open 24 hours, staffed twice a week
On Mondays and Thursdays someone is in the shop, takes the large deliveries and helps with the access code. On all other days and at night, residents and regular customers get in with their personal code, and visitors request a day code by text message. Customers scan their shopping themselves at the scango.ch checkout and pay by card.
Alcohol is only sold during staffed hours: the canton of Uri does not allow sales via an ID scan.
«As complete newcomers to food retail, we faced the challenge of introducing a self-checkout without any previous experience in this field. The scango team supported us superbly from the very start: with clear instructions and patient explanations, we mastered the implementation without any problems. We were particularly impressed by the extensive, well-prepared explanatory material that was available to us at all times. And whenever we had questions, support was there in a flash. What sets scango apart for us: the team listens to our wishes and suggestions and keeps developing the product, whether with new features or an even more user-friendly interface. Our customers also get on very well with the system. We can recommend scango without reservation.»
What other villages can learn from the Gürkli
How does a village save its shop when nobody wants to take over?
In Gurtnellen the village took over itself. A survey showed that people wanted the shop and would help. That became a cooperative with shares at CHF 200, supported by the municipality. Because the shop runs as self-service most of the time, nobody has to staff the till around the clock.
Can a village shop stay open around the clock without staff?
Yes. Customers get in with a code, scan their shopping at the self-checkout and pay at the terminal. You see sales and stock in the cloud dashboard, even from home. Staff are needed to restock and take deliveries, not to take payments.
What did the Gürkli cost?
The conversion and launch were budgeted at about CHF 500,000, about CHF 200,000 of it as volunteer work. The checkout is a small part of that: the scango.ch subscription starts at CHF 99 per month, and you pay for the hardware once. The calculator shows what it costs for your shop.
How does a cooperative finance its village shop?
The Gürkli relied on shares from the village, donations, a crowdfunding campaign and an interest-free loan from the municipality. The municipality also guaranteed a loan from the federal and cantonal New Regional Policy. The canton of Uri, the Swiss Mountain Aid and the Dätwyler Foundation are also on the list of sponsors.
What is not solved yet?
The cooperative says it openly: it does not work without volunteers yet. In the first six months more than half of the working hours were unpaid, and the business plan assumes two years of volunteer operation. And in the canton of Uri alcohol may only be sold when someone is in the shop.
“This shop belongs to you.”
That is what the cooperative wrote to the village in its newsletter. If you want to support the Gürkli, you can buy a share or donate.
Is your village shop at risk too?
We show you how other villages keep their shop running with self-service, and what it would cost you.